The Main Results of Iceberg Drift Studies in the Russian Arctic Throughout 2012-2017

摘要

Icebergs are ice formations that confer high risks for marine activities.Drifting and entering the Arctic offshore waters, icebergs greatlyinfluence the operational regime of hydrotechnical structures, choice ofsupply vessels and ice management system, etc. To track ice formationsin the Arctic shelf, radio buoys allowing for detection of coordinatesand signal transmission were extensively used in the scope of fieldsurveys for Rosneft Oil Company throughout 2012–2017. In the presentpaper, we focus on the main results obtained for the iceberg drift. Theaspects of experimental design and key drift parameters, such asvelocity and its variability in summer and winter, are discussed. Therevealed difference between the iceberg drift patterns in thesouthwestern Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea can be explained in the firstplace by the fact that the masses and sizes of icebergs originating fromtwo archipelagos, Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya, are different.