title: Resonant generation of internal waves on a model continental slope.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Harry L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Swinney