Publication Date:
2017-04-04
Description:
The Benthic Boundary Layer (BBL) is considered a quite homogeneous environment
where a wide variety of processes (chemical, physical, geological and biological) occur
often producing front structures or inducing turbulence phenomena. The typical
stratification of these zones can be interrupted by episodic events which effects can
diffuse to the ocean interior exploiting by local current and mixing processes.
According to hydrodynamic definition, the BBL thickness may vary from few millimetres
up to 100 metres depending on the friction intensity with the sea bed and the
stability of water column above it. Generally in deep-sea condition, the BBL thickness
is defined by the ratio between the friction velocity and the Coriolis parameter
according to the Ekman scale.
In the latest years several experiments have been carried out in the deep water of
Mediterranean Sea, focusing on the survey and study of benthic processes following
a multidisciplinary approach.
Benthic observatories, such as SN-1 and GEOSTAR, allow to record long time-series
of geochemical, seismological, geomagnetic, geodetic and oceanographic data and
allow to understand the dynamics and evolution of the processes though comparison
and interpolation of different types of signals.
From a oceanographic point of view, the technology of these benthic observatories
brings the possibility to observe and measure directly the hydrological properties at
the seafloor collecting data for long-time series and with high sampling rate.
The observatories deployed in Mediterranean Sea, have provided good information
about variations and oscillations of hydrological parameters in deep water where the monitoring is almost lacking.
In some cases it has been possible to link these deep-sea datasets with upper data
collected by ship-handled system during the same period or during different cruises.
This allows to have a more complete idea of the linkage between surface, intermediate
and bottom sea.
Hence the multidisciplinary approach represents a very important aspect for this kind
of study, because it allows not only a cross check of functionality among all the instruments
but also an important tool to recognise and better understand possible nonphysical-
oceanographic phenomena.
Description:
Published
Description:
Vienna, Austria
Description:
open
Keywords:
Benthic Boundary Layer
;
Mediterranean Sea
;
03. Hydrosphere::03.01. General::03.01.05. Operational oceanography
;
04. Solid Earth::04.04. Geology::04.04.04. Marine geology
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
Poster session
Format:
2471252 bytes
Format:
application/pdf
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