Entrainment, mixing and restratification at thermoclines and inversions

海洋和足够深的湖泊是分层的，这意味着它们的密度随着深度的增加而增加，这是由于温度下降和/或盐度增加。密度增加最大的区域被称为温跃层，它有效地代表了分隔表层水和深海水的界面。同样，大气逆温指的是大气中局部强烈层结的区域，那里的温度随着高度迅速上升。分层流体通常会抑制垂直混合。因此，例如，大气污染物往往被困在逆温层之下。然而，高能混合和强对流源撞击密度界面会导致污染物的集中和水平输送，这些污染物会在远离初始扰动的地方扩散。了解这些所谓入侵的演变是这项提议的重点。

Oceans and sufficiently deep lakes are stratified, meaning that their density increases with depth due to decreasing temperature and/or increasing salinity. The region about which the density increase is largest is called the thermocline, which effectively represents an interface separating the surface and abyssal waters. Likewise, an atmospheric inversion denotes a locally strongly stratified region in the atmosphere where the temperature rapidly increases with height. Stratified fluids generally inhibit vertical mixing. Thus, for example, atmospheric pollutants tend to be trapped below an inversion. However, energetic mixing and strong convective sources impinging upon density interfaces can result in the concentration and horizontal transport of pollutants which spread far from the initial disturbance. Understanding the evolution of these so-called intrusions is the focus of this proposal.