The layering and stable stratification of the solution are seen for times greater than 55 hours (Figures 5.17(g-h) and Figures 5.18(g-h)).  In the schlieren image, it leads to the region of brightness shifting away from the crystal. Figure 5.17(h) is an original unprocessed schlieren image. It shows a larger view of convection around the crystal, where stratification leads to a significant refraction and the appearance of a bright patch of light above the crystal. In shadowgraph images, the movement of the stratification front is visible as a bright band that descends vertically downwards. For times greater than 50 hours, the patch of light is localized around the crystal, while alternating bands of bright and dark regions are formed.

The schlieren (Figures 5.17(c-d)) and shadowgraph images (Figure 5.18(e-f)) in the stable growth regime show an upward movement of the buoyant plumes around the crystal. These plumes end in the bulk of the solution in the beaker, and descend in such a way as to form a closed loop. The images discussed in the present section pertain to the flow field adjacent to the crystal alone. The buoyant plumes in the stable growth regime are responsible for the deposition of the solute on the crystal surface. These convection plumes are almost steady and uniform in nature resulting in uniform and symmetric growth of the crystal. The gradient of concentration is larger near the crystal surface when compared to the bulk of the solution. This distribution can be visualized as a diffusion boundary layer around the growing faces of the crystal. The thickness of the boundary-layer can be identified as the region over which the light intensity is high. The vertically upward movement of the convective plumes results in the variation of the thickness of concentration boundary layer along the crystal faces. During the growth phase of the crystal, the boundary-layer is the thinnest on the lower side of the crystal, and the highest on the upper side.
The shadowgraph images are not as explicit as the schlieren, but they help in deciding the symmetry pattern of growth, time dependence, and the onset of stratification. It is to be expected that the shadowgraph images would show greater contrast when the gradients are very high, for example crystal growth in forced convection conditions.