WHOI PO

Title: The Internal Surf Zone: Internal Tides and the Inner Shelf
Abstract: The momentum balance of the inner shelf region has been well-studied on the East coast of the United States. These observations showed the primary momentum balance in the inner shelf is generally between the pressure gradient term, Coriolis term, and cross-shelf wind and bottom stress. However, these analyses did not include the effects of internal waves on the inner shelf, nor how internal wave breaking might change the momentum budget. Using data and model results from the 2017 ONR Inner Shelf Dynamics Experiment (ISDE) off Point Sal, California, we explore the momentum budget and the role of internal wave processes on determining cross-shelf dynamics. We show evidence of sea-surface height set-up associated with breaking internal tides, and we demonstrate that the presence of internal tide radiation stresses creates surf-zone-like dynamics.