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Physical problems of the benthic boundary layer

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Abstract

Since the boundary layer at the sea bed has a number of features in common with boundary layers found in laboratory scale flows and in meteology, a brief review is given first of the properties which may be inferred from experience in these fields or from theoretical studies. Measurements of velocity profiles, turbulence, and shearing stress which have been made near the bottom, in deep water, and on the continental shelf, are described in relation to this background. In particular, the logarithmic form of the velocity profile near the bed and deductions from it appear to be valid in certain conditions, but the occurrence of ripples and other bed forms is a complicating feature. The relation of the dynamical aspects of the flow to the transport of sediment as bed load and in suspension is discussed. The diflusive properties of the layer are then considered, in relation to fluxes near the sea-sediment interface and to the formation of nepheloid layers or layers well mixed in temperature and salinity.

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  1. Oceanography Dept., University of Liverpool, England

    K. F. Bowden

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  1. K. F. Bowden
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At Dept. of Oceanography, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, U.S.A., Jan. to Aug. 1978.

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Bowden, K.F. Physical problems of the benthic boundary layer. Geophysical Surveys 3, 255–296 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01449556

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