Average stratifications of density, ρ, temperature, T, and rms of the vertical component of the velocity field, v_z,  rms. The profiles represent averages, both temporally across the 30 time instances of the CO5BOLD simulation, and spatially across the horizontal sections of the domain. The heights for the analysis of swirls in the surface layers of the convection zone (z = −200 km), in the photosphere (z = 100 km), and in the low chromosphere (z = 700 km) are indicated by blue dashed lines.