The discussion concerns free wave motions generated from rest in a finite region of an ocean of heavy liquid lying on a horizontal plane. It is shown that the horizontal fist moment of the free-surface displacement varies linearly with time. Hence, if the total volume displaced is not zero and therefore the centroid of the displacement is definable, the centroid travels with a constant horizontal velocity as the wave motion evolves. This conclusion holds exactly for waves of any amplitude and even remains applicable subsequent to the breaking of waves.
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Benjamin et al. (1971) studied this question.