Diurnal shelf waves off Hamada on San'in Coast

The tidal current data observed off Hamada on San'in coast have shown the diurnal tidal currents to be larger than the semidiurnal ones by a factor of 5–8, although the ratio (K₁+O₁)/(M₂+S₂) for the tidal heights at Hamada is 1.3. Furthermore, the diurnal currents are found to be more remarkable on the shelf slope than on the shelf. We consider such diurnal current features as being due to the vortical mode waves, and show that the broad shelf and steep shelf slope off San'in coast allow 1st-mode interior shelf waves (ISWs) at a diurnal-period. Using a simple shelf model, it is shown that ISWs occur in response to the seaward component of diurnal tidal oscillations on the shelf and their propagation originates from the western entrance of the Tsushima Straits.