Mixing, Internal Waves and Mesoscale Dynamics in the East China Sea

Abstract : The long-term goal of our research program is to better understand and quantify relationships between mesoscale dynamics, internal waves, and turbulence in shallow tidal-affected marginal seas. The objectives of the second year of the project were: (i) to determine the characteristics of internal waves in the East China Sea (ECS) and to delineate their generation mechanisms; (ii) to verify the hypothesis that the origination of high-frequency non-linear internal wave and/or solitary wave packets are related to a particular phase of the barotropic tide, especially the periods of low surface elevation in the central northern part of the ECS; (iii) to investigate whether the reversing and rotating barotropic tidal flows affect shear-generated turbulence in the bottom boundary layer and of the water column in different ways; and (iv) to study the influence of non-linear internal waves on turbulence in the pycnocline and in the benthic boundary layer.