Are any coastal internal tides predictable?

Jonathan D. Nash, Emily L. Shroyer, Samuel M. Kelly, Mark E. Inall, Timothy F. Duda, Murray D. Levine, Nicole L. Jones, Ruth C. Musgrave

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

Surface tides are the heartbeat of the ocean. Because they are controlled by Earth's motion relative to other astronomical objects in our solar system, surface tides act like clockwork and generate highly deterministic ebb and flow familiar to all mariners. In contrast, baroclinic motions at tidal frequencies are much more stochastic, owing to complexities in how these internal motions are generated and propagate. Here, we present analysis of current records from continental margins worldwide to illustrate that coastal internal tides are largely unpredictable. This conclusion has numerous implications for coastal processes, as across-shelf exchange and vertical mixing are, in many cases, strongly influenced by theinternal wave field.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)80-95
Number of pages16
JournalOceanography
Volume25
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2012

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