Resonant generation of internal waves on a model continental slope.
We study internal wave generation in a laboratory model of oscillating tidal flow on a continental margin. Waves are found to be generated only in a near-critical region where the slope of the bottom topography matches that of internal waves. Fluid motion with a velocity an order of magnitude larger than that of the forcing occurs within a thin boundary layer above the bottom surface. The resonant wave is unstable because of strong shear; Kelvin-Helmholtz billows precede wave breaking. This work provides a new explanation for the intense boundary flows on continental slopes.
Zhang
H P
HP
Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
King
B
B
Swinney
Harry L
HL