Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-52/3/e/solution

Use a gravity-current box model: approximate the current by uniform depth and length , with constant reduced gravity, no deposition and no fluid entrainment. The triangular cross-sectional area is , so the fixed released volume is
The Benjamin deep-ambient front condition closes the integral model:
For a finite initial length , direct integration gives
The ideal point-release limit takes and has , . Its divergent initial depth is outside the shallow water approximation, so a real finite reservoir regularizes the early stage. This is the finite-volume triangular-channel current integral law; it does not assert a spatially uniform exact solution of the local equations.

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