Publication Date:
1986-06-01
Description:
An experimental and theoretical study of the propagation and stability of long nonlinear internal waves over slope-shelf topography is presented. A generalized Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation, including the effects of nonlinearity, dispersion, dissipation and varying bottom topography, is formulated and solved numerically for single and rank-ordered pairs of solitary waves incident on the slope. The results of corresponding laboratory experiments in a salt-stratified system are reported. Very good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained for a range of stratifications, topography and incident-wave amplitudes. Significant disagreement is found in some cases if the effects of dissipation and higher-order (cubic) nonlinearity are not included in the theoretical model. Weak shearing and strong breaking (overturning) instabilities are observed and found to depend strongly on the incident-wave amplitude and the stratification on the shelf. In some cases the instability of the lowest-mode wave leads to the generation of a second-mode solitary wave. The application of these findings to the prediction and interpretation of field data is discussed. © 1986, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN:
0022-1120
Electronic ISSN:
1469-7645
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
