Free thermoconcentration convection above a localized heat source

Shadowgraph and probe techniques are used to investigate the free convective flow pattern above various localized heat sources (electrolytic cell — point source, short vertical cylinder, sphere) in an exponentially stratified fluid. The characteristic types of structure are classified with respect to the appearance of new forms of instability. The critical values of the global Rayleigh number, at which the flow pattern is restructured, are determined. The dependence of the height of the convection zone and the height of the individual cells on the governing parameters of the problem is investigated and the results are reduced to universal form. Laboratory experiments and oceanic observations are qualitatively compared.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 27–34, March–April, 1989.