Gravity currents descending a ramp in a stratified tank

Abstract

This paper describes experiments and numerical simulations of a gravity current flowing down a ramp in a tank stratified in two layers. We study the dynamics of the configuration for different densities of the gravity current and different ramp angles. The experiments show that waves of large amplitude can be generated easily and that, depending on the density of the gravity current, the initial gravity current splits into a gravity current along the interface of the stratified layers, and a gravity current along the bottom of the tank. We also describe numerical simulations which give results in agreement with the results of the experiments and enable us to study three-fluid configurations with wider ranges of density than is possible in the laboratory.