A barotropic model of the linear semidiurnal tide over a continental slope

Semidiurnal tides, and especially the lunar tide M2, are dominant dynamics in the Bay of Biscay. Strong tidal currents are associated with the presence of a significant continental slope. By combining Newtonʹs gravitation laws and Eulerʹs equations, Laplaceʹs equations contain the astronomical forcing responsible for the observed semidiurnal tides. In shallow waters, this direct forcing is often neglected. We study here its influence on the tidal dynamics over the continental slope through the development of a simple model describing the barotropic semidiurnal dynamics on a transect perpendicular to the slope. This new model results from the combination of two different models, i.e. the one developed by Rosenfeld and Beardsley (1987), which takes into account the tide-generating force, and that of Battisti and Clarke (1982), which neglects it. A first model is developed by neglecting the direct astronomical forcing in equations: it consists in solving a second-order homogeneous propagation equation for the barotropic semidiurnal tide and needs only coastal conditions as well as the knowledge of the along-slope wave number of the solution. For a mean slope typical of the South Brittany area, this non-forced model provides results in accordance with those of Battisti and Clarke and Le Cann (1990): in particular, in the upper part of the slope, it shows a polarization inversion of tidal ellipses characteristic of the tidal dynamics observed in this area. Then, the direct astronomical forcing is kept in equations. The simple model developed without this forcing is fitted in order to solve the resulting forced propagation equation for the barotropic tide. The solution of this second model is the sum of a forced wave responding to the direct astronomical forcing and of a free wave generated at the coastal boundary. Under the same boundary conditions, the results obtained with the influence of the tide-generating force are then compared with those obtained without it. This comparison allows one to apprehend the importance of the direct astronomical forcing on tidal dynamics across the slope: in particular, the main difference appears in deep waters where this forcing induces a phase-lag between the plain and the shelf for the sea-surface slope.