TIDES AND TIDAL ENERGETICS OF THE STRAIT-OF-GIBRALTAR - A MODELING APPROACH

The main semidiurnal (M2 and S2) and diurnal (O1 and K1) tidal waves i n the Strait of Gibraltar are simulated by employing a 2D high-resolut ion, non-linear, boundary-fitted coordinate model. Agreement between o bservational evidence and model results is good for the M2 and S2 tida l waves and satisfactory for the O1 and K1 tidal waves. The model repr oduces all the known features of the spatial structure of these waves and predicts some new ones, namely, the general direction of the M2 an d S2 mean tidal energy fluxes to the west, with a clear increase at th e Camarinal Sill; the OI amphidrome with anticlockwise rotation of cot idal lines in the Tarifa Narrows; and small-scale eddies in the M2, S2 and O1 mean tidal energy flux fields in the vicinity of the western a nd eastern boundaries of the Strait. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.