Tidal Conversion and Dissipation at Steep Topography in a Channel Poleward of the Critical Latitude

Abstract

AbstractIn high-latitude fjords and channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, walls support radiating internal tides as Kelvin waves. Such waves allow for significant barotropic to baroclinic tidal energy conversion, which is otherwise small or negligible when poleward of the critical latitude. This fundamentally three-dimensional system of a subinertial channel is investigated with a suite of numerical simulations in rectangular channels of varying width featuring idealized, isolated ridges. Even in channels as wide as 5 times the internal Rossby radius, tidal conversion can remain as high as predicted by an equivalent two-dimensional, nonrotating system. Curves of tidal conversion as a function of channel width, however, do not vary monotonically. Instead, they display peaks and nulls owing to interference between the Kelvin waves along the wall and similar waves that propagate along the ridge flanks, the wavelengths of which can be estimated from linear theory to guide prediction. Because the wavelengths are comparable to width scales of Arctic channels and fjords, the interference will play a first-order role in tidal energy budgets and may consequently influence the stability of glaciers, the ventilation of deep layers, the locations of sediment deposition, and the fate of freshwater exiting the Arctic Ocean.