Non-linear model of the tides in the Gulf of Carpentaria

Abstract

A non-linear barotropic model was used to evaluate the tidal regime in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The model was forced by open boundary conditions specified on a line joining Wessel Islands to False Cape and a volume flow through Torres Strait estimated from tidal constants on each side of the Strait. The model gives results in agreement with the available observations and in particular predicts mixed tides in the northern half of the Gulf and diurnal tides in the south-east corner of the Gulf. The diurnal tide consists of a Kelvin wave entering the Gulf in the north-west and propagating clockwise around the Gulf with one amphidromic point. The higher frequencies of the semidiurnal tides allow the generation of a first-mqde Poincare wave and the trapping of energy in the northern half of the Gulf. Amphidromes near Mornington Island and Groote Eylandt are also predicted, as is a region of low amplitude and rapid phase variations in the centre of the Gulf.