Evidence of Diurnal Shelf Waves in Satellite-Tracked Drifter Trajectories off the Kuril Islands

Satellite-tracked surface drifters deployed in September 1993 in the vicinity of the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench were advected onto the Pacific continental shelf of the Kuril Islands where they encountered strong (40–50 cm s−1) diurnal tidal currents. One of the drifters subsequently passed through Friz Strait into the Sea of Okhotsk, experiencing intense (>100 cm s−1) diurnal currents in the strait and strong (35–40 cm s−1) diurnal currents over the Okhotsk shelf of the Kuril Islands. The across-shelf structure of the diurnal tidal currents is shown to be consistent with that of free, topographically trapped subinertial waves propagating along the continental margin of the islands. Of the three continental shelf wave models considered (a barotropic model with zero mean flow, a barotropic model with nonzero alongshore mean flow, and a baroclinic model based on the observed density structure), only the baroclinic model accurately explains the main features of the diurnal currents for the Pacific and Okhotsk shelves. Both first and second mode waves contribute to the diurnal currents.