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Figure 3.1: After the can is removed from the tank, the bottom of the dense fluid moves outwards, forming a cone. The less dense fluid converges towards the center of the tank, spiraling cyclonically in order to preserve angular momentum. The dense fluid spreads outwards, spiraling anti-cyclonically in order to preserve its angular momentum.-
4 Lab results
In order to collect data from our experiment, we tracked using video processing software buoyant particles at the surface of the fluid, as well as particles with density in between that of the two fluids which sat just above the frontal boundary. The shape of the front, although relatively stable, did vary slightly throughout the course of the experiment, as can be seen from the following images.
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6 Polar Atmospheric Front
The temperature of the air in the atmosphere does not gradually warm from the poles to the equator, but instead there is a sharp gradient between the cold air at the poles and the warmer air just south:
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Figure 6.1: Air temperature at 500mb for the Northern hemisphere in January. The change in temperature between the cold air at the North pole and the warmer air near the equator occurs only in the midlatitudes; otherwise, there is essentially no temperature gradient. This is because of the same phenomenon driving what we saw in the lab; Coriolis forces due to Earth's rotation keeps the dense cold air at the poles in fronts.
7 Polar Oceanic Front