The dynamics of the bottom boundary layer of the deep ocean
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10588DOI
10.1575/1912/10588Keyword
Bottom water; Boundary layerAbstract
Profiles of salinity and temperature from the center of the Hatteras
Abyssal Plain have a signature that is characteristic of mixing up a
uniformly stratified region: a well-mixed layer above the bottom, bounded
by an interface. The penetration height of the mixed-layer varies from
about 10 m to 100 m and has been correlated by Armi and Millard (1976)
with the one day mean velocity, inferred from current meters located
above the bottom boundary layer.
Here the dynamics of such layers is discussed. A model of entrainment
and mixing for a flat bottom boundary layer is outlined; this model is however
incomplete because we find too little known of the structure of turbulence
above an Ekman layer. An alternate model is suggested by the estimate,
from the correlation of penetration height with velocity of the
internal Froude number of the mixed layer, F~1.7. This value indicates
that the large penetration height may be due to the instability of the well-mixed
layer to the formation of roll waves.
Description
Also published as: Proceedings
of the 8th International Colloquium on Ocean
Hydrodynamics, 19?7, pp. 153-164
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Suggested Citation
Armi, L. (1978). The dynamics of the bottom boundary layer of the deep ocean. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/10588Related items
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