Water wedge advancing along the interface between two homogeneous layers

The behavior of the water wedge advancing along the interface between two homogeneous layers is investigated experimentally. The horizontally intruding wedge is strongly influenced by the detailed structure of the interface, even when the interface is sharp enough for its position to be visually determined. Within our experimental range, the intrusion velocity is very slow and depends on the thickness of the interface along which the water wedge intrudes. The wedge length is well described by the relation which is derived using an analogy to the linearly stratified case. The results could be useful for understanding the generation mechanism of the oceanic microstructure.