The distance between two successive crests or troughs of sea waves is called as

In oceanography, the horizontal distance between two successive crests or two successive troughs of a wave is defined as the wavelength [5]. The crest represents the highest point of the wave, while the trough is the lowest point [3]. While wavelength measures the horizontal span, wave height refers to the vertical distance from the bottom of a trough to the top of a crest [4]. Other related parameters include the wave period, which is the time interval between successive crests passing a fixed point, and wave frequency, which is the number of waves passing a point in a specific time interval [1]. Fetch, conversely, refers to the distance of open water over which the wind blows to generate waves. Therefore, the specific distance between two consecutive peaks or valleys is the wavelength.

Sources

1. [1] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 15: Tsunami > Basics > p. 192
2. [2] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 13: Movements of Ocean Water > Characteristics of Waves > p. 109
3. [5] https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/waves/jetstream-max-anatomy-of-wave
4. [3] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 15: Tsunami > Basics > p. 191
5. [4] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 10: Coastal Landforms > The Mechanics of Marine Erosion > p. 88