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Effects of external flow on compositional and particle gravity currents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 1998

MARK A. HALLWORTH ,
ANDREW J. HOGG  and
HERBERT E. HUPPERT
MARK A. HALLWORTH
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EW, UK; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
ANDREW J. HOGG
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EW, UK; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
HERBERT E. HUPPERT
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EW, UK; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

The propagation at high Reynolds number of a heavy, two-dimensional gravity current of given initial volume at the base of a uniform flow is considered. An experimental setup is described for which a known volume of fluid is rapidly introduced halfway down a 9 m channel in which there is a uniform flow of water. The density excess of the released fluid is produced by either dissolving salt or suspending particles in water. The upstream and downstream propagation of the current was measured for different initial salt concentrations, particle sizes and concentrations. A simple box model for the motion of and deposit from the gravity current is constructed. The analytical results obtained compare well with our numerical solutions of one-layer and two-layer models incorporating the appropriate shallow-water equations. Both sets of results are in very good agreement with the experimental data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 359 , 25 March 1998 , pp. 109 - 142
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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