Skip to main content
Log in

Laboratory modeling of the propagation of periodic internal waves over bottom slopes

  • Published:
Physical Oceanography

The experimental investigation of the run-up of periodic internal waves in a two-layer fluid on the coastal slope is performed in an open hydrochannel at the Physical Department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. The waves are produced by a wave generator. We study the transformation of waves, the vertical structure of the field of velocities of mass transfer, and the behavior of the parameters of internal waves propagating over the sloping bottom. It is shown that the run-up and breaking of internal waves are accompanied by periodic emissions of portions of the heavier fluid from the bottom layer upward along the slope. The Stokes drift velocity changes its sign as a function of depth. Moreover, both the wave length (the horizontal distance between the neighboring crests) and the height of waves over the sloping bottom (the elevation of the crest over the slope along the vertical) decrease as the wave approaches the coast.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. K. O. Emery and C. G. Gunnerson, “Internal swash and surf,” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 70, No. 8, 2379–2380 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. B. C. Wallace and D. L. Wilkinson, “Run-up of internal waves on a gentle slope in a two-layered system,” J. Fluid Mech., 191, 419–442 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. N. K. Shelkovnikov, M. B. Timonov, and V. N. Tuporshin, “On the internal wave transfer in a two-layer fluid,” Morsk. Gidrofiz. Zh., No. 6, 60–63 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  4. K. R. Helfrich, “Internal solitary wave breaking and run-up on a uniform slope,” J. Fluid Mech., 243, 133–154 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. V. Vlasenko and K. Hutter, “Numerical experiments on the breaking of solitary internal waves over a slope-shelf topography,” J. Phys. Ocean., 32, No. 6, 1779–1793 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. V. Vlasenko and K. Hutter, “Transformation and disintegration of strongly nonlinear internal waves by topography in stratified lakes,” Ann. Geophys., 20, No. 12, 2087–2103 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. D. Bourgault, D. E. Kelley, and P. S. Galbraith, “Interfacial solitary wave run-up in the St. Lawrence Estuary,” J. Mar. Res., 63, No. 6, 1001–1015 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. K. R. Helfrich and W. K. Melville, “Long nonlinear internal waves,” Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech., 38, 395–425 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. N. K. Shelkovnikov, V. V. Rosanov, M. V. Solntsev, et al., “Measuring of the flow velocity in a channel by a Doppler laser hydrometer,” Vest. Mosk. Univ. Ser. 3. Fiz. Astron., 20, No. 4, 110–114 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  10. L. N. Sretenskii, Theory of Wave Motions of the Fluid [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1977).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 5, pp. 37–46, September–October, 2009.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dotsenko, S.F., Shelkovnikov, N.K. Laboratory modeling of the propagation of periodic internal waves over bottom slopes. Phys Oceanogr 19, 301–309 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11110-010-9055-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11110-010-9055-5

Keywords

Navigation