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Figure 3.16 Labrador Sea Bathymetry for the SEA Area The

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Figure 3.16 Labrador Sea Bathymetry for the SEA Area The LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Figure 3.16 Labrador Sea Bathymetry for the SEA Area The Labrador Shelf can be divided into four distinct physiographic regions: coastal embayments; a rough inner shelf; a coast parallel depression referred to as the marginal trough; and a smooth, shallow outer shelf consisting of banks and intervening saddles. These features are presented in Figure 3.17. 3.2.1 Coastal Embayments The Labrador coast in the region of the Makkovik Bank is made up of a series of fjords. The fjords are generally steep-sided with deep U-shaped submarine profiles along the coast north of Cape Harrison, while glacial erosion and low relief prevented fjord development to the south. Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 105 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Figure 3.17 Location Map of Labrador Shelf Indicating Main Features Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 106 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT 3.2.1.1 Inner Shelf The inner shelf extends from the coast to approximately the 200 m isobath, with a width of approximately 25 km and a general east-facing slope in the vicinity of Cape Harrison. The topography exhibits jagged erosional features and is topographically complex, having relief and underlying bedrock similar to the adjoining mainland. Local relief features displaying changes in bathymetry are present in areas deeper than 75 m water depth and shoals are common. Soil deposits are generally present in depressions or buried channels. Localized seabed slopes of 30 degrees are not uncommon, and some vertical faces can be expected, particularly at bedrock outcrops. A number of channels have been recorded as part of detailed bathymetric surveys of the Inner Shelf, which may be useful in pipeline routing exercises. Bathymetry obtained from Canadian Hydrographic Survey charts show the presence of Hopedale Run, a 200 m deep channel passing between the islands just north of Cape Harrison (Figure 3.18), bathymetric data obtained during a 2006 multibeam survey by the GSC, also just north of Cape Harrison (GSC 2006) are illustrated in Figure 3.19. Figure 3.18 Hopedale Run Channel passing through Inner Shelf Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 107 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Figure 3.19 Bathymetry Indication of Presence of Channels Passing through Inner Shelf Source: King, A.D. and Sonnichsen, G., (2008) and Fugro Jacques GeoSurveys Inc. (2007). 3.2.1.2 Marginal Trough The break between the inner and outer shelf is marked by the marginal trough, which reaches depths up to 800 m locally, although is more commonly limited to 300 m. The trough section is asymmetrical, with the east wall being steeper than the west. The axis of this depression occurs at the contact between the erosion-resistant crystaline Precambrian bedrock of the inner shelf and the softer sedimentary sediments of the coastal plain sequence, which underlie the outer shelf. The trough depression is thought to have formed as a result of differential erosion by the advancing pleistocine ice sheet. Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 108 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT 3.2.1.3 Outer Shelf The outer shelf is topographically subdued, with relatively smooth surfaced, discrete banks. For the most part, it comprises sedimentary rocks of Late Cretaceous to Paleocene age that form a series of banks (<200 m deep), which are separated by east-west trending depressions called saddles, with depths up to 800 m. The Makkovik Bank is generally at water depths of 135 to 150 m, with local shoals of less than 90 m. Water depths generally increase from west to east. Quaternary sediments on the outer shelf are typically less than 100 m thick, but vary from 300 m near Hudson Strait to less than 10 m on Hamilton Bank. The presence of moraines and other glacial features results in local bathymetric relief (mounds or depressions) of up to 10 m, with diameters of several hundred metres. 3.3 Metocean Conditions The design and operation of offshore installations is dependent on good knowledge of meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) conditions to which an installation may be exposed. Of most importance are wind, wave and current conditions at the location of the installation. However, at some locations and for specific types of operations, other factors such as tides, air and sea temperature and visibility are also important. In order to plan a weather-sensitive offshore operation, it is the metocean conditions that may be expected to occur during the course of the operation that are of interest. 