Effect of Topography on a Localized Convection
of a Rotating Fluid in Shallow Vessels

B. M. Boubnov* and P. B. Rhines**

* Oboukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevskii per. 3, Moscow, 109017 Russia

** University of Washington, Seattle, United States

Received December 26, 1997; in final form, April 2, 1998

Abstract—Convective motions in a rotating fluid that are driven by a localized buoyancy source situated on the
fluid surface are studied experimentally in shallow vessels with flat and spherical bottoms. It is shown that the
shape of the bottom and the position of the buoyancy source may fundamentally alter the pattern of fluid
motion, leading to both the blocking of vertical vortices near the source and the formation of intense jet streams
away from it.

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