CHARACTERISTICS OF SEA CURRENTS IN NAVIGATIONAL STRAIT AKSELSUNDET IN SPITSBERGEN

摘要

The study of tide induced jet flow in navigation strait Akselsundet in Spitsbergen is performed.Tidal measurements performed near the inner and outer shorelines of Akseloya Island crossing the entrance to the Van Mijen Fjord near the Akselsundet Strait showed a shift of the tidal phase over the island of 30 min. The measurements of surface currents performed with GPS drifters showed that the maximal current speed in the strait is close to 2.5m/s. Numerical simulations performed with an original model of tides in the fjords of the West Spitsbergen confirmed a phase shift of 30 min and high speeds of the sea current in the strait. A simplified box model of tides in the fjord was developed for the estimates of navigable window for the strait. Numerical estimates showed that mean duration of navigable window when the water speed in the strait is lower than 0.5 m/s is about 15 min, while the actual size of the window is varying from neap to spring tide.