A SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL INTERNAL WAVE REFLECTION ON THE CONTINENTAL RISE AND SLOPE OFF NOVA-SCOTIA

According to linear inviscid theory, the reflection of internal waves off a uniformly sloping bottom should lead to greatly enhanced energy density, and a cross-isobath alignment of motions, near the critical frequency omega(c) for which the wave ray slope equals the bottom slope. Current-meter data from the continental rise and slope off Nova Scotia are used to test this hypothesis. Near-bottom energy enhancement at omega(c) was found to be significant at the 95% level for 8 out of 30 tests performed, whereas cross-isobath alignment of motions near omega(c) was significant at the 95% level for 10 out of 15 tests performed. Some aspects of the observations that appear to be consistent with non-linear reflection theory are briefly discussed.