Speaker: Professor Peter Davies, FRSE, Professor of Fluid Dynamics, University of Dundee.
Observations of the surface of the sea can often be misleading. Even with relatively calm conditions, powerful waves capable of destroying underwater vehicles and tilting offshore platforms may still exist deep within the water column. These so-called internal waves, some of which have amplitudes of more than 100m, propagate on density surfaces and are ubiquitous in the world's shallow seas and deep oceans. Professor Davies showed observational evidence for these waves and described attempts to model their behaviour.
