Patterned ground formation under water (Q1260604)

We present a three-dimensional analysis appropriate to the formation of underwater polygonal (hexagonal) ground on lakebeds. We perform a linear stability analysis for stationary convection and present predictions for the critical Rayleigh numbers and the critical wavenumbers which ultimately fix the width-to-depth ratio for the stone polygons. Finally we plot the eigenfunctions for the velocity and temperature perturbation fields, and streamlines for the fluid motions at the onset of convection.