Convective Motion in a Rotating Stratified Fluid Due to Non-Uniform Horizontal Heating

Abstract

Weak convective motions induced by an arbitrary temperature applied along the lower horizontal boundary of an otherwise unbounded, rotating, stably-stratified fluid are investigated. The solution of the problem is derived by means of the formalism of the linear theory of rotating stratified fluid flows developed by Barcilon and Pedlosky. Some of the basic differences between the dynamics of homogeneous and stratified fluids are displayed, and, in particular, the minor role of the Ekman layers in the latter.