Experiments on the penetration of an interface by buoyant thermals

Abstract

Isolated masses of a dense aqueous solution (i.e. thermals) were released at the surface of a freshwater layer overlying one of salt water. While the whole of a thermal remained in the upper layer, the equations , where x is the distance from the interface to the culminating point and C2 is a constant. C2 was approximately equal to 3·5. For strong thermals, the distance travelled while the front was in the lower layer obeyed the equation z2 = k2t. The origins of z and t usually differed from those found in the upper layer, and generally k2 ≠ k1.