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The University of Texas at Austin researchers, simulating ocean conditions in a laboratory aquarium, found the waves also contribute to ocean mixing and climate change, generating intense currents when traveling at the same angle as that of the continental slope -- the region where the relatively shallow continental shelf slants downward to meet the deep ocean floor.

They suspect the intense currents, called boundary flows, lift sediments as the waves push into the continental slope, maintaining the angle of the slope through erosion. The action of the internal waves could also mix layers of colder and warmer water.

"Surprisingly little is known about how internal waves are generated and how they could lead to the mixing of the deep ocean, but it's very important", said physicist Hepeng Zhang. "Understanding ocean mixing is crucial for us to know whether changes in ocean circulation are the result of climate change or just variability."

The research that included Harry Swinney and Benjamin King appears in Physical Review Letters.

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