Reflection and diffraction of internal solitary waves by a circular island

We have investigated the reflection and diffraction of first-mode and second-mode solitary waves by an island, using a three-dimensional nonhydrostatic numerical model. The model domain consists of a circular island 15 km in diameter in an ocean 300 m deep. We use prescribed density anomalies in an initially motionless ocean to produce highly energetic internal solitary waves; their subsequent propagation is subject to island perturbations with and without the effect of earth’s rotation. In addition to reflected waves, two wave branches pass around the island and reconnect behind it. Island perturbations to the first-mode and second-mode waves are qualitatively similar, but the latter is more profound because of the longer contact time and, in the presence of earth’s rotation, the scale compatibility between Rossby radius of the second baroclinic mode and the island diameter. Without earth’s rotation, reflected and diffracted waves are symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis passing through the island center. With earth’s rotation, the current following the wave front veers to the right due to Coriolis deflection. For a westward propagating incoming wave, the deflection favors northward wave propagation in the region between the crossover point and the island, shifting the wave reconnection point behind the island northward. It also displaces the most visible part of the reflected waves to the southeast. In the presence of earth’s rotation, a second-mode incoming wave produces island-trapped internal Kelvin waves, which are visible after the passage of the wave front.

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