Publication Date:
1982-12-01
Description:
Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, and Department of Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309.A two-layer configuration of thermohaline convection is studied, with the principal aim of explaining the observed indeendence of the buoyancy-flux ratio on the stability parameter when the latter is large. Temperature is destabilizing and salinity is stabilizing, so diffusive interfaces separate the convecting layers. Theconvection is treated in the single-mode approximation, with a prescribed horizontal planform and wavenumber. Surveys ofnumerical solutions are presented for a selection of Rayleigh numbers R, stability parameters γ and horizontal wavenumbers a. The solutions yield a buoyancy flux ratio Xthat is insensitive to γ, in accord with laboratory experiments. However X increases with increasing R, in contradiction to laboratory observations. © 1982, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN:
0022-1120
Electronic ISSN:
1469-7645
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
