http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.

104502

Synopsis: Motion in the Ocean

March 11, 2014
A new study suggests only the topmost part of the seafloor is relevant in determining the
conversion of tidal energy to wave energy in the ocean.

L. Zhang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett (2014)

The Earths climate is strongly affected by the ways in which energy moves
into, out of, and around the oceans. One important component of energy
flow is the conversion of tidal motionchanges in sea levels caused by
gravitational effects of the Mooninto internal ocean waves. Such waves
directly influence mixing of water from regions with different temperature
and salinity, as well as overall circulation. In a paper in Physical Review
Letters, Likun Zhang and Harry Swinney at the University of Texas at Austin,
present numerical simulations of how tidal flow over seafloor ridges is
transformed into wave energy. They find that only the topmost parts of
seafloor topography contribute to wave generation, in effect creating a
virtual seafloor. It is only above it that tidal energy can be converted to
wave energy.
The efficiency of tidal-to-wave energy conversion is difficult to calculate
owing to the complex structure of the seafloor: When sea levels rise and fall,
water moves up and down on top of underwater mountains and ridges; the
vertical motion of the sea bounces off the slopes of these topographic
features to create sideways oscillations that form a complex structure of
internal ocean waves. Zhang and Swinney carried out simulations on both
sinusoidal and random seafloor topographies and discovered that, some
distance below the peaks of these structures, no conversion takes place. The
reason is that wave interference cancels out tidal-to-internal energy
conversion below this virtual seafloor. As a result, the authors suggest that
future simulations of this important process can be simpler and more
accurate because any topography below the virtual seafloor can be ignored.
David Voss
http://journals.aps.org/prl/references/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.104502