Structure of a dense release produced by varying initial conditions

Buoyancy driven flows such as gravity currents, present in nature and human made applications, are conveyors of particles or dissolved substances for long distances with clear implications for the environment. This transport depends on the triggering conditions of the current. Gravity currents are experimentally simulated under varying initial conditions by combining three different initial buoyancies and five volumes of dense fluid released. The horizontal and vertical structures of the gravity currents are analysed and it is shown that the variation on the initial configuration is conditioning for these. Vertical transport through the gravity current is influenced at the bottom by the solid wall over which the current flows, and at the upper interface by the contact with the ambient water. The relative contribution of shear stress at the bottom and at the upper interfaces are estimated and analysed in terms of the initial triggering conditions of the current; these two compete with the buoyancy, the driver of the current, determining mixing and entrainment. By using a proper parametrization, which accounts for both initial volume of release and location of the observation position relative to the lock, a relation between the resistance at the bottom and at the upper interfaces with the initial conditions of release (i.e. the locklength) has been found; this is found to be independent of the initial density in the lock. The present study shows that the variation of the initial conditions have consequences on (1) the configuration of the currents and on (2) the hydrodynamics of the currents, including mass and momentum exchanges, which are in addition mutually dependent.