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Scalar transport by propagation of an internal solitary wave over a slope-shelf

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Abstract

Internal solitary waves (ISWs) of depression are commonly found in the coastal environment and are believed to re-suspend sediments in coastal regions where the waves break. In this research, the direct numerical simulation is used to study the scalar transport induced by the ISWs of depression propagating over a slope-shelf topography. The scalar in this paper is considered to represent the concentrations of very fine suspended solids or pollutants. Vortices are observed from the numerical results at the bottom boundary layer on the slope during the ISW shoaling process, resulting in a scalar transport. All incident ISWs of depression are observed to produce a waveform inversion on the shelf. The scalar transport from a slope to a shelf is the consequence of the combined vortices at the bottom boundary layer and the overturning of the ISWs of depression, and the latter was commonly ignored in previous studies. This study shows that the ISW-induced scalar transport consists of the following four stages: the slip transport, the wash transport, the vortex transport, and the secondary transport. A dimensionless time scales of the four stages are calculated, and the beginning times of the wash transport and the secondary transport are found to be uncorrelated with the slope gradients, taking values of 1.26, 4, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Special Fund of State Key Laboratory of China (Grant No. 20185044412), the 111 Project (Grant No. B17015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hobai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jin Xu, Ling-ling Wang, Hong-wu Tang & Zhu Hai

  2. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jin Xu, Ling-ling Wang & Zhu Hai

  3. School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    John James Reginald Williams

Authors
  1. Jin Xu
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  2. Ling-ling Wang
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  3. Hong-wu Tang
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  4. Zhu Hai
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  5. John James Reginald Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ling-ling Wang.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0401703, 2017YFC0405605) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51879086, 51609068, 51709126)

Biography: Jin Xu (1992-), Male, Ph. D.

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Xu, J., Wang, Ll., Tang, Hw. et al. Scalar transport by propagation of an internal solitary wave over a slope-shelf. J Hydrodyn 31, 317–325 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-018-0159-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42241-018-0159-6

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