Seafloor Pressure Measurements of Nonlinear Internal Waves

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Moum ◽  
J. D. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Hydrostatic Pressure ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Opposite Sign ◽  
Surface Displacement ◽  
Pressure Measurements ◽  
Nonlinear Internal Waves ◽  
Nonhydrostatic Pressure ◽  
Seafloor Pressure ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
Pressure Perturbations

Abstract Highly resolved pressure measurements on the seafloor over New Jersey’s continental shelf reveal the pressure signature of nonlinear internal waves of depression as negative pressure perturbations. The sign of the perturbation is determined by the dominance of the internal hydrostatic pressure (p0Wh) due to isopycnal displacement over the contributions of external hydrostatic pressure (ρ0gηH; ηH is surface displacement) and nonhydrostatic pressure (p0nh), each of opposite sign to p0Wh. This measurement represents experimental confirmation of the wave-induced pressure signal inferred in a previous study by Moum and Smyth.

scholarly journals Resurrecting dead-water phenomenon

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Mercier ◽  
R. Vasseur ◽  
T. Dauxois
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Large Amplitude ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Stratified Fluid ◽  
Nonlinear Internal Waves ◽  
Induced Drag ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
Dead Water ◽  
Peculiar Phenomenon

Abstract. We revisit experimental studies performed by Ekman on dead-water (Ekman, 1904) using modern techniques in order to present new insights on this peculiar phenomenon. We extend its description to more general situations such as a three-layer fluid or a linearly stratified fluid in presence of a pycnocline, showing the robustness of dead-water phenomenon. We observe large amplitude nonlinear internal waves which are coupled to the boat dynamics, and we emphasize that the modeling of the wave-induced drag requires more analysis, taking into account nonlinear effects. Dedicated to Fridtjöf Nansen born 150 yr ago (10 October 1861).

Energy Transport by Nonlinear Internal Waves

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 1968-1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Moum ◽  
J. M. Klymak ◽  
J. D. Nash ◽  
A. Perlin ◽  
W. D. Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Energy Flux ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Surface Displacement ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Nonlinear Internal Waves ◽  
Advection Term ◽  
The Waves

Abstract Winter stratification on Oregon’s continental shelf often produces a near-bottom layer of dense fluid that acts as an internal waveguide upon which nonlinear internal waves propagate. Shipboard profiling and bottom lander observations capture disturbances that exhibit properties of internal solitary waves, bores, and gravity currents. Wavelike pulses are highly turbulent (instantaneous bed stresses are 1 N m−2), resuspending bottom sediments into the water column and raising them 30+ m above the seafloor. The wave cross-shelf transport of fluid often counters the time-averaged Ekman transport in the bottom boundary layer. In the nonlinear internal waves that were observed, the kinetic energy is roughly equal to the available potential energy and is O(0.1) megajoules per meter of coastline. The energy transported by these waves includes a nonlinear advection term 〈uE〉 that is negligible in linear internal waves. Unlike linear internal waves, the pressure–velocity energy flux 〈up〉 includes important contributions from nonhydrostatic effects and surface displacement. It is found that, statistically, 〈uE〉 ≃ 2〈up〉. Vertical profiles through these waves of elevation indicate that up(z) is more important in transporting energy near the seafloor while uE(z) dominates farther from the bottom. With the wave speed c estimated from weakly nonlinear wave theory, it is verified experimentally that the total energy transported by the waves is 〈up〉 + 〈uE〉 ≃ c〈E〉. The high but intermittent energy flux by the waves is, in an averaged sense, O(100) watts per meter of coastline. This is similar to independent estimates of the shoreward energy flux in the semidiurnal internal tide at the shelf break.

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