ISSN 0015-4628, Fluid Dynamics, 2017, Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. 722–732.


c Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2017.
Original Russian Text 
c V.N. Zyryanov, M.K. Chebanova, 2017, published in Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, 2017, No. 6, pp. 13–23.

Dissipative-Convergent Intermittency in Dynamics

of Tidal Waves in Estuaries
V. N. Zyryanov* and M. K. Chebanova**
Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Received February 7, 2017

Abstract—The effect of dissipative-convergent intermittency in dynamics of tidal waves in estuaries

is described. The effect manifests itself in spatial modulation of the tide amplitude. The effects of
convergent channel and turbulent friction are competitive in dynamics of tidal waves in bays, gulfs,
and estuaries. This manifests itself in the alternating excess of the action of one effect over another
as the tidal wave penetrates deep the estuary. The effect of dissipative-convergent intermittency is
manifested most completely in “strange” bays in which the mean water depth is commensurable with
the Stokes layer thickness. It is shown that the spatial distribution of the tidal wave amplitude has
a minimum in the convergent channel. If the minimum point lies beyond the estuary, then the effect
of convergent channel predominates and the wave height increases to the vertex. If the minimum
point lies in the neighborhood of the estuary vertex then the effect of turbulent friction predominates
along the entire bay length and the wave height decreases to the bay vertex. Finally, if the minimum
point finds itself in the middle part of the estuary, then the case of the “strange” bays arises, namely,
in such bays the wave height decreases to crossing the minimum point and begins increases again
after its passage. The local increase in the tidal wave amplitude can be manifested further in the
mouth of the inflowing river.
Key words: estuary, tidal wave, confuser, turbulent friction, Stokes layer.

DOI: 10.1134/S001546281706012X

The estuary is a funnel-shaped sea gulf in whose vertex a river inflows and the tidal wave enters from
the sea side. The tidal wave is the primary factor in water dynamics. In the estuaries the tide amplitudes
depend on the local conditions and are determined by two main factors, namely, the effects of confuser
(shore convergence in the direction to the estuary vertex) and turbulent friction caused by decrease in
depths [1–3].
In [2, 3] the hydrodynamic effects of convergent channel and turbulent friction on the tidal wave
amplitude in the funnel-shaped estuaries were investigated analytically. It was shown that the Stokes
diffusion layer plays a significant role in formation of the regimes of tidal wave transformation. With
respect to the ratio of the estuary depth to the Stokes layer thickness, the estuaries can be divided into
shallow- and deep-water and also intermediate estuaries called “strange” bays [3].
The effect of confuser prevails in the deep-water estuaries and the tide amplitude increases to the gulf
vertex. These are the concentrator-bays characterized by considerable tides in the vertexes. Examples of
the concentrator-bays are as follows: The Bay of Fundy and Ungava Bay, Bristol Bay, Mezen Bay, and
Penzhina Bay etc. In The Bay of Fundi located between the New Scotland peninsula and the mainland,
the tide amplitude increases from 6 m at the inlet to the bay to the maximum value of 18 m in one of the
bays in the vertex. Considerable tides can also be observed near the Patagonia shores in San Matias
and San Jorge gulfs (to 9–12 m); the amplitudes reach 14 m in the Galegos River mouth. The tide
amplitudes reach 11–12 m on the Eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean along the French shore of English
Channel in the Bay of Saint Malo. In the estuary of the Severn River (Bristol Bay) the amplitude of the
maximum spring tide is of 14.6 m. In the Russia seas the maximum tides are observed in the Mezen
Bay, the White Sea and in the Penzhina Bay, the Sea of Okhotsk. In average, the tide height is 5–7 m
(maximum to 9 m) in the Mezen Bay and to 14 m in the Penzhina Bay [4].
*
E-mail: v.n.zyryanov@yandex.ru.
**
E-mail: ejek@inbox.ru.

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 DISSIPATIVE-CONVERGENT INTERMITTENCY 723

Turbulent friction plays a crucial role in shallow-water estuaries and the tidal wave amplitude
decreases to the estuary vertex. Such bays make the majority in the World ocean.
The case of the “strange” bay arises at depths of the order of the Stokes layer thickness. In this
case, initially, in the inlet to the estuary, the effect of friction manifests itself in the greater extent and the
tidal wave amplitude begins to decrease, but then, as the wave moves deep in the estuary, the effect of
convergent channel begins to prevail and the tidal wave amplitude again begins to increase. Delaware
Bay is an example of such an estuary. The mean tide height is 1.3 m at the inlet to the bay. The tide
height grows to 1.7 m along the river reach from the mouth cross section of the estuary to Nantuxent
Cove, then it becomes minimal (1.5 m) in the neighborhood of the New Castle gauging station, and
thereafter it begins to grow again and reaches 2 m in the estuary vertex near Trenton town [5, 6]. We
note that the attempts to describe such a behavior of the tidal wave in Delaware Bay undertaken by
means of the numerical simulation [5, 7] have failed since the numerical models gave monotonic growth
in the tide amplitude.
In the present paper we describe the effect of dissipative-convergent intermittency in propagation of
tidal waves in estuaries which explains spatial modulation of the tide amplitude.

1. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

We will consider a sea funnel-shaped gulf which the tidal wave enters. Water is assumed to have a
homogeneous density.
In the gulf the flow velocities are assumed to be low; therefore, the nonlinearity in the equations of
motion is neglected. Moreover, we will assume that the depths in the bay are not greater than several
tens of meters; as a result, the Coriolis acceleration can also be neglected. As a result, the initial system
of equations takes the form:
∂u 1 ∂P ∂2u
=− +A 2, (1.1)
∂t ρ0 ∂x ∂z
∂v 1 ∂P ∂2v
=− +A 2, (1.2)
∂t ρ0 ∂y ∂z
∂P
gρ0 = , (1.3)
∂z
∂u ∂v ∂w
+ + = 0, (1.4)
∂x ∂y ∂z
where u and v are the horizontal components of the flow velocity along the X and Y axes, respectively;
w is the vertical component of the flow velocity; P is the pressure in liquid; g is the free fall acceleration;
ρ0 = const is the water density; and A = const is the vertical turbulent transfer coefficient. The Z axis
is directed vertically downward. The origin is located on the undisturbed bay surface.
We will use the following boundary conditions.
We impose the conditions of absence of the wind impact and the kinematic condition on the see
surface z = ς(x, y, t)
 
∂u  ∂v  ∂ς ∂ς ∂ς
 =  = 0; w|z=ς = + u|z=ς + v|z=ς .
∂z z=ς ∂z z=ς ∂t ∂x ∂y

On the bottom z = H(x, y) we will use the no-slip conditions

u|z=H = v|z=H = w|z=H = 0. (1.5)

On the shore boundary of the bay L(x, y) = 0 we will assume the vanishing of the integral flow rate
(total flow) along the normal to the boundary
H
(S, n) = 0, where S= Udz, U = (u, v). (1.6)
ς

FLUID DYNAMICS Vol. 52 No. 6 2017