Freshwater has been shown to have a maximum density at about four degrees Celsius, and this leads to a phenomenon known as cabbeling. Cabbeling occurs when masses of water on different sides of the temperature of maximum density mix and create a denser mass. What happens when intruding and ambient temperatures in a gravity current are on opposite sides of the temperature of maximum density? How does cabbeling affect the evolution characteristics of gravity currents, and what sort of long term behavior arises?

In cold water (temperatures between water's freezing point and the temperature of maximum density), near-surface heating (from the sun) generates dense water which in turn induces vertical currents. If there is a near-surface current, the resulting convective instabilities efficiently move momentum from the current to regions lower in the water column. Then, there is an induced momentum flux across the plume boundary leading to a complicated series of three-dimensional interactions resulting in turbulence. How might this process be affected by factors such as water clarity and current speed?