An analysis of anomalous scattering behavior is performed on various corrugated surfaces relevant to oceanic scattering. In particular, it is shown that HH to VV ratios larger than 1 are produced as a result of polarization anomalies in the scattering returns. It is also shown that HH returns larger than those predicted by first-order perturbation theory do occur. These calculations thus provide the first evidence that some of the characteristics associated with sea spikes, found in backscatter measurements from the ocean, can arise as a result of scattering from modulated wave trains. A qualitative and quantitative correlation is observed between our analysis and the water waves experiments of Lee et al. <1995>. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union