Wake collapse in a stratified fluid: linear treatment

Abstract

The linear initial-value problem of a partially mixed cylindrical wake in a, uniformly stratified fluid is formulated and exact solutions are given for the density and velocity fields inside and just outside the original cylinder. An asymptotic expression for the far-field internal wave radiation is given and the corresponding solutions for a spherical wake geometry are noted. The treatment emphasizes the inadequancy of the usual linear Boussinesq approximation to describe the detailed nature of similar problems, in particular the fully mixed wake-collapse problem.