  We analyze the dynamics of solute mixing in a vortex flow. The transport of a
passive tracer is considered in a Rankine vortex. The action of a shear flow,
in general, is to achieve stretching of fluid elements. A vortex flow exhibits
stretching and folding of fluid elements in a way which brings adjacent fluid
elements closer every turn. A strong stretching along the direction of rotation
is accompanied by a concomitant thinning in the radial direction leading to a
strong diffusive flux which may cause material from neighbouring regions of the
mixing interface to aggregate. Through a Lagrangian concentration evolution
technique, the diffusive strip method, we obtain the concentration field and
pinpoint the signature of coalescence of two neighbouring concentration regions
by analyzing the concentration distribution profiles. We link coalescence with
reactivity for mixing-limited reactive flows. The analysis is useful to
understand scalar dispersion in vortical flow structures.
