Near bottom speed and temperature observations on the Blake-Bahama outer ridge

Speed and temperature measurement made in the bottom boundary layer (BBL) in the region of the Western Boundary Undercurrent at 28°22′N, 74° 13′W over an ∼11 day period are presented. The observations suggest that the BBL structure is consistent with that of a turbulent Ekman layer formed in an initially stably stratified fluid over a uniform surface even though they were obtained in and above an abyssal furrow. The inferred friction velocities u*(ū* = 0.66 cm/s) generally are larger than those inferred by Weatherly (1972) under the Florida Current and at times sufficiently large to result in erosion of some of the finer cohesive sediments if the criterion for their erosion summarized in McCave (1978) is assumed to apply at the site of the observations