INTERACTION OF SMALL-AMPLITUDE SURFACE GRAVITY WAVES WITH SURFACE CURRENTS.

Abstract

THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL INTERACTION OF SURFACE GRAVITY WAVES WITH NONDISPERSIVE INTERNAL WAVES IS STUDIED IN A LINEAR APPROXIMATION BY SOLVING THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION IN A COORDINATE SYSTEM MOVING WITH THE TIME-INDEPENDENT SURFACE CURRENT SYSTEM INDUCED BY THE INTERNAL WAVE.A RANGE OF SURFACE WAVELENGTHS IS FOUND WHICH IS REFLECTED BY THE CURRENT SYSTEM (AS SEEN IN THIS COORDINATE SYSTEM).IN THE OCEAN-FIXED FRAME THESE WAVES ARE IDENTIFIED AS WAVES WHICH INTERACT STRONGLY WITH THE INTERNAL WAVES AND EXCHANGE ENERGY WITH IT.THE EFFECT ON THE SURFACE WAVE PATTERN AND THE RELATION TO SURFACE SLICKS IS DISCUSSED.(A).