The western boundary undercurrent as a turbidity maximum over the Puerto Rico Trench

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research
• Main Authors: Tucholke, Brian E., Eittreim, Stephen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 1974
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5789

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 1974. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 79 (1974): 4115–4118, doi:10.1029/JC079i027p04115. Nephelometer measurements in the Puerto Rico trench record a midwater light scattering maximum at the depth of the near-bottom nepheloid layer found in the deep Atlantic basin to the northwest. This midwater maximum is best developed near the south slope of the trench and is interpreted as a southeasterly continuation of the western boundary undercurrent, which has been documented along the continental rise of eastern North America. The eastward-advecting core of the flow overrides clearer colder antarctic bottom water that enters the trench from the east. A near-bottom nepheloid layer, best developed in the eastern part of the trench, appears to be associated with the westward-flowing antarctic bottom current. The nephelometer program at Lamont has been supported by the National Science Foundation under grant GA 41657 and GA 27281 and the Office of Naval Research under contract NOOOI4-67-A-0108-0004. One of us (B.E.T.) was supported by a Lamont-Doherty PostDoctoral Fellowship during this research.