Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/iii/paper-71/4/a/solution

Let and . For a deep-water gravity wave, and the first-order velocity potential is . Therefore
Relative to mean parcel labels, integrate at fixed zeroth-order position to obtain the oscillatory fluid displacement
The Stokes drift is the period mean of the displacement correction to the first-order velocity field:
Thus , in the direction of propagation. A parcel samples faster forward motion near the top of its orbit and weaker backward motion lower down. This is the leading second-order drift of small-steepness waves, , relative to the Eulerian mean velocity.

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