Numerical study of enhanced energy dissipation near a seamount |
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| Authors: | Nobuyuki Iwamae Toshiyuki Hibiya Yoshihiro Niwa |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Using a two-dimensional primitive equation model, we examine nonlinear responses of a semidiurnal tidal flow impinging on
a seamount with a background Garrett-Munk-like (GM-like) internal wavefield. It is found that horizontally elongated pancake-like
structures of high vertical wavenumber near-inertial current shear are created both in the near-field (the region over the
slope of the seamount) and far-field (the region over the flat bottom of the ocean). An important distinction is that the
high vertical wavenumber near-inertial current shear is amplified only at mid-latitudes in the far-field (owing to a parametric
subharmonic instability (PSI)), whereas it is amplified both at mid-and high-latitudes (above the latitude where PSI can occur)
in the near-field. In order to clarify the generating mechanism for the strong shear in the near-field, additional numerical
experiments are carried out with the GM-like background internal waves removed. The experiments show that the strong shear
is also created, indicating that it is not caused by the interaction between the background GM-like internal waves and the
semidiurnal internal tides. One possible explanation is proposed for the amplification of high vertical wavenumber near-inertial
current shear in the near-field where tide residual flow resulting from tide-topography interaction plays an important role
in transferring energy from high-mode internal tides to near-inertial internal waves. |
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| Keywords: | Diapycnal mixing numerical experiment internal tides near-inertial shear tide residual flow seamount |
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