Internal solitary waves (ISWs) emerge in the ocean and seas in various forms and break on the shelf zones in a variety of ways. This results in intensive mixing that affects processes such as biological productivity and sediment transport. Mechanisms of wave interaction with slopes are related to breaking and changing polarity. Our study focuses on wave transformation over idealized shelf-slope topography using a two-layer stratification. Four types of ISW transformation over slopes are shown.

When near-surface or near-bottom layers in the ocean are stratified, internal solitary waves (ISWs) of large amplitude can trap and transport fluid in their cores. The dynamics and energetics of a head-on collision of ISWs with trapped cores for a wide range of amplitudes and stratifications are studied numerically. The interacting stable waves of higher amplitude capture cores and carry trapped fluid in opposite directions. The interaction can trigger local wave instability of ISWs.