Abstract

The movement of fronts occurring upon interaction of water masses differing in density is examined. Some examples are the propagation of light fresh water over the surface of heavier salt water in coastal regions of seas, the situations occurring when warm waters are discharged by industrial enterprises and electric power stations, the intrusion of sea water in the form of a 'salt wedge' into river estuaries, etc. Under rather general assumptions, the solution of the three-dimensional transient problem of slow movement of a front in a shallow, two-layer stratified water body is reduced to the solution of two coupled equations of the parabolic type. When the level of the free surface changes little in time, these equations reduce to one transient nonlinear equation. Some particular solutions of this equation are presented.

Publication Date

1983-01-01

Publication Title

Water Resources

Volume

10

Issue

4

ISSN

0097-8078

Organisational Unit

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

First Page

330

Last Page

340

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