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Shelfbreak upwelling induced by alongshore currents: analytical and numerical results

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2011

Robert N. Miller ,
Ricardo P. Matano  and
Elbio D. Palma
Robert N. Miller*
Affiliation:
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5503, USA INRIA Grenoble Rhône-Alpes, Laboratoire Jean Kuntzman, 38041 Grenoble, France
Ricardo P. Matano
Affiliation:
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5503, USA
Elbio D. Palma
Affiliation:
Departmento de Fisica, Universidad Nacional del Sur and Instituto Argentino de Oceanografia (CONICET), 8000, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
*
†Email address for correspondence: miller@coas.oregonstate.edu
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Abstract

Alongshore flow in the direction of propagation of coastal trapped waves can result in upwelling at the shelfbreak. The intensity of this upwelling can be comparable in magnitude to wind-driven coastal upwelling, with its associated ecological features. Recent numerical experiments by Matano & Palma indicate that this upwelling results from convergence of Ekman transport at the shelfbreak. The mechanism for this phenomenon can be understood in terms of steady solutions to the shallow water equations in the presence of Coriolis force and bottom drag. Matano & Palma interpreted their numerical results in terms of the arrested topographic wave, but did not present direct comparisons. Here we present a family of analytical solutions to the equations of the arrested topographic wave that shows striking quantitative agreement with earlier numerical results.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Ocean processes Geophysical and Geological Flows: Shallow water flows Geophysical and Geological Flows: Topographic effects
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 686 , 10 November 2011 , pp. 239 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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