Do internal solitions exist in the ocean?

Abstract

A short survey of results related to solitary internal waves in the ocean is presented. We discuss observations of solitary waves in shallow seas and deep ocean regions accumulated over the last two decades. Work containing more or less complete hydrodynamical data that allow one to construct adequate theoretical models and to compare theory with experimental results is considered in more detail. The relation between the features of observed solitary formations and those of solitons known in theory is also developed. A summary of theoretical models describing nonlinear internal wave propagation, including the basic evolution equations and their soliton solutions, is presented in an appendix.