Dynamics of mixed convective–stably-stratified fluids

International audienceWe study the dynamical regimes of a density-stratified fluid confined between isothermal no-slip top and bottom boundaries (at temperatures Tt and Tb) via direct numerical simulation. The thermal expansion coefficient of the fluid is temperature dependent and chosen such that the fluid density is maximum at the inversion temperature Tb>Ti>Tt. Thus, the lower layer of the fluid is convectively unstable while the upper layer is stably stratified. We show that the characteristics of the convection change significantly depending on the degree of stratification of the stable layer. For strong stable stratification, the convection zone coincides with the fraction of the fluid that is convectively unstable (i.e., where T>Ti), and convective motions consist of rising and sinking plumes of large density anomaly, as is the case in canonical Rayleigh-Bénard convection; internal gravity waves are generated by turbulent fluctuations in the convective layer and propagate in the upper layer. For weak stable stratification, we demonstrate that a large fraction of the stable fluid (i.e., with temperature