Layering in Stratified Rotating Turbulent Flows

Layering is ubiquitous throughout the world's oceans yet it is poorly understood except in the double diffusive case. The presence of layers is profoundly important for understanding ocean mixing and hence the transport of heat and carbon dioxide. Understanding the rate at which the ocean can store these is critically important for the accurate modelling of climate change. We report the first laboratory experiments to study layer formation in a rotating stratified tank mixed by traversing vertical bars and show how rotation can influence layer formation.