Abstract:

The propagation equation of variable-coefficient internal solitary waves was used to describe the propagation and evolution of weakly nonlinear internal solitary waves (ISWs)on slopes with different slopes. The results show that weakly nonlinear ISWs suffer from fission during the climbing process and split into the prominent wave and the trailing wave train. The ISWs are mainly influenced by the shoaling effect and the energy dissipation caused by terrain induction. For the ISWs with weak nonlinearity, the shoaling effect caused by topography is dominant, and causes the increase in wave amplitude and the decrease in wave speed. The wave amplitude and the wave speed, meanwhile, tend to be stable. Under the same terrain condition, as the initial wave amplitude increases, the increase in wave amplitude decreases, and the decrease in wave speed increases. As the slope increases, the energy dissipation effect of the nonlinear internal solitary wave in the propagation process is gradually greater than the shoaling effect, which makes the wave amplitude of the internal solitary wave increase first and then decrease in the propagation process. The ISWs change from concave to convex as the wave passes over the turning point (where the depth of the upper layer is the same as that of the lower layer).

Key words: internal solitary wave (ISW), two-layer fluid, propagation equations of variable-coefficient ISWs, slope topography, shoaling effect