Slow Transverse Motion of a Body in a Finite Rotating Fluid

General properties of the Taylor column are studied by towing a cylinder along the bottom of a water filled tank rotating with constant angular velocity along an axis perpendicular to the direction of motion. Modification to the column resulting from limited axial extent of the fluid are studied by placing a solid boundary at various positions above the cylinder. The objective is to find a similarity rule which will relate the presence of this upper surface with an effective change in Rossby number. A region of influence which has not been predicted theoretically is found to exist immediately downstream of the Taylor column, and an attempt is made to observe and understand this disturbance. (Author) Report on A Trident Scholar Project.