DYNAMICS AND ENERGETICS OF THE M2 SURFACE AND INTERNAL TIDES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN: SOME MODEL RESULTS - Energy Research Developments: Tidal Energy, Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy - page 88

is less than its value in oceans of moderate and low latitudes. This property is one more
distinctive feature of the ITW in the Arctic Ocean.
Now, if the depth-integrated horizontal flux of baroclinic tidal energy (not shown) and
the depth-integrated baroclinic tidal energy dissipation (Figure 7) are known, we can
determine the ITW decay scale, defining as the ratio between these quantities. It emerges that,
for the section going across the ITW generation site, the ITW decay scale in the Arctic Ocean
is ~ 300 km, i.e. it is not beyond the range of its values (100 - 1000 km) for Mid-Atlantic and
Hawaiian Ridges [St. Laurent and Nash, 2004]. However, since the integrated baroclinic tidal
energy dissipation in the Arctic Ocean is small (Figure 7), and the ITW decay scale is
identical in value, whence it follows that the integrated horizontal flux of baroclinic tidal
energy in the Arctic Ocean is also small as compared to its values in oceans of moderate and
low latitudes. This feature is associated with the specific nature of the ITW in the Arctic
Ocean.
Figure 7. Chart of the averaged (over a tidal cycle) integrated (in depth) rate of baroclinic tidal energy
dissipation (W/m 2 ) for the M2 wave in the Arctic Ocean
We shall discuss the model results for the ITW amplitudes in the Arctic Ocean. Their
distribution along the above-mentioned section is displayed in Figure 8a. The first thing, that