3.4 Sea Conditions 3.4.1 Temperature and Salinity Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) maintains a hydrographic database at http://www.mar.dfo- mpo.gc.ca/science/ocean/tsdata.html, which contains seasonal maps of the mean sea surface temperature and salinity, respectively, for the shelf regions off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Temperature and salinity fields are estimated from all available data collected by DFO. The seasonal estimates are made for the 15th of the month during February (winter), May (spring), August (summer) and November (fall). Sea surface temperatures (Figure 3.20) in the Labrador Shelf SEA Area remain relatively cold in the north (typically -2°C to 0°C) throughout the year. South of 55°N temperatures range from approximately 0°C during the winter months to approximately 10°C during summer. Salinity (Figure 3.21) hovers around 30 psu (practical salinity units) inshore and over the banks during spring and summer, and increases to greater than 35 psu at the edge of the Labrador Shelf. During fall and winter, it tends to increase to approximately 33 psu inshore and remains fairly constant at approximately 35 to 36 psu over the edge of the shelf. Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 109 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Figure 3.20 Seasonal Sea Surface Temperature Plots Source: DFO 2007a. Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 110 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Figure 3.21 Seasonal Salinity Plots Source: DFO 2007a. 3.4.2 Wave Conditions The AES40 wind and wave hindcast has been the standard for wind and wave climatology of the North Atlantic Ocean. This hindcast has been widely used in wind and wave climate and engineering studies for the North Atlantic, particularly for the areas offshore the east coast of Canada. The MSC50 hindcast from the Meteorological Service of Canada, which replaces the AES40, takes advantage of all the inputs of its predecessor, and introduces some important enhancements, particularly for the Canadian east coast offshore regions. These include: • a finer grid, (0.5 degree) over the entire North Atlantic; • a 0.1 degree grid over the Northwest Atlantic; • shallow water effects in the fine grid area; • better bathymetry and sea ice information; Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 111 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT • increased use of scatterometer wind data and storm track information; and • continuous hindcast wind and wave data spanning 50 years (1954 to 2005). The grid point locations used for this study are shown in Figure 3.22, the coordinates for each location are contained in Table 3.1. Monthly wave statistics for each MSC50 grid point are contained in Tables 3.2 to 3.10. These values are based on 50 years of hindcast data. Plots of monthly mean and maximum wave height are shown in Figure 3.23. Extreme 10-year, 50-year and 100-year significant wave heights are shown in Table 3.11. Figure 3.22 MSC50 Grid Point Locations Table 3-1 MSC50 Grid Point Locations MSC50 grid point Latitude Longitude 14986 60.0°N 61.0°W 14710 59.0°N 60.0°W 14434 58.0°N 59.0°W 14161 57.0°N 58.0°W 13893 56.0°N 57.0°W 13643 55.0°N 55.0°W 13408 54.0°N 53.0°W 13194 53.0°N 52.0°W 12995 52.0°N 51.0°W Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd. © 2008 August 2008 112 LABRADOR SHELF OFFSHORE AREA SEA – FINAL REPORT Table 3-2 Grid Point 14986 Monthly Mean, Standard Deviation and Maximum Wave Height Mean Significant Max Significant Number of Standard Deviation Month Wave Height Wave Height Hindcasts (m) (m) (m) January 5456 2.42 1.41 9.95 February 2262 2.10 1.30 10.53 March 3469 1.84 1.07 7.23 April 3839 1.55 0.84 5.26 May 5454 1.34 0.67 5.08 June 7677 1.29 0.70 5.92 July 11153 1.20 0.60 4.64 August 12891 1.33 0.67 5.06 September 12480 1.80 0.89 7.86 October 12896 2.29 1.11 8.35 November 11520 2.63 1.32 9.90 December 11160 2.69 1.41 10.57 Table 3-3 Grid Point 14710 Monthly Mean, Standard Deviation and Maximum Wave Height Mean Significant Max Significant Number of Standard Deviation Month Wave Height Wave Height Hindcasts (m) (m) (m) January 5704 2.75 1.47 10.03 February 4743 2.24 1.35 11.19 March 5950 2.13 1.14 8.95 April 6236 1.92 0.94 6.54 May 6943 1.49 0.72 5.53 June 8878 1.37 0.70 6.90 July 11403 1.21 0.58 4.34 August 12644 1.32 0.65 4.93 September 12479 1.81 0.87 6.62 October 12896 2.33 1.12 9.36 November 11760 2.73 1.35 11.22 December 11408 2.93 1.44 12.12 Table 3-4 Grid Point 14434 Monthly Mean, Standard Deviation and Maximum Wave Height Mean Significant Max Significant Number of Standard Deviation Month Wave Height Wave Height Hindcasts (m) (m) (m) January 8927 2.90 1.55 11.00 February 6334 2.64 1.49 11.67 March 8676 2.40 1.34 11.47 April 8637 2.13 1.09 8.39 May 8679 1.63 0.82 7.27 June 10077 1.46 0.76 8.67 July 11653 1.26 0.63 4.89 August 12645 1.37 0.69 5.64 September 12479 1.88 0.91 7.24 October 12896 2.44 1.20 10.55 November 12480 2.87 1.45 12.23 December 10912 3.23 1.55 11.51 Sikumiut Environmental Management Ltd.
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