Abstract
The activities of internal solitary waves (ISWs) over the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea (SCS) are of high complexity. In this study, we investigated the spatial-temporal characteristics of the shoaling ISWs over the northern SCS continental shelf using the satellite images and the results of numerical simulation. The examination of the ISW signals in the satellite optical images revealed the existence of three types of ISWs in the region north to the Dongsha Island, namely, mode-1 depression ISW, mode-1 elevation ISW, and mode-2 convex ISW. The geographical distributions of these ISWs were derived from the satellite images. Numerical results exhibited the process of polarity conversion of ISWs, by which mode-1 elevation waves were transformed from the shoaling mode-1 depression waves. The mode-2 convex ISWs generally followed the mode-1 depression ISWs. The numerical results suggested that the interaction of the mode-1 depression ISWs with the up-slope topography locally generated mode-2 ISWs, and such waves of high vertical mode dissipated rapidly during the inshore propagation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alford M H, Lien R-C, Simmons H, et al. 2010. Speed and evolution of nonlinear internal waves transiting the South China Sea. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 40(6): 1338–1355
Apel J R, Holbrook J R, Liu A K, et al. 1985. The Sulu Sea internal soliton experiment. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 15(12): 1625–1651
Apel J R, Ostrovsky L A, Stepanyants Y A, et al. 2007. Internal solitons in the ocean and their effect on underwater sound. Acoustical Society of America Journal, 121(2): 695
Buijsman M C, Uchiyama Y, McWilliams J C, et al. 2012. Modeling semidiurnal internal tide variability in the Southern California Bight. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 42(1): 62–77
Cai Shuqun, Xie Jieshuo, He Jianling. 2012. An overview of internal solitary waves in the South China Sea. Surveys in Geophysics, 33(5): 927–943
Chen Zhiwu, Xie Jieshuo, Wang Dongxiao, et al. 2014. Density stratification influences on generation of different modes internal solitary waves. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 119(10): 7029–7046
Farmer D, Li Qiang, Park J-H. 2009. Internal wave observations in the South China Sea: The role of rotation and non-linearity. Atmosphere-Ocean, 47(4): 267–280
Flather R A. 1976. A tidal model of the north-west European continental shelf. Mem Soc Roy Sci Liege, Ser 6, 10: 141–164
Haury L R, Briscoe M G, Orr M H. 1979. Tidally generated internal wave packets in Massachusetts Bay. Nature, 278(5702): 312–317
Helfrich K R, Grimshaw R H J. 2008. Nonlinear disintegration of the internal tide. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 38(3): 686–701
Jan S, Lien R-C, Ting Chihua. 2008. Numerical study of baroclinic tides in Luzon Strait. Journal of Oceanography, 64(5): 789–802
Klymak J M, Pinkel R, Liu C-T, et al. 2006. Prototypical solitons in the South China Sea. Geophysical Research Letters, 33(11): L11607
Lee Chiyuan, Beardsley R C. 1974. The generation of long nonlinear internal waves in a eeakly stratified shear flow. J Geophys Res, 79(3): 453–462
Li Qiang, Farmer D M. 2011. The generation and evolution of nonlinear internal waves in the deep basin of the South China Sea. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 41(7): 1345–1363
Lien R-C, D’Asaro E A, Henyey F, et al. 2012. Trapped core formation within a shoaling nonlinear internal wave. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 42(4): 511–525
Marshall J, Adcroft A, Hill C, et al. 1997. A finite-volume, incompressible Navier Stokes model for studies of the ocean on parallel computers. J Geophys Res, 102(C3): 5753–5766
Mitnik L, Alpers W, Chen K S, et al. 2000. Manifestation of internal solitary waves on ERS SAR and SPOT images: similarities and differences. In: Proceedings of the IEEE 2000 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Sym posium (IGARSS'00). Honolulu, HI: IEEE, 5: 1857–1859
Moore S E, Lien R-C. 2007. Pilot whales follow internal solitary waves in the South China Sea. Marine Mammal Science, 23(1): 193–196
Moum J N, Klymak J M, Nash J D, et al. 2007. Energy transport by nonlinear internal waves. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 37(7): 1968–1988
Orr M H, Mignerey P C. 2003. Nonlinear internal waves in the South China Sea: Observation of the conversion of depression internal waves to elevation internal waves. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(C3): 3064
Osborne A R, Burch T L. 1980. Internal solitons in the Andaman Sea. Science, 208(4443): 451–460
Ramp S R, Tang T Y, Duda T F, et al. 2004. Internal solitons in the northeastern South China Sea. Part I: Sources and deep water propagation. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 29(4): 1157–1181
St Laurent L, Simmons H, Tang T Y, et al. 2011. Turbulent properties of internal waves in the South China Sea. Oceanography, 24(4): 78–87
Stanton T P, Ostrovsky L A. 1998. Observations of highly nonlinear internal solitons over the continental shelf. Geophys Res Lett, 25(14): 2695–2698
Yang Y J, Fang Y C, Chang M-H, et al. 2009. Observations of second baroclinic mode internal solitary waves on the continental slope of the northern South China Sea. J Geophys Res, 114(C10): C10003
Yang Y J, Fang Y C, Tang T Y, et al. 2010. Convex and concave types of second baroclinic mode internal solitary waves. Nonlinear Proesses in Geophysics, 17(6): 605–614
Zhao Zhongxiang, Klemas V, Zheng Quanan, et al. 2004. Remote sensing evidence for baroclinic tide origin of internal solitary waves in the northeastern South China Sea. Geophys Res Lett, 31(6): L06302
Zhao Zhongxiang, Klemas V V, Zheng Quanan, et al. 2003. Satellite observation of internal solitary waves converting polarity. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(19): 1988
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: The National Key Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China under contract No. 2014CB745003; the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) of China under contract No. 2013AA09A502; the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography of MOE under contract No. 201413032; the National Key Scientific Research Project “The South China Sea Deep” under contract No. 91028008; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41176008 and 41176010.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qian, H., Huang, X., Tian, J. et al. Shoaling of the internal solitary waves over the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 34, 35–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0734-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0734-4