OBSERVATIONS OF TIDAL PERIODIC INTERNAL WAVES OVER A THREE DAY PERIOD OFF PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA.

Temperature, salinity, and current data were taken during the period from noon on 19 June to noon on 22 June, 1962, off Panama City, Florida. The survey covered an area of approximately 80 square miles in water depths from 60 to 100 feet. A study of the data showed that the temporal variation in the depths of the top, center, and bottom of the thermocline were closely related to the amplitude and phase of the surface tide. The relationship varied with depth and distance from shore. The thermocline intersected bottom at depths from 10 to 50 feet depending on the state of the tide. Movements of the thermocline were both horizontal and vertical in rhythm with and similar to the motion of the surface tide. Associated with the vertical movement of the thermocline were well defined horizontal currents which rotated with the inertial period. It is suggested that the system observed consists of a progressive tidal wave coupled with an internal edgewave, both propagating northwestward parallel to shore. Author