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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2006
A two-dimensional oil slick is examined as it spreads on water under the influence of gravitational and viscous forces. An exact analytical and numerical description of the flow is obtained in a certain rational asymptotic limit. The central result is an expression for the size of the slick as a function of time. This expression contains no free parameters to be empirically determined, and is in substantial agreement with experiment.