Bottom boundary layer in the Black Sea: Experimental data, turbulent diffusion, and fluxes

Abstract

Measurements of 14 vertical profiles of currents and hydrological parameters in the near-bottom layer with a depth resolution of 0.1 m were carried out in several regions of the Black Sea shelf, at five points over the continental slope, and in three deep water regions. The upper boundary of the benthic boundary layer (BBL) was reliably determined at a point at a distance from 5–7 to 35–40 m from the bottom where the gradients of the density and the velocity of the currents changed. The experimental data obtained were used to determine the coefficient of the bottom friction, the friction velocity, the coefficients of the vertical diffusion of momentum and density, and the vertical fluxes of temperature and salinity in the BBL.