The growth of buoyant plumes in the presence of stratification (N) and
rotation (f) is studied and illustrated with a number of numerical ex
periments of convection induced by a localized source of buoyancy at t
he lower boundary of a linearly stratified fluid. The presence of stra
tification constrains the convection in the vertical giving rise to an
equilibrium-spreading layer which receives the rising mass of plume f
luid; the plume can be divided into an upper, mass-source driven antic
yclone and a lower, buoyancy-source (F) driven cyclone. With N/f large
, the plume's rise-height is set by the classical non-rotating scaling
l(N) = (F/N-3)(1/4). Physically motivated scaling laws invoke angular
momentum constraints and indicate the fundamental role played by rota
tion, which sets the scale l(f) = (F/f(3))(1/4). The lateral spread of
the upper-level anticyclone is constrained by rotation: for times gre
ater than f(-1) the anticyclone grows laterally at a rate which is ess
entially independent of N, and given by l(f)(ft)(1/3); the ratio of th
e lateral scale of the anticyclone to its vertical scale (aspect ratio
) is proportional to N/f. The cyclone's lateral scale is l(f), and the
strong cyclonic flow scales like fl(f). An enhanced lateral mixing is
suggested to occur in the cyclone along slanted angular momentum and
isopycnal surfaces, which become closely aligned. On a much longer tim
e scale, the scaling suggests that the lateral growth of the upper lev
el anticyclone is arrested by its interaction with the lower level cyc
lone; a baroclinic instability is expected to detach the anticyclone f
rom the source after a time of order ft similar to 100N/f.