Lagrangian coherent structures and internal wave attractors
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Peacock_Lagrangian coherent.pdf
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1.28 MB
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Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
35e88c7e40341595f529137e4db9e277
Author(s)
Tang, Wenbo
Peacock, Thomas
Date Issued
January 2010
Journal
Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science
Publisher
American Institute of Physics
Citation
Tang, Wenbo, and Thomas Peacock. Lagrangian Coherent Structures and Internal Wave Attractors. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science 20, no. 1 (2010): 017508. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
For a nonuniformly stratified layer of fluid, internal gravity waves propagate at varying angles depending on the local buoyancy and Coriolis (in geophysical applications) frequencies. Relatively confined geometries, such as multiple submarine ridges, can support internal wave attractors, which can be viewed as Lagrangian coherent structures for the energy density flux. Since traditional approaches for locating these structures prove cumbersome, here we develop an approach that efficiently extracts the locations of internal wave attractors, as well as quantifying the rate of attraction. Using realistic geometry and stratification from ocean observations, we find that a significant northern portion of the Luzon ridge can support internal wave attractors.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3273054
