Abstract The performance of a laboratory-scale salt-gradient solar pond is described in this paper. Di€erent methods of saline injection to the bottom layer and corresponding temperature and concentration pro®les as a function of depth are reviewed and compared with experimental results. A time history of the development of temperatures, salinities and elevations of the lower and upper layers at various climatological situations is reported. The `dynamic stability' and `equilibrium boundary criterion' are discussed and veri®ed experimentally for the lower and upper gradient interfaces

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