Final answer:
Water molecules follow a circular path as the wave passes. While wave energy travels across the ocean, water particles do not travel with the wave; they stay in place save for moving up and down in the wave's energy field.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct statement concerning the movement of water in waves of the open ocean is that water molecules follow a circular path as the wave passes. In the open ocean, the energy of the wave causes the water particles to move in circular orbits, and this motion decreases with depth. At the surface, these orbits are almost circular, but as you move deeper into the ocean, the orbits become smaller and more elliptical until the motion becomes negligible. It is a common misconception that water waves push water from one place to another across vast distances, but in reality, while the wave energy travels across the ocean, the water particles themselves mostly stay in the same general area, moving primarily up and down in a localized manner.
The particle motion differs depending on whether a wave is traveling through a medium or in a vacuum. In the case of a transverse wave, such as a light wave in a vacuum, the particles of the medium would not move since there is no medium. For a transverse wave traveling through a medium, such as a water wave, the particles move perpendicular to the direction of the energy transfer, which in the case of water, is in a circular motion at the surface, not straight up and down nor left and right.