For the problem of the diffusion of a discontinuity of the shear stress at the boundary of a half-plane;
which is a special case of the general problem of the diffusion of a vortex layer;
the classes of media and types of assignment of boundary conditions for which self-similar solutions exist are discussed. For a viscoplastic medium in a half-plane the problem reduces to the problem in a layer of time-variable thickness;
the solution of which does not possess the property of analyticity. The long-term asymptotic of this problem are investigated. In the case where;
at an accessible boundary;
it is possible simultaneously to measure both the shear stress and the horizontal velocity;
an algorithm is proposed for finding a quantity that is difficult to measure;
A namely;
the thickness of the zone of viscoplastic flow. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved;