Shelves and the Korteweg-de Vries equation

Abstract
An extension of the analytical results of Kaup & Newell (1978) concerning the effect of a perturbation on a solitary wave of the Korteweg–de Vries equation is given and numerical studies are conducted to verify the conclusions. In all cases, the numerical results agree with the results predicted by the theory. The most striking feature of the perturbed flow is the presence of a shelf in the lee of the solitary wave whose role is to absorb (provide) the extra mass which is created (depleted) by the perturbation.