Current and waves along the shelf slope 
with relevance for industrial development.

Thiem, Ø., Berntsen, J., Alendal, G. and Furnes, G.

EGS-AGU-EGU Joint Assembly, 
Nice, France, 2003, April 06-11, poster presentation.

Abstract:
Norway's second largest gas field, Ormen Lange, is located about 100 km off mid-Norway
at an unprecedented depth. It is the first Norwegian hydrocarbon project beyond the shelf
break. The exploration and development of the field is thus a challenge.

An important part of the planning is to understand the current conditions and hydrography 
of the site. A complicating factor is the extreme roughness of the local topography. 
Submarine slides have produced escarpments and sea mounts with height variations of up to 
100m. The hydrography seems to be equally complex. In situ moorings have revealed strong 
variations in current speed and temperature close to the seabed.

A variety of numerical experiments have been and are being set up in order to recapture and, 
if possible, to forecast the observed variability. Examples are non-hydrostatic models 
resolving the flow and topography at the meter scale, intermediate models focusing on the 
cross-slope advection and propagation of internal waves, and basin scale models estimating 
the influence from the thermohaline circulation and the forcing from atmospheric lows.

This poster aims to give an overview of the ongoing oceanographic research on mesoscale, 
where the effects of the bottom topography, the atmospheric low pressures and the theromohaline
field are studied.

The project is funded by Norsk Hydro and the Ormen Lange Consortium.

Click here to view the presentation in pdf format.