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)<br />

-)<br />

14 cm/sec.<br />

213<br />

The rate of deposition of lutite is undoubtedly related<br />

to grain size, mineralogy, percent organic material, floccu-<br />

lation effects, salinity, and temperature, as well as the<br />

velocity, turbulence, and shear within the flow, and it is<br />

therefore di ffi cul t to rel ate the resul ts of these experi-<br />

ments to actual abyssal environments; salt-water flume<br />

experiments simulating the deep-sea environment are undoubt-<br />

edly needed to resolve the problem. However, in view of<br />

the existing experimental data and data collected in the<br />

deep sea (Hollister and Heezen, 1972) it seems reasonable<br />

to predict that there will be net deposition of suspended<br />

sediment at speeds less than about 10 em/sec.<br />

The bulk of current speeds recorded on the Greater<br />

Antilles Outer Ridge thus fall in the range necessary for<br />

lutite deposition (see Fig. 6.9). The zone of shear<br />

between the opposing currents on the north and south flanks<br />

of the western Greater Antilles Outer Ridge is probably<br />

characterized by even lower current speeds.<br />

If abyssal currents are transporting sediment to this<br />

region, the greater thickness of acoustically transparent<br />

sediments and higher rates of accumulation on the western<br />

sector of the Greater Antilles Outer Ridge, compared to the<br />

eastern sector, suggest that suspended sediment is preferen-<br />

tially deposited in the western sector. This contention is<br />

supported to some extent by a nephelometer profile (C11-3)

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