The formation of diffusive staircases
Radko's recent article (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 805, 2016, pp. 147 170) entitled Thermohaline layering in dynamically and diffusively stable shear flows, is slated to become a seminal reference in the field of fluid dynamics. It proposes an elegant solution to the long standing question of why thermohaline staircases form in the high latitude oceans. Equally importantly, it provides a rare and interesting example of how two physical processes that are both strongly stable when considered individually, can trigger a linear instability when they interact.
Journal of Fluid Mechanics