Abstract
Long‐term (10–12 months) current meter observations from the western Iberian continental margin are analyzed focusing on oscillations in the internal gravity wave band. Kinetic energy spectra are characterized by background falloff rates with frequency ω ranging from ω−1 to ω−2, superposed by energetic narrow bands at specific frequencies. Significant spectral peaks are found at some of the inertial‐tidal nonlinear interaction frequencies (M2 + f and M4 + f) and at higher semidiurnal harmonics (M4, M6 and M8). Semidiurnal internal tide kinetic energy reveals a spatial distribution with a maximum coherent contribution (44 cm2 s−2) at 1200‐m depth on the mid continental slope and a maximum relative incoherent signal (>60% of the total semidiurnal tidal band energy) at intermediate levels (650 to 1200 m depth and 30 to 130 km from the shelf break).
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