Abstract
Abstract The stability of inviscid frontally trapped waves along a shelfbreak is examined to determine whether frontal instabilities may contribute to the alongfront variability frequently observed. Three different basic states with increasingly complex stratification are treated. In each case, the shelfbreak occurs where a constant depth shelf meets a slope region with linearly increasing depth. The first basic state consists of an unstratified flow with a velocity discontinuity located at the shelfbreak. The resulting shear waves are stable for the velocity shear and topography typical of the Middle Atlantic Bight. Next, a two-layer, geostrophically balanced front located at the shelfbreak is considered. This is similar to the configuration of Flagg and Beardsley, but with an unbounded bottom topography offshore beyond the frontal region. For parameters typical of the Middle Atlantic Bight in winter, the most unstable wave is surface-trapped with a typical e-olding growth time scale of 9.5 days. The mos...
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