ICE EFFECT ON COAST AND SEABED IN BAYDARATSKAYA BAY, KARA SEA

Abstract

For the engineering design of underwater pipelines and communication cables in freezing seas, reliable estimates of the frequency and penetration depth of ice-keel scour on the seabed and shoreface are required. Underestimation of ice gouging intensity on the seabed can lead to the infrastructure damage, while overestimation leading to excessive burial depth raises the cost of construction. Here we present results from recent studies of ice gouge morphology in Baydaratskaya Bay, Kara Sea. The direct impact of ice gouging by floes on the seabed and shores is described, generalized and systematized: the depth of the gouges varies from the first centimeters up to 2 m; the most intensive ice gouging is observed near the fast ice rim, due to the maximum impact executed by ice ridges frozen into large floe. We propose a zonation of Baydaratskaya Bay based on the types of ice formation and the intensity of ice impacts on the coasts and sea floor.

Keywords

• kara sea
• arctic coastal dynamics
• geotechnical safety
• sea ice
• ice ridges
• ice gouging
• bottom topography
• the intensity of ice influence
• zoning