Space surfing
So, since we can’t go back in time (at least not yet) the bigger question here is can we surf on other planets outside our solar system? (It is doubtful any other planets or satellites within our own solar system have significant liquid water other then Mars; although Titan likely has hydrocarbon seas but at -290 F). Given that we have just recently started discovering planets and have found over 2000 planets, a better question is what would these waves look like? Banfield’s paper addresses this question by laying out the theoretical framework for factors which determine wave size on Mars but possibly elsewhere. They describe seven major parameters that differ between Earth and Mars and thus are likely to influence wave characteristics on other planets:
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Atmospheric wind speed
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Viscosity of the atmosphere and ocean (stickiness, imagine honey vs. water)
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Atmosphere and ocean density
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Gravity of the planet
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Surface tension of the ocean
If we limit our question to earth-like planets, which at the last estimate there were one billion in our galaxy alone, with a similar atmosphere and ocean the main factors to consider are gravity, wind speed and of course, fetch (the distance over which the wind blows to generate waves).
Sources:DR.
