Hamiltonian approach to modelling interfacial internal waves over variable bottom

Abstract

We study the effects of an uneven bottom on the internal wave propagation in the presence of stratification and underlying non-uniform currents. Thus, the presented models incorporate vorticity (wave-current interactions), geophysical effects (Coriolis force) and a variable bathymetry. An example of the physical situation described above is well illustrated by the equatorial internal waves in the presence of the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). We find that the interface (physically coinciding with the thermocline and the pycnocline) satisfies in the long wave approximation a KdV-mKdV type equation with variable coefficients. The soliton propagation over variable depth leads to effects such as soliton fission, which is analysed and studied numerically as well.