Estimates of ice and iceberg spreading in the Barents Sea

Based on the generalized archived sources and expedition data of 2001 and 2003, estimates of the ice regime components and ice and iceberg spreading in the Barents Sea necessary for the purpose of ice resistant platform design in the vicinity of the Shtokman GCF are given. As a result of the expedition activities in 2003, presence of second-year ice close to SGCF and a large number of icebergs in the field area was recorded for the first time. Detection of a large number of icebergs in the SGCF area in 2003 is an anomalous event changing significantly our knowledge of their possible number in the study area at the prescribed time interval. On the basis of the expedition data obtained, new probabilistic estimates of the iceberg/platform collision were made.