A numerical study of tidal asymmetry: preferable asymmetry of nonlinear mechanisms in Xiangshan Bay, East China Sea

Abstract

In-situ measurements in Xiangshan Bay, the East China Sea, show that the duration of the rising tide is shorter than that of the falling tide around the bay mouth, while it becomes much longer in the inner bay. A finite volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) with an unstructured mesh was applied to simulate the asymmetric tidal field of Xiangshan Bay. The model reproduced the observed tidal elevations and currents successfully. Several numerical experiments were conducted to clarify the roles of primary mechanisms underlying the asymmetric tidal field. According to the model results, the time-varying channel depth and nonlinear advection prefer shorter duration of the rising tide in Xiangshan Bay, while the time-varying bay width favors longer duration of the rising tide. The overtides generated by these two opposite types of nonlinear mechanisms are out of phase, resulting in smaller M4 amplitude than the sumfold of each individual contribution. Although the bottom friction as a nonlinear mechanism contributes little to the generation of overtide M4, it is regarded as a mechanism that could cause a shorter duration of the rising tide, for it can slow down the M2 phase speed much more than it slows down the M4 phase speed. The time-varying depth, nonlinear advection and bottom friction are dominating factors around the bay mouth, while the time-varying width dominates in the inner bay, causing the tidal elevation asymmetry to be inverted along the bay.