An asymptotic model for the hydrodynamics of the thermal bar

Abstract

An asymptotic solution is found for the temperature and circulation structure for an unsteady two-dimensional model of the thermal bar phenomenon. The non-rotating case considered here is relevant to laboratory models of the thermal bar. The main implication of the asymptotic results is that the thermal bar might propagate out from the shore more slowly than predicted by a purely heat-balance-based estimate. The solution is discussed in the context of available experimental results.