M2 internal tides
Portion of stacked seismic
data on Line 11, superimposed on temperature structure (color scale) measured
by XBTs deployed at ~5 km spacing.
Solid circles show locations of XBTs; blue star shows location of XCTD
(see Nandi et al., 2004, for more detail). Thin black lines show temperature contoured at 1˚C
intervals. Strong reflections
correspond to finestructure in the thermocline that marks the boundary between
AW and underlying NSDW [Nandi et al.,
2004]. Bold
line shows mean buoyancy frequency (N) structure determined by XBTs and XCTDs
deployed during seismic survey.
Green lines show predicted trajectory of M2 internal waves,
derived from mean N(z) structure.
Predicted M2 trajectories show a good match to observed
shapes of reflections that cross isotherms, e.g., the concave-upward
reflections just above the thermocline.
Seafloor reflection is visible at lower right.