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Inclined internal tide waves at a narrow Mexican Pacific shelf

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Abstract

The dynamics of a semidiurnal internal tidal wave at a narrow Mexican Pacific shelf is discussed using the data of temperature obtained by an anchored instrument and data of field surveys. The internal tide on the shelf is dominated by an inclined wave, which propagates upward and onshore along a continental slope. Despite its reflection from the bottom and from the surface of the ocean, they remain inclined and totally destroyed over the course of one wavelength. Due to wave reflection from the inclined bottom, the horizontal and vertical wave number increase threefold when the wave goes into shallow waters. The wave undergoes nonlinear transformation and overturns forming several homogeneous temperature layers up to 20 m thick. The most intense disturbances of water layers are observed near the bottom, where the slope angle approaches its critical value. Because of nonlinear effects, the wave carries cool deep water out to the shallow depth and causes coastal upwelling. Intense solar warming together with vertical mixing results in a rapid rise of temperature in the 130-m water column that was observed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), grant No. 35553-T. The author thanks the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions that allowed us to significantly improve the paper. The author also thanks Xenia Frenkel and Jocelyn Serrano-Barragan for their help in translating and editing this manuscript. The author also expresses deep gratitude to Prof. Konstantin †Konyaev for his help in discussions of this work.

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  1. Physics Department, Guadalajara University, Guadalajara, Mexico

    Anatoliy Filonov

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  1. Anatoliy Filonov
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Correspondence to Anatoliy Filonov.

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Responsible Editor: Richard Signell

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Filonov, A. Inclined internal tide waves at a narrow Mexican Pacific shelf. Ocean Dynamics 61, 917–931 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0409-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0409-4

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