Surface and internal waves in a liquid of variable depth

Extract

Consider a stably stratified liquid, whose density varies exponentially with the vertical co-ordinate, that is bounded above by a free surface and below by a bed whose height depends on only one of the horizontal co-ordinates. Suppose that a gravity wave, that may be either a surface or an internal one, is travelling in a direction normal to the lines of constant depth. It is shown that if the frequency is below a certain value an infinite number of waves, all of the same frequency but having differing wave lengths, are generated and expressions for their amplitude are given in terms of the changes in depth which are assumed to be small.