Climate of long internal waves and resuspension on the coastal shelf

Abstract

Observations of the shelf environment rarely associate internal solitary waves (ISWs) with the impact of their passage. An experiment observedduring the Coastal Mixing and Optics 1996 (CMO '96), a sequence of long internal waves on a coastal shelf is reported,including both mode-1 and mode-2 waves, together with evidence related to the interaction of propagating ISWs and the benthicboundary layer. The observed ISW dynamics is shown to present a repetitive pattern or "climate cycle". The ISW-associated benthicsignature described here occurs frequently (at least once a day) in the CMO '96 coastal area and suggests that ISWs under calm,summer-like conditions may have a decisive influence on the fate of near-bottom pollutants or biological processes in shelf regions.

Keywords

• Internal waves
• Turbulence
• Instability
• Resuspension