In the summers of 1978 and 1979, an extensive physical oceanographic program was carried out in western Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. Data collected include satellite-tracked drifter measurements, CTD profiles and time series of subsurface currents. They indicate that the near-surface circulation of the area is dominated by the southward-flowing Baffh Current. This current, observed to extend at least as far north as Lady Ann Strait (76"N) and south to Cape Dyer (67'N), is largely confined to within 100 km of the coastline. It varies in both intensity and width with the strongest flows occurring where the current follows a cyclonic intrusion into and out of eastern Lancaster Sound; here in the core of the current the median near-surface (4 to 11 m) speeds are 75 cm/s, decreasing to 50 cm/s at 40 m depth and 25 cm/s at 250 m depth. To the east of Devon, Bylot and Baffin islands, the current is well-defined, but generally less intense with typical near-surface speeds of 30 cm/s. Important spatial variations occurred in the circulation of the area. In eastern Lancaster Sound, two distinct and alternating flow patterns were observed in the strong intrusive current in the summer of 1979. Transient large-scale meanders of the circulation were detected in the offshore portion of the Baffin Current off the east coasts of Bylot and Baffin islands. Between the eastern coastline of Bylot Island and the core of the southeasterly flowing Baffin Current, anticyclonic eddies of approximately 20 km diameter occasionally occurred.
Long-term, satellite-tracked iceberg trajectories were analyzed relative to the larger spatial and temporal scales of iceberg drift in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. Berg movements were concentrated in the core of the Baffin Current which flows along the continental. slope in a primarily southerly direction. The net rate of southward movements was found to be governed by a combination of grounding and landfast ice entrapment which tended to be of particular significance in areas of the coastal shelf adjacent to major submarine canyon systems.
Thispapums pmparedrc? wcsMaWnatsFelS9E Ofkhm TschrWrgy CoMwema MO m i-bush, Texas, z-3 w 1999. rni.spqM?rwa asrsEx&drup ruserm+on ty L!ICOTC PrOgmtn Canmnrw W-tisw M iYmrm3kn Ccmt&md in an ab3bacl subnti by the a@7u(r.). Cmi8ntS G+ the -, a. VMtiknti-b yti--T-wa~tia m% Qwti cmmcbco by U?@mthar(s). TIM makial, as P-?A, d-ml -rily mtlecl my PYWM of tha 0f63hom Teclmc!4cw @nfwmw w w c+scem~rqxcdtim, astiblltk.n Gf StOlxga Gf any pat of this paper so, Cummemid pxpxm W.ifkut me mime" wnssntofthe OF$imtu Techcc40EY C@emace n prchi!ited. Permiaaim 10 rwrcduc5 M print ic. rmtiided soanabsimdtinc+ mu8than300W WmJE40n6 maynctlm~ied.lhs absbact mtmt tin CMSF+CUW ackn.Aed#menl of where and by whcm the PUF-Srwas. . AbstractAn upward looking sonsx instnanen~the Ice Profiling Sonar (IPS), has been develop~and successfully used for obtaining time series measurements of ice keel depths over the continental shelves of the Attic m support of scientific research. Siice the winter of 1996/97, it has been extensive y used off the coast of Srdrhaiits Iskmc$ Russian Fe&ration, m suppert of offshore oil and gas research aimed at characterizing the seasonal sea-ice regime. The IPS instmummt has now been modified to extend its capabilities to provide accuratemeasurementof ocean waves. The instrumentusesa high tkquency acoustic transducer (420 kHx). It has a very narrow conical beam (2 degrees width at -3 dB) to minimize the spatial smoothing of surtkce waves across the sonar footprint With reduced power consumption, and an expanded intemral storage capacity of 64 Mbytes (flash EPROM), the new instrument is capable of continuous measurements of wave amplitude at a sampling rate of 1 HZ over deployments of up to nine months duration. During March to April 1998, an evaluation of the perforrrsarseeof the mtilfied D% inatrument hrough intercompsriwrs with a wave-rider buoy, was conducted in open ocwsr.s conditions off the Pacific west coast. Instantaneous wave heights of up to 11.5 m were measured. The results indicate good agreement between the mezsurcments obtained fhn the IPS instrument and those measured using the wave-rider buoy. The subsea IFS instrument is very well suited to wave measurement in areas where sea ice or sh@ping are hazards to surfkce installations.
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