Transformation of baroclinic tidal waves in the conditions of the shelf of the Far Eastern seas

Abstract

This work is devoted to the study of the regimes of transformation of baroclinic tidal waves under the conditions of the Far Eastern seas within the framework of a fully nonlinear numerical model. Two sections were selected to study the features of wave dynamics – in the Sea of Okhotsk (Sakhalin Island shelf) and in the Bering Sea (near Cape Navarin). On the basis of the performed calculations, regional and seasonal features of the transformation of baroclinic waves and the structure of the flow induced by them were revealed. It is shown that the dynamics in the winter season is less intensive. The rotation effect on the formation of solibore in the studied conditions is analyzed. The obtained estimates of wave amplitudes and velocities are consistent with the published data of field observations in the Sea of Okhotsk. For the Bering Sea, the conditions are shown to be favorable for the generation of intensive internal waves, which indirectly confirms the hypothesis of influence of such waves on the formation of underwater sand dunes.

Geographical and seasonal distribution of tidal body force field in the Sea of Okhotsk in the context of internal wave dynamics

“…The selected crosssection (Figure 1 a software package that implements the procedure for numerical integration of a fully nonlinear twodimensional (vertical plane) hydrodynamic equations for an inviscid incompressible stratified rotating fluid in the Boussinesq approximation, taking into account the influence of the barotropic tide [Lamb, 1994]. A description of the model, as well as a comparison of the simulation results with field measurements, can be found in our works, including those devoted to the study of the dynamics of internal waves in the Sea of Okhotsk [e.g., Kuznetsov et al, 2021;Rouvinskaya et al, 2017Rouvinskaya et al, , 2021. To initialize the calculations, the bottom relief functions were parametrized based on the GEBCO-2022 data and density stratification from the climatological atlas WOA18; data on the amplitudes and phases of the multicomponent barotropic tide were taken from the TPXO8 model.…”