Seafloor Temperature and Conductivity Data from Coastal Waters of the U. S. Beaufort Sea

Important and unique seabed engineering properties and conditions observed on the shallow shelf of the Beaufort Sea may be caused by low temperatures and variable salinities of bottom waters. A year-long monitoring program was initiated during the fall of 1985 to make daily measurements of these par...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sellmann, Paul V., Reimnitz, Erk, Kempema, Edward W.
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1989
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*FREEZING
*SEDIMENTS
*OCEAN BOTTOM
MEASUREMENT
TEMPERATURE
LOW TEMPERATURE
COASTAL REGIONS
LOW COSTS
CONDUCTIVITY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
MEAN
SHALLOW DEPTH
BEAUFORT SEA
PERMAFROST
TEMPERATURE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
SEA ICE
UNDERWATER
DAILY OCCURRENCE
SEA WATER
SALINITY
BOTTOM WATERS
ENGINEERING
ALASKA
COLD REGIONS
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY
VARIABLES
CONTINENTAL SHELVES
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
OCEAN ENGINEERING
OVERCONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS
Beaufort Sea
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Alaska
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA205428
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA205428
Description
Summary:Important and unique seabed engineering properties and conditions observed on the shallow shelf of the Beaufort Sea may be caused by low temperatures and variable salinities of bottom waters. A year-long monitoring program was initiated during the fall of 1985 to make daily measurements of these parameters using small, self-contained, low-cost instrumentation units placed on the seabed in four locations. The four sites selected were in areas where overconsolidated sediments, seasonal seabed freezing and shallow ice- bounded permafrost are known to occur. The instruments were recovered during the fall of 1986; three units contained useful data. The longest record was 341 days at station 8 in outer Harrison Bay. Seabed temperatures above 0 C, for the period of record, occurred only 15 days at one site and 13 days at another. The mean annual temperatures for these sites were-1.55 C and -1.60 C. Estimates of the onset of seabed freezing suggest that the seabed can freeze on all but 82 days of the year. Keywords: Continental shelves; Seasonal variations; Electrical conductivity; Alaska; Cold regions; Ocean temperatures; Sea ice; Seabed properties; Undersea temperature measurement instruments.

Similar Items