Can a water wave

[primarygun]

Can a water wave be a longitudinal wave?

[Gonzolo]

Of course. Sonars, two people "talking" to each other underwater, knocking on top of a can of soup, knocking on ice, when fish bump into each other etc.

Transverse water waves are mostly apparent on the surface and during tsunami-like events asaik. Moving a water molecule up and down should cause a transverse wave along the normal plane, a longitudinal one along its oscillating axis, and a combination of both at 0 < angle < 90 degrees.

[arildno]

Longitudinal wave forms in water other than the sound wave option, might possibly be induced by spatially varying surface tension.

[Andrew Mason]

Can a water wave be a longitudinal wave?Surface waves are a combination of longitudinal and transverse motion. There is significant longitudinal movement in shallow water waves (where the ratio of wavelength/depth is significant). Tsunamis cause a huge longitudinal movement of water, as we all know.

AM