Dynamics of turbulence in the field of nonlinear internal waves

Abstract A modification of the semi-empirical theory of stratified turbulent flow, which includes an equation for the density fluctuations (the potential energy of turbulence), is applied to describe the effect of internal gravity waves (IWs) on the small-scale turbulence. After considering the periodic IWs, special attention is paid to the action of internal solitons, such as the classical Gardner solitons and a strongly nonlinear solitary wave regularly observed in the Oregon Bay of the USA. It is confirmed that the presence of potential energy allows the existence of finite turbulence at any Richardson number.