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Separation of a Coastal Current at a Strait Level: Case of the Strait of Sicily

Separation of a Coastal Current at a Strait Level: Case of the Strait of Sicily The separation of a coastal current into two branches when encountering a strait, one entering the strait and the other crossing the strait and continuing to flow along the coast, is examined. Analytical solution shows that the strait topography plays a major role in the separation. When the depth of the sill of the strait is shallower than the ocean, double Kelvin waves propagate along the sill discontinuity line and are able to transport energy across the strait. The shallower the sill, the smaller the transport of the surface current entering the strait at the upstream corner and the larger the transport of the current transmitted across the strait. Sensitivity experiments done with a high-resolution primitive equation model confirm this behavior. These considerations explain the separation of the Algerian current into two branches at the Strait of Sicily: one entering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the other flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Physical Oceanography American Meteorological Society

Separation of a Coastal Current at a Strait Level: Case of the Strait of Sicily

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Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Meteorological Society
ISSN
1520-0485
DOI
10.1175/1520-0485(1998)028<1346:SOACCA>2.0.CO;2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The separation of a coastal current into two branches when encountering a strait, one entering the strait and the other crossing the strait and continuing to flow along the coast, is examined. Analytical solution shows that the strait topography plays a major role in the separation. When the depth of the sill of the strait is shallower than the ocean, double Kelvin waves propagate along the sill discontinuity line and are able to transport energy across the strait. The shallower the sill, the smaller the transport of the surface current entering the strait at the upstream corner and the larger the transport of the current transmitted across the strait. Sensitivity experiments done with a high-resolution primitive equation model confirm this behavior. These considerations explain the separation of the Algerian current into two branches at the Strait of Sicily: one entering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the other flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Journal

Journal of Physical OceanographyAmerican Meteorological Society

Published: Apr 8, 1996

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