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Internal solitary waves with subsurface cores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2019

Yangxin He Open the ORCID record for Yangxin He [Opens in a new window] ,
Kevin G. Lamb Open the ORCID record for Kevin G. Lamb [Opens in a new window]  and
Ren-Chieh Lien
Yangxin He*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Math, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Kevin G. Lamb
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Math, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Ren-Chieh Lien
Affiliation:
Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Large internal solitary waves with subsurface cores have recently been observed in the South China Sea. Here fully nonlinear solutions of the Dubreil–Jacotin–Long equation are used to study the conditions under which such cores exist. We find that the location of the cores, either at the surface or below the surface, is largely determined by the sign of the vorticity of the near-surface background current. The results of a numerical simulation of a two-dimensional shoaling internal solitary wave are presented which illustrate the formation of a subsurface core.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Internal waves Waves/Free-surface Flows: Solitary waves Waves/Free-surface Flows: Wave breaking
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 873 , 25 August 2019 , pp. 1 - 17
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Copyright
© 2019 Cambridge University Press 

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