Transpolar Sea Ice Drift in the Vicinity of the Yermak Plateau as Observed by ARCTEMIZ 86 Buoys

Strong diurnal tidal currents, in a region dominated by semidiurnal tidal surface displacements, were observed in the record of ARCTEMIZ 1986 buoys as they drifted over the Yermak Plateau, a submarine feature northwest of Svalbard. Similar diurnal currents in this area were first observed from obser...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hoffman, Paul J.
Other Authors: NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1990
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*SEA ICE
*TIDAL CURRENTS
*OCEAN TIDES
OPTIMIZATION
OCEAN WAVES
MORPHOLOGY
MOTION
THESES
VORTICES
DRIFT
SURFACE PROPERTIES
RESONANCE
CONVERGENCE
TRAJECTORIES
OCEAN BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY
CURRENTS
DIURNAL VARIATIONS
GRINDING
BUOYS
ARCTIC OCEAN
POLAR REGIONS
PLATEAUS
VELOCITY
STATIONS
YERMAK PLATEAU
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Svalbard
Yermak Plateau
Fram Strait
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Yermak plateau
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA228985
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA228985
Description
Summary:Strong diurnal tidal currents, in a region dominated by semidiurnal tidal surface displacements, were observed in the record of ARCTEMIZ 1986 buoys as they drifted over the Yermak Plateau, a submarine feature northwest of Svalbard. Similar diurnal currents in this area were first observed from observations taken during the FRAM III and FRAM IV ice station drift experiments. Selective enhancement of topographic vorticity waves by resonant forcing from the K sub 1 diurnal tide over the steeply sloping northern, northwestern and western flanks of the plateau is forwarded as an explanation for these anomalously strong diurnal currents. Diurnal were observed in the trajectories of two buoys while they were over the northern flank of the Yermak Plateau. These loops were similar to those observed during MIZEX 84. The loops occurred during diurnal clockwise velocity peaks which have the same periodicity as the fortnightly (spring-neap) beat of surface height inequality caused by the superposition of the two principal semidiurnal tides. Sea ice forced by the added convergent grinding motion arising from these enhanced diurnal clockwise currents should have a surface morphology observably different from ice which did not flow through this area, i.e., that which passes through Fram Strait to the west of the Yermak Plateau. Keywords: Ocean tides; Diurnal variations; Arctic Ocean; Ocean bottom topography; Resonance/vortices.

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