This paper describes experiments and numerical simulations of a
gravity current
flowing down a ramp in a tank stratified in two layers. We study the dynamics
of the
configuration for different densities of the gravity current and different
ramp angles.
The experiments show that waves of large amplitude can be generated easily
and that,
depending on the density of the gravity current, the initial gravity current
splits into a
gravity current along the interface of the stratified layers, and a gravity
current along
the bottom of the tank. We also describe numerical simulations which give
results
in agreement with the results of the experiments and enable us to study
three-fluid
configurations with wider ranges of density than is possible in the laboratory.