North Atlantic Ocean: Preliminary Description of Normal Modes

The three lowest gravitational modes of free oscillation of the North Atlantic Ocean are estimated by numerical integration of Laplace's tidal equations. These modes have periods of approximately 21, 14, and 11 hours, and structures, respectively, of one, two, and three positive amphidromic sys...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Author: Platzman, George W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1972
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.178.4057.156
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.178.4057.156
Description
Summary:The three lowest gravitational modes of free oscillation of the North Atlantic Ocean are estimated by numerical integration of Laplace's tidal equations. These modes have periods of approximately 21, 14, and 11 hours, and structures, respectively, of one, two, and three positive amphidromic systems. The phase distribution of the first mode resembles cotidal charts of the diurnal tide, and the period of the second mode is consistent with that inferred by Wunsch from tidal data in Bermuda and the Azores.