A wave-interaction model for the generation of windrows

Interactions of suitable pairs of gravity waves in a shear flow are found to give rise to aperiodic or weakly periodic secondary motions. These secondary flows resemble the ‘Langmuir vortices’ which are associated with the formation of windrows. It seems likely that such wave interactions will play a substantial part in determining the quasi-steady structure of the flow when wind blows over a water surface.