Weakly nonlinear oscillatory flow over an isolated seamount.
Numerical models can show large errors in the modelling of flow around tall topography.
We present a weakly nonlinear analytical solution of barotropic oscillatory flow over a tall axisymmetric seamount and compare the results to a numerical tidal model. The comparison is formulated for a flat topped seamount with parabolic sides and for a standing wave boundary condition in order to make the problem analytically tractable and to reduce it to a series of ordinary differential equations. The comparison shows reasonable agreement within the confines of the analytical formulation confirming that the numerical model can exploit tall topography. Kelvin wave forcing illustrate the generality of the results.