Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Nonlinear Internal Waves in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

Abstract

Nguyen, V. T., 2016. Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Nonlinear Internal Waves in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 902–906. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The existence of nonlinear internal waves (NIWs) running up a sloping boundary of the Ile-aux-Lievres Island in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada has been revealed by the researchers at Memorial and Dalhousie Universities of Canada. Unfortunately, there is no direct field observation of the generation of the NIWs in this region in order to determine where these waves be generated and emanated from. In this paper, a nonhydrostatic three-dimensional model, MITgcm model, is modified and applied to investigate the generation and propagation of NIWs by tidal forcing over an idealized depression simplified from the topography of the North Channel in the St. Lawrence Estuary. A comparison between the numerical results and the observations shows very good qualitative agreements. The results of the simulation is not only to explain above phenomenon, but also to show the mechanism of the NIWs in this region.