Mathematical Analysis of Continental Shelf Waves on a Curved Coast

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Measurements of velocity fields along the coasts of oceans throughout the world show that much of the fluid energy is contained in motions with periods of a few days or longer. The comparison of measurements at different places along the same coast show that in general these low-frequency disturbances propagate along coasts with shallow water to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. These waves have come to be known as continental shelf waves (CSWs). The purpose of the present proposal is to determine, using a selection of models of increasing complexity, the form of non-propagating, trapped CSWs along curved coasts. The existence of such non-propagating modes is significant as they would tend to be forced by atmospheric weather systems, which have similar periods of a few days, similar horizontal extent, and a reasonably broad spectrum in space and time. Areas where such modes were trapped would thus appear to be likely to show higher than normal energy in the low frequency horizontal velocity field.