Long-wave instability of an isolated front |
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| Authors: | Peter D Killworth |
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| Institution: | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics , University of Cambridge , Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EW, U.K. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract The stability of an isolated one-layer reduced gravity front is examined. It is shown that the system is unstable to long-wave disturbances provided merely that a simple condition on the depth profile is satisfied far from the front. The instability does not require the extremum of potential vorticity needed by quasi-geostrophic theory. The instability releases mean kinetic and mean potential energy from the system, but lacking a second layer cannot truly be termed baroclinic instability. |
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| Keywords: | Accretion disk Schwarzschild criterion turbulence |
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