Model Simulation of the Currents in the Barents Sea in Connection with the Development of the Shtokman Gas Condensate Field

A. S. Averkiev and K. A. Klevannyi

A three-dimensional nonstationary baroclinic model of the Barents Sea is under consideration. The simulation was performed with allowance for all basic factors influencing the current: wind, pressure, tides, inhomogeneous water density, and flows across the open boundaries. Stationary and nonstationary sea dynamics has been simulated. It is found that an instantaneous flow pattern is highly variable and does not coincide with the schemes of a general drift. The main contribution to variability is made by tidal oscillations. Periodically, the tide and wind form vortex structures in different parts of the Barents Sea. The model is developed and used for getting data on currents on open boundaries of local models of different sea sites for calculating the transport of suspended substances when laying the subwater gas pipeline from the Shtokman gas condensate field to Kola Peninsula. A brief review of measurement data and results of model simulation of the currents in the Barents Sea is prepared.