Convection of a fluid in a porous medium

Abstract

It is shown that under certain conditions convective flow may occur in fluid which permeates a porous stratum and is subject to a vertical temperature gradient, on the assumption that the flow obeys Darcy's law. The criterion for marginal stability is obtained for three sets of boundary conditions, and the motion described. If such convection occurs in a stratum through which a bore-hole passes, the usual method of calculation of the heat flow must be modified, but in general the correction will not be large.