THE ROLE OF BUOYANCY FLUXES IN THE FORMAT ION OF A LARGE-SCALE CIRCULATION AND STRATIFICATION OF SEA-WATER .2. LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS

To test the theoretical results on the formation of the water circulat ion and stratification by buoyancy fluxes (see [2]), a series of labor atory experiments was performed in a rotating basin with the intrusion of fresh water at the surface and salt water at intermediate depths o n the basis of the similarity of the dimensionless Rossby, Ekman, and external-action numbers to those of the Black Sea. It was shown that a quasistationary circulation pattern in laboratory tests correlates we ll with theoretical models. To be precise, the system of currents at t he surface is characterized by the general cyclonic vorticity and the jet type of circulation, and it is of a three-layer vertical structure with a countercurrent at intermediate horizons, It was also demonstra ted that the coast orography is of importance in forming two macrocycl onic gyres, similar to the Knipovich spectacles in the Black Sea.