Solitary wave, soliton and shelf evolution over variable depth

Abstract

The familiar problem of the propagation of surface waves over variable depth is reconsidered. The surface wave is taken to be a slowly evolving nonlinear wave (governed by the Korteweg–de Vries equation) and the depth is also assumed to be slowly varying; the fluid is stationary in its undisturbed state. Two cases are addressed: the first is where the scale of the depth variation is longer than that on which the wave evolves, and the second is where it is shorter (but still long). The first case corresponds to that discussed by a number of previous authors, and is the problem which has been approached through the perturbation of the inverse scattering transform method, a route not followed here. Our more direct methods reveal a new element in the solution: a perturbation of the primary wave, initiated by the depth change, which arises at the same order as the left-going shelf. The resulting leading-order mass balance is described, with more detail than hitherto (made possible by the use of a special depth variation). The second case is briefly presented using the same approach, and some important similarities are noted.