A modelling study of the barotropic tidal dynamics in the Strait of Messina

This paper is devoted to a model case study of the barotropic tidal dynamics. A non-hydrostatic (i.e. fully three dimensional) ocean model, based on the finite-element method was applied in the Strait of Messina (Italy), where intense tidal flows interact with complex geometries of coasts and bathymetry. A simplified model configuration including only the tidal signal at the open boundaries was able to provide evidences that the barotropic tides, interacting with coastlines and bottom topography in such narrow sea strait, generate high amplitude overtones of the main tidal constituents as well as relatively intense tide-induced residual circulations. The spatial and temporal distribution of tidal flows was analysed with a numerical simulation of a whole synodic month. The vertical component of tidal flows, explicitly computed, was shown in cross-sections in order to emphasized the direct effect of boundaries constraints on the vertical acceleration. The presented model results endorse previous model approaches and observations and they remind the significance of the barotropic tidal dynamics in this domain of investigation