Numerical techniques are used to investigate the role of entrainment and mixing in exchange flows through contracting channels. The use of numerical methods allows several of the simplifying assumptions inherent in two-layer hydraulic theory to be relaxed, at least for idealized situations. The results indicate the importance of mixing in the creation of an interfacial layer of intermediate density that carries a significant fraction of the horizontal transport and alters the scalar transport relative to two-layer predictions.
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