From Topographic Internal Gravity Waves to Turbulence
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[1] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Township of Chapel Hill, Estados Unidos
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[2] University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Annual review of fluid mechanics, ISSN 0066-4189, Nº. 49, 2017, págs. 195-220
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Internal gravity waves are a key process linking the large-scale mechanical forcing of the oceans to small-scale turbulence and mixing. In this review, we focus on internal waves generated by barotropic tidal flow over topography. We review progress made in the past decade toward understanding the different processes that can lead to turbulence during the generation, propagation, and reflection of internal waves and how these processes affect mixing. We consider different modeling strategies and new tools that have been developed. Simulation results, the wealth of observational material collected during large-scale experiments, and new laboratory data reveal how the cascade of energy from tidal flow to turbulence occurs through a host of nonlinear processes, including intensified boundary flows, wave breaking, wave-wave interactions, and the instability of high-mode internal wave beams. The roles of various nondimensional parameters involving the ocean state, roughness geometry, and tidal forcing are described.
