The reflection and diffraction of internal waves from the junction of a slit and a half-space, with application to submarine canyons

Abstract

We consider the three-dimensional reflection and diffraction properties of internal waves in a continuously stratified rotating fluid which are incident on the junction of a vertical slit and a half-space. This geometry is a model for submarine canyons on continental slopes in the ocean, where various physical phenomena embodying reflection and diffraction effects have been observed. Three types of incident wave are considered: (1) Kelvin waves in the slit (canyon); (2) Kelvin waves on the slope; and (3) plane internal waves incident from the half-space (ocean). These are scattered into Kelvin and Poincaré waves in the slit, a Kelvin wave on the slope and Poincaré waves in the half-space. Most of the discussion is centered around case (1). Various properties of the wave field are calculated for ranges of the parameters c/ cot θ, γα and ƒ/ω where cot θ is the topographic slope, c is the internal wave ray slope, α is the canyon half-width, γ is the down-slope wave-number, ƒ is the Coriolis parameter and ω is the wave frequency. Analytical results are obtained for small γα and some approximate results for larger values of γα. The results show that significant wave trapping may occur in oceanic situations, and that submarine canyons may act as source regions for internal Kelvin waves on the continental slope.