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Breaking of internal Kelvin waves shoaling on a slope
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  • Keisuke Nakayama,
  • Takahiro Sato,
  • Kojiro Tani,
  • Leon Boegman,
  • Ichiro Fujita,
  • Tetsuya Shintani
Keisuke Nakayama
Kobe University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Takahiro Sato
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
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Kojiro Tani
Kobe University
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Leon Boegman
Queen's University
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Ichiro Fujita
Research Center for Urban Safety and Security
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Tetsuya Shintani
Tokyo Metropolitan University
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Abstract

In stratified flow, breaking of internal waves over slopes induces resuspension of bottom sediments and transport of mass. When internal waves shoal and break, flow dynamics and mass transport differ greatly according to whether the Coriolis force is included or neglected. Despite its importance, the currents generated by breaking internal Kelvin waves remain uninvestigated. Therefore, this study considers breaking of internal waves over a uniform slope under Coriolis with equivalent upper- and lower-layer depths. Laboratory experiments, using a 6.0 m rotating tank, were undertaken to visualize currents using Particle Image Velocimetry. Experimental data validated a three-dimensional fluid dynamics model, in-which a coastal-jet was simulated to occur at the lateral wall (to the right) of the progressive internal Kelvin waves in the breaking zone; with generation of an oblique downslope return flow (downdraft) under Coriolis. The coastal-jet was driven by the geostrophic balance, and the equation for estimating the residual current, due to the jet, was formulated. The results provide insight on mass transport in lakeshore and coastal zones.
Oct 2020Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans volume 125 issue 10. 10.1029/2020JC016120