CONVECTION IN A ROTATING CYLINDRICAL ANNULUS .3. VACILLATING AND SPATIALLY MODULATED FLOWS

The problem of convection driven by radial buoyancy in a rotating cylindrical annulus with conical end surfaces represents one of the basic models of rotating fluid dynamics with applications to convection in planets and stars. Although only two-dimensional equations govern the flow in the limit of high rotation rates, a surprising variety of different states of motion can be found. In this paper earlier numerical work is extended by the consideration of rigid boundary conditions at the cylindrical walls and by a study of spatially modulated convection. Of particular interest is the case of curved conical end surfaces which appears to promote the formation of separate cylindrical convection layers.