Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect
The Gulf of St Lawrence is under immediate pressure for oil and gas exploration, particularly at the Old Harry prospect. A synthesis of the regulatory process that has taken place over the last few years indicates that important societal decisions soon to be made by various ministries and environmen...
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ftdatacite:10.5446/39451 2023-05-15T17:22:44+02:00 Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect Bourgault, Daniel Cyr, Frédéric Dany, Dumont Carter, Angela 2014 https://dx.doi.org/10.5446/39451 https://av.tib.eu/media/39451 en eng Institute of Physics (IOP) Physics Audiovisual Video Abstract article MediaObject 2014 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.5446/39451 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The Gulf of St Lawrence is under immediate pressure for oil and gas exploration, particularly at the Old Harry prospect. A synthesis of the regulatory process that has taken place over the last few years indicates that important societal decisions soon to be made by various ministries and environmental groups are going to be based on numerous disagreements between the private sector and government agencies. The review also shows that the regulatory process has taken place with a complete lack of independent oceanographic research. Yet, the Gulf of St Lawrence is a complex environment that has never been specifically studied for oil and gas exploitation. Motivated by this knowledge gap, preliminary numerical experiments are carried out where the spreading of a passive floating tracer released at Old Harry is examined. Results indicate that the tracer released at Old Harry may follow preferentially two main paths. The first path is northward along the French Shore of Newfoundland, and the second path is along the main axis of the Laurentian Channel. The most probable coastlines to be touched by water flowing through Old Harry are Cape Breton and the southern portion of the French Shore, especially Cape Anguille and the Port au Port Peninsula. The Magdalen Islands are less susceptible to being affected than those regions but the probability is not negligible. These preliminary results provide guidance for future more in-depth and complete multidisciplinary studies from which informed decision-making scenarios could eventually be made regarding the exploration and development of oil and gas at the Old Harry prospect in particular and, more generally, in the Gulf of St Lawrence. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Magdalen ENVELOPE(17.098,17.098,69.017,69.017) Old Harry ENVELOPE(-54.781,-54.781,49.733,49.733) |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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ftdatacite |
language |
English |
topic |
Physics |
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Physics Bourgault, Daniel Cyr, Frédéric Dany, Dumont Carter, Angela Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
topic_facet |
Physics |
description |
The Gulf of St Lawrence is under immediate pressure for oil and gas exploration, particularly at the Old Harry prospect. A synthesis of the regulatory process that has taken place over the last few years indicates that important societal decisions soon to be made by various ministries and environmental groups are going to be based on numerous disagreements between the private sector and government agencies. The review also shows that the regulatory process has taken place with a complete lack of independent oceanographic research. Yet, the Gulf of St Lawrence is a complex environment that has never been specifically studied for oil and gas exploitation. Motivated by this knowledge gap, preliminary numerical experiments are carried out where the spreading of a passive floating tracer released at Old Harry is examined. Results indicate that the tracer released at Old Harry may follow preferentially two main paths. The first path is northward along the French Shore of Newfoundland, and the second path is along the main axis of the Laurentian Channel. The most probable coastlines to be touched by water flowing through Old Harry are Cape Breton and the southern portion of the French Shore, especially Cape Anguille and the Port au Port Peninsula. The Magdalen Islands are less susceptible to being affected than those regions but the probability is not negligible. These preliminary results provide guidance for future more in-depth and complete multidisciplinary studies from which informed decision-making scenarios could eventually be made regarding the exploration and development of oil and gas at the Old Harry prospect in particular and, more generally, in the Gulf of St Lawrence. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bourgault, Daniel Cyr, Frédéric Dany, Dumont Carter, Angela |
author_facet |
Bourgault, Daniel Cyr, Frédéric Dany, Dumont Carter, Angela |
author_sort |
Bourgault, Daniel |
title |
Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
title_short |
Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
title_full |
Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
title_fullStr |
Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
title_full_unstemmed |
Numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the Old Harry prospect |
title_sort |
numerical simulations of the spread of floating passive tracer released at the old harry prospect |
publisher |
Institute of Physics (IOP) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.5446/39451 https://av.tib.eu/media/39451 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(17.098,17.098,69.017,69.017) ENVELOPE(-54.781,-54.781,49.733,49.733) |
geographic |
Magdalen Old Harry |
geographic_facet |
Magdalen Old Harry |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5446/39451 |
_version_ |
1766109572994433024 |