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Accurate fluxes across a salt-sugar finger interface deduced from direct density measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2006

R. W. Griffiths
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia
B. R. Ruddick
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia

Abstract

The buoyancy flux ratio, r = αFTFS, across a salt-sugar fingering interface is determined from accurate measurements of the density variations in a two-layer run-down experiment. Since r is close to 1, the net buoyancy flux, βFS − αFT, which is proportional to 1 − r, gives r with a resolution that is much improved over that of previous measurements. The value of r is found to decrease from r ≈ 0·94 ± 0·01 at Rρ = 1·02 to r = 0·88 ± 0·01 at Rρ = 2, where Rρ is the density anomaly ratio. The latter is smaller than the previous (constant) value of 0·92. The buoyancy flux due to sugar is found to decrease rapidly with increasing Rρ, varying approximately as R−6ρ.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1980 Cambridge University Press

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References

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