Abstract
In marginal seas and on continental shelves, interaction of tides and topography excites internal tides, which can degenerate into internal solitary waves (ISWs). Since the breaker type of ISWs is important for sediment resuspension and long-term transport of nutrients, plankton, and hypoxic water, it is needed to categorize the breaker types accurately. Previous studies on ISW breaking over a uniform slope in two-layer stratified fluids demonstrated four breaker types: fission, collapsing, plunging, and surging. The critical depth and density difference between the layers may be important factors, but they have not been considered in the categorization. Using the results of two-dimensional numerical simulations, this study aims to propose new indices for the categorization of ISW breaking, which take the critical depth and the density difference into account. The proposed three indices successfully categorize the four breaker types.
