Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (2): 7-16.doi: 10.11978/2020057CSTR: 32234.14.2020057

• Marine Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Numerical simulation of barotropic tides in Mozambique Strait and its adjacent coastal area and energy budget analysis*

ZHANG Hua1,4(), WEN Xixi1, PENG Shiqiu1,2,3,4()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Guangzhou 510301, China
    2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China
    3. Institution of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2020-05-27 Revised:2020-07-20 Online:2021-03-10 Published:2020-07-21
  • Contact: PENG Shiqiu E-mail:zhangh1201@163.com;speng@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(41931182);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41521005);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41676016);Guangdong Key Project(2019BT2H594);Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)(GML2019ZD0303);Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)(GML2019ZD0304);Key Deployment Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(ZDRW-XH-2019-2);Institution of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences(ISEE2018PY05);Independent Research Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography under contract(LTOZZ1902);Independent Research Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography under contract(LTOZZ1802)

Abstract:

The Mozambique Strait and its adjacent coastal area are one of the areas with the strongest tidal current and energy dissipation in the world. In this study, the high-resolution MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) is used to simulate the barotropic current in this area, and the characteristics of tidal energy flux and dissipation are analyzed. The results show that the tidal waves in the Mozambique Strait and its adjacent coastal area are dominated by the semidiurnal tide while the diurnal tide can be ignored. The M2 barotropic tide forms an anticlockwise rotary tidal system and a clockwise rotary system, and the S2 barotropic tide forms an anticlockwise rotary tidal system only. The M2 and S2 barotropic tidal currents in the Mozambique Strait and the southern part of Madagascar are counter-clockwise, and those north of Madagascar and other local areas are clockwise. The current velocity is large in the strait and over rough topography. The tidal energy mainly divergences at the east boundary while most of that convergences at the Mozambique Strait along the northern part of Madagascar Island. The tidal energy flux of M2 (S2) barotropic tide passing through the northern part of Madagascar Island and the Mozambique Strait is 156.86 GW (40.53 GW) and 148.07 GW (36.05 GW), respectively. The dissipation induced by bottom friction mainly occurs in the Mozambique Strait and the south and north of Madagascar Island. The bottom friction dissipation of M2 (S2) barotropic tide is 1.762 GW (0.460 GW) in the Mozambique Strait, accounting for 43.74% (39.72%) of the total dissipation in the water column.

Key words: Mozambique Strait, tidal energy flux, tidal energy dissipation, numerical simulation, barotropic tides

CLC Number: 

  • P731.2