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Oceanography Brown Bag Seminar
Tidal mixing on the continental slope
Thursday, October 9, 2003
12:00 pm–1:00 pm
Director's Conference Room, Mesa Lab
ABSTRACT
The tides are proposed to be an important source of energy for
diapycnal mixing in the deep ocean. The route by which tidal energy is
transferred to the small scales in which mixing occurs is a complex one:
barotropic tides flowing over complex topography may lead to the
generation of internal waves on tidal frequencies, as well as local
mixing. The internal tides may undergo nonlinear interactions to induce
wave breaking and mixing. Here I focus on further interactions between
internal tides and the topography which may lead to overturning and
mixing. Numerical simulations are used to examine the interaction between
the internal tides and variable continental slopes. Examples of processes
which scatter internal wave energy to smaller scales are reflection from
slopes near a critical angle, and reflection from corrugated slopes.
For more information, contact:
Lisa Butler.
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