Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Arctic ice islands

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6091444· OSTI ID:6091444
; ; ;
The development of offshore oil and gas resources in the Arctic waters of Alaska requires offshore structures which successfully resist the lateral forces due to moving, drifting ice. Ice islands are floating, a tabular icebergs, up to 60 meters thick, of solid ice throughout their thickness. The ice islands are thus regarded as the strongest ice features in the Arctic; fixed offshore structures which can directly withstand the impact of ice islands are possible but in some locations may be so expensive as to make oilfield development uneconomic. The resolution of the ice island problem requires two research steps: (1) calculation of the probability of interaction between an ice island and an offshore structure in a given region; and (2) if the probability if sufficiently large, then the study of possible interactions between ice island and structure, to discover mitigative measures to deal with the moving ice island. The ice island research conducted during the 1983-1988 interval, which is summarized in this report, was concerned with the first step. Monte Carlo simulations of ice island generation and movement suggest that ice island lifetimes range from 0 to 70 years, and that 85% of the lifetimes are less then 35 years. The simulation shows a mean value of 18 ice islands present at any time in the Arctic Ocean, with a 90% probability of less than 30 ice islands. At this time, approximately 34 ice islands are known, from observations, to exist in the Arctic Ocean, not including the 10-meter thick class of ice islands. Return interval plots from the simulation show that coastal zones of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, already leased for oil development, have ice island recurrences of 10 to 100 years. This implies that the ice island hazard must be considered thoroughly, and appropriate safety measures adopted, when offshore oil production plans are formulated for the Alaskan Arctic offshore. 132 refs., 161 figs., 17 tabs.
Research Organization:
Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (USA). Geophysical Inst.
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC21-83MC20037
OSTI ID:
6091444
Report Number(s):
DOE/MC/20037-2939; ON: DE91002027
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Late Quaternary depositional history of Alaskan Beaufort Shelf
Conference · Sun Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6455608
Arctic ice island and sea ice movements and mechanical properties. Second quarterly report, 1 January-31 March 1984
Technical Report · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1983 · OSTI ID:6610479
Environmental assessment of the Alaskan Continental Shelf. Annual reports of principal investigators for the year ending March 1981. Volume 5. Transport
Technical Report · Sat Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1981 · OSTI ID:6413148

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540310 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
AGE ESTIMATION
ALASKA
ARCTIC OCEAN
BEAUFORT SEA
CHUKCHI SEA
COASTAL REGIONS
CORIOLIS FORCE
DIMENSIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
DRAG
ENGINEERING
FEDERAL REGION X
FLOW MODELS
FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTIONS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HAZARDS
ICE
ICEBERGS
IMPACT STRENGTH
MARINE SURVEYS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MINERAL RESOURCES
MITIGATION
MONTE CARLO METHOD
MOTION
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PROBABILITY
PROGRESS REPORT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
SAFETY ENGINEERING
SEAS
SIZE
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
SYNTHESIS
THICKNESS
USA
VELOCITY
WIND