Flows induced by the impingement of a two-dimensional thermal on a density interface

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the fluid motions resulting from the impingement of a descending thermal on a sharp density interface with the hope of gaining insight into lead-induced convection in polar oceans. Before the impingement, the thermal behaves as in an unstratified fluid and descends as a vortex pair. The evolution after the impingement, however, showed a strong dependence on the Richardson number of the density interface. The measurements reported include the depth of penetration of the thermal into the density interface, the propagation velocity of the gravity current, the velocity of the secondary flow induced in the upper layer, and the properties of interfacial waves generated at the density interface. -from Authors