30 ms·
> Within the water column the vertical displacement of water in these waves is large, often tens of meters, and even larger in a few places. > Their characteri
by mmooss 2y ago
> Within the water column the vertical displacement of water in these waves is large, often tens of meters, and even larger in a few places.
> Their characteristic wavelength - about 50 to 100 km from peak to trough
Do we see floating underwater objects, such as fish or other organisms (many of which mostly float and don't propel themselves) or even submarines, being propelled by this current? How much power does it have? Or maybe the effects are too subtle locally due to such long wavelengths?
- dtgriscom 2y agoMy gut reaction was that the horizontal motion (away from narrow inlets) is very small. I tried a calculation. On the US East Coast, St. John's Bay to Cape Cod is about 500km. So, take a 500km long trough that's 1km deep. If the water sloshes so that one end rises by 10m and the other falls by 10m, with a smooth slope between, the midpoint of the body of water would shift by 1.25km, which is more than I expected. But remember that that's over six hours, so, the peak water velocity would be on the order of 2cm/second. It would be pretty hard to capture power from that slow a current.