Observations of internal tidal reflection from a supercritical corrugated slope

The Tasman Slope at the western edge of the Tasman Sea features sharp topography with corrugations along a supercritical slope and strong, remotely generated internal tides incident to it. Two moorings containing CTDs, thermistors, and ADCPs were deployed in the same gully on the continental slope as part of the Tasman Tidal Dissipation Experiment (T-TIDE), along with a profiling mooring. The moorings collected data over two months, giving a dataset well suited for the study of propagation and dissipation of internal tidal signals that are both locally generated and that propagate into the corrugated terrain. Additionally near-synoptic snapshots from ship surveys will allow determination of phase propagation. Due to the nature of the complex superposition of incoming and reflected signals, numerical simulation data will be incorporated into the analysis. The tidal energy is enhanced within 300 m of the bottom as evidenced by increased isopycnal displacement. Increased bands of temperature variance near the bottom raise the possibility of turbulent mixing associated with the tides near the gully floor.