Estimate of energy loss from internal solitary waves breaking on slopes

Abstract

Abstract. Internal solitary waves (ISWs) emerge in the ocean and seas in various forms and break on the shelf zones in a variety of ways. This results in intensive mixing that affects processes such as biological productivity and sediment transport. As ISWs of depression propagate in a two-layer ocean, from the deep part onto a shelf, two mechanisms are significant: (1) the breaking of internal waves over bottom topography when fluid velocities exceed the wave phase speed that causes overturning of the rear face of the wave, and (2) the changing of polarity at the turning point where the depths of the upper and lower layers are equal. We assume that the parameters that describe the process of the interaction of ISWs in a two-layer fluid with an idealized shelf-slope topography are (1) the nondimensional wave amplitude, normalized on the upper-layer thickness; (2) the ratio of the height of the bottom layer on the shelf to the incident wave amplitude; and (3) the angle of the bottom inclination. Based on a proposed three-dimensional classification diagram, four types of wave propagation over the slopes are distinguished: the ISW propagates over the slope without changing polarity and wave breaking, the ISW changes polarity over the slope without wave breaking, the ISW breaks over the slope without changing polarity, and the ISW both breaks and changes polarity over the slope. The energy loss during ISW transformation over slopes with various angles was estimated using the results of 85 numerical experiments. “Hot spots” of high levels of energy loss were highlighted for an idealized bottom configuration that mimics the continental shelf in the Lufeng region in the South China Sea.