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Three dimensional simulation of internal wave attractors in the Luzon Strait

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Abstract

Internal waves propagate along wave beams that are inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. It is conjectured that the internal waves generated in the Luzon Strait may be confined between the double ridges in the strait and concentrate to a closed trajectory, the so-called internal wave attractor, due to the reflection of wave beams from the lateral boundaries, sea surface and bottom. This work carried out two experiments using a three dimensional non-hydrostatic general circulation model, MITgcm, to investigate the possibility that the ridges in the Luzon Strait allows for internal wave attractors. Baroclinic current in both of the experiments demonstrate the forming of ring-like patterns in some section around 20° and 21°N, indicating that the development of the internal wave attractors are allowed in the Luzon Strait. The different resolutions and initial conditions in the two experiments also reveal that the internal-wave-attractor phenomenon is robust in this region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling (MASNUM), the First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Gang Wang, Dejun Dai & Fangli Qiao

  2. Key Laboratory of Data Analysis and Applications, the First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Gang Wang & Dejun Dai

  3. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Quanan Zheng

  4. Department of Mathematics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Min Lin

Authors
  1. Gang Wang
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  2. Quanan Zheng
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  3. Min Lin
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  4. Dejun Dai
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  5. Fangli Qiao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gang Wang.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China under contract No. 2011CB403502; the Major National Scientific Research Projects of China under contract No. 2012CB957803; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No 41476024; the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Shandong Joint Fund of Marine Science Research Centers of China under contract No. U1406404; the Foundation for Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Scientists in Shandong Province of China under contract No. BS2011HZ019.

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Wang, G., Zheng, Q., Lin, M. et al. Three dimensional simulation of internal wave attractors in the Luzon Strait. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 34, 14–21 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0744-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0744-2

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