Movement of Satellite-Tracked Buoys in the Beaufort Sea (1979-1981).

• Main Authors: Murphy,D L, Lissauer,I M, Myers,J C
• Other Authors: COAST GUARD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER GROTON CT
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1983
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *OCEAN CURRENTS; BEAUFORT SEA; BUOYS; DRIFT; TRACKING; OFFSHORE; SEA ICE; GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; ALASKA; CANADA; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Tuktoyaktuk; Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula; Beaufort Sea; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA133159; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA133159

As part of an investigation into the fate of potential ARctic oil spills, the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center and Canadian Marine Drillings Ltd (CANMAR) released satellite-tracked platforms at the Canadian offshore drilling sites in the southeastern Beaufort Sea. During the first three years of joint research effort, which began in 1979, 21 trajectories were compiled, 15 from oceanographic drifters released in summer open water conditions and 6 from platforms deployed onto Arctic Ocean sea ice. The movement of the 15 oceanographic drifters showed considerable interannual variability. In 1979 the buoys moved offshore and to the west, paralleling the Alaskan coast, a direction which is consistent to the east-to-west motion of the southern portion of the Beaufort Sea Gyre. The 1980 and 1981 drift data show no such consistent behavior. In 1980 the buoys first moved to the east; three of the buoys then reversed directions and moved to the west in resposne to persistent winds from the east and northeast. The 1981 data exhibited the most dramatic easterly movement with five buoys grounding on or near the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, a short distance from the release site. Despite this remarkable yearly variability, at least one buoy drifted into U.S. waters in each of the first three years of the study. This, in addition to the fact that the ice movement data show a net westward motion, suggests that the Alaskan coast could be affected by a major uncontained blowout during Canadian offshore operations.