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Double diffusive instability in a tall thin slot

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 1998

NEIL J. BALMFORTH
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
JOSEPH A. BIELLO
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

Abstract

The linear stability of doubly diffusive convection is considered for a two-dimensional, Boussinesq fluid in a tall thin slot. For a variety of boundary conditions on the slot walls, instability sets in through zero wavenumber over a wide range of physical conditions. Long-wave equations governing the nonlinear development of the instability are derived. The form of the long-wave equations sensitively depends on the thermal and salt boundary conditions; the possible long-wave theories are catalogued. Finite-amplitude solutions and their stability are studied. In some cases the finite-amplitude solutions are not the only possible attractors and numerical solutions presenting the alternatives are given. These reveal temporally complicated dynamics.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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