A note on the role of the buoyancy layer in a rotating stratified fluid

Abstract

In the theory of steady stratified rotating fluid motions developed by Barcilon & Pedlosky (1967) (hereafter referred to as B & P) for flows within a circular, cylindrical container it was asserted that the innermost boundary layer on the vertical side wall was absent to lowest order when the side wall is thermally insulated. That is to say, the buoyancy layer is not required to close the vertical mass flux. This result has been disputed in a recent note by Harrington & Johnson (1969) (hereafter referred to as H & J). It is the purpose of this note to reiterate the earlier result of B & P and to show that H & J is in error. Further the result is placed on firmer ground by using the fundamental dynamical characteristics of the inviscid interior and viscous boundary layers and by avoiding the algebraic snares of manipulating Fourier series.