Large Internal Solitary Waves in Shallow
Waters
Valery Liapidevskii and Nikolay Gavrilov
Introduction
Nonlinear internal waves generated by internal tides play the important role in the
energy transfer in shelf zones of seas. In coastal zones, shoreward propagation of
surface and internal waves generally leads to breaking. The turbulence, generated by
breaking and mixing processes at the wave fronts, induces the very effective mechanism of energy dissipation and momentum exchange, leading to intensive sediments
suspension and transport in the shelf zone. Such high-energetic mechanisms of the
shelf ventilation can effectively intensify the biological and hydrological processes
in coastal waters. In particular, they can redistribute the waste waters and influence
the water quality in near shore area. The run up of internal waves in near shore waters
is very similar to the run up of surface long waves, but the process of internal wave
breaking and dissipation is not quite understood. The main difference between internal and surface waves is that large internal waves can propagate for a long distance
without breaking. In contrast to the energy dissipation mechanism for surface solitary waves in a homogeneous fluid, the energy dissipation in internal waves is closely
connected with the entrainment and mixing in stratified shear flows. Very often, the
wave fronts take the form of solitary wave trains with the large ratio of the wave
amplitude to the upper layer depth [14]. Propagating to shore, they transform into
the large amplitude internal waves of elevation. The large amplitude internal waves
can be identified by their ability to carry trapped fluid horizontally for long distances
[4, 15, 22, 24, 26, 27]. The transition from wave-like motion to the separate moving
V. Liapidevskii ( ✉ ) ⋅ N. Gavrilov
Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Lavrentyev ave. 15, Novosibirsk, Russia
e-mail: liapid@hydro.nsc.ru
N. Gavrilov
e-mail: gavrilov@hydro.nsc.ru
V. Liapidevskii
Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova str. 2, Novosibirsk, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_9
87
Waters
Valery Liapidevskii and Nikolay Gavrilov
Introduction
Nonlinear internal waves generated by internal tides play the important role in the
energy transfer in shelf zones of seas. In coastal zones, shoreward propagation of
surface and internal waves generally leads to breaking. The turbulence, generated by
breaking and mixing processes at the wave fronts, induces the very effective mechanism of energy dissipation and momentum exchange, leading to intensive sediments
suspension and transport in the shelf zone. Such high-energetic mechanisms of the
shelf ventilation can effectively intensify the biological and hydrological processes
in coastal waters. In particular, they can redistribute the waste waters and influence
the water quality in near shore area. The run up of internal waves in near shore waters
is very similar to the run up of surface long waves, but the process of internal wave
breaking and dissipation is not quite understood. The main difference between internal and surface waves is that large internal waves can propagate for a long distance
without breaking. In contrast to the energy dissipation mechanism for surface solitary waves in a homogeneous fluid, the energy dissipation in internal waves is closely
connected with the entrainment and mixing in stratified shear flows. Very often, the
wave fronts take the form of solitary wave trains with the large ratio of the wave
amplitude to the upper layer depth [14]. Propagating to shore, they transform into
the large amplitude internal waves of elevation. The large amplitude internal waves
can be identified by their ability to carry trapped fluid horizontally for long distances
[4, 15, 22, 24, 26, 27]. The transition from wave-like motion to the separate moving
V. Liapidevskii ( ✉ ) ⋅ N. Gavrilov
Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Lavrentyev ave. 15, Novosibirsk, Russia
e-mail: liapid@hydro.nsc.ru
N. Gavrilov
e-mail: gavrilov@hydro.nsc.ru
V. Liapidevskii
Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova str. 2, Novosibirsk, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_9
87