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OCR for page R1
Assessment of the
U.S. Outer Contir~entalSleif
Environments! St~ies Program
I. Physical Oceanography
Physical Oceanography Pane!
Committee to Review the Outer Continental Shelf
Environmental Studies Program
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 1990
OCR for page R2
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research
Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of
Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their
special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review
Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the
Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged
in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general
welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires
it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy
of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences,
as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members,
sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy
of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and
recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of
~ _ . .
. ~ nglneermg.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent
members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute
acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the
federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education.
Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad
community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal
government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the
principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing
services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly
by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice
chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Contract No. 14-12-001-30342.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 89-63847
International Standard Book Number 0-309-04181-3
Cover photo: Grant Heilman/Grant Heilman Photography
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY PANEL
Maurice Rattray, Jr., Chair, University of Washington, Seattle
Glenn L. FlierI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Barbara Hickey, University of Washington, Seattle
Donn S. Gorsline, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Joseph Niebauer, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Malcolm L. Spaulding, University of Rhode Island, Kingston
Consultant
Larry Sanford, University of Maryland, Cambridge
Resigned August 29, 1988.
· ~ ~
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COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM
John W. Farrington, Chair, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Vera Alexander, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Garth D. Brewer, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Judith McDowell Capuzzo, Woods Hole Oceanographic :Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Charles P. Eddy, Los Angeles, California
Edward D. Goldberg, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lea lolla, California
Charles Bruce Koons, Exxon Production Research Company (retired), Houston, Texas
Guy Martin, Perkins Cole, Washington, D.C.
Arthur Maxwell, University of Texas, Austin
'lames ]. O'Brien, Florida State University, Tallahassee
Maurice Rattray, Jr., University of Washington, Seattle
Howard A. Slack, Port Ludlow, Washington
.Iohn ,l. Walsh, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Project Staff
David Policansky, Project Director
Sylvia Tognetti, Research Associate
Erik Hobble, Research Assistant
Alison Kamat, Research Assistant
Susan Maurizi, Editor
Lee Paulson, Editor
Bernidean Williams, Information Specialist
Holly Wells, Senior Project Assistant
1V
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BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
Gilbert S. Omenn, Chair, University of Washington, Seattle
Frederick R. Anderson, Washington School of Law, American University, Washington, D.C.
John C. Bailar, McGill University School of Medicine, Montreal, Quebec
Lawrence W. Barnthouse, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
David Bates, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Joanna Burger, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
Yoram Cohen, University of California, I-os Angeles
John L. Emmerson, Eli Lilly & Company, Greenfield, Indiana
Robert L. Harness, Monsanto Agricultural Company, St. Louis
Paul I. Lioy, UMDN]-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey
Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University, CorvaDis
Donald Mattison, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
Duncan T. Patten, Arizona State University, Tempe
Nathaniel Reed, Hobe Sound, Florida
William H. Rodgers, University of Washington, Seattle
F. Sherwood Rowland, University of California, Irvine
Liane B. Russell, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Milton Russell, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
John H. Seinfeld, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
I. Glenn Sipes, University of Arizona, Tucson
Bruce M. Alberts (Ex OffcioJ, University of California, San Francisco
Donald Hornig (Ex Officio), Harvard University, Boston
Paul Risser (Ex OffcioJ, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Staff
James J. Reisa, Director
David J. Policansky, Program Director for Applied Ecology and Natural Resources
Robert Smythe, Program Director for Exposure Assessment and Risk Reduction
Richard D. Thomas, Program Director for Human Toxicology ant! Risk Assessment
Lee R. Paulson, Manager, Toxicology Information Center
*
Devra L. Davis was director until September 1988.
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COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. Gordon Wolman, Chair, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Robert C. Beardsley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
B. Clark Burchfiel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Ralph J. Cicerone, University of California, Irvine
Peter S. Eagleson, Massachusetts institute of Technology, Cambridge
Lawrence W. Funkhouser, Chevron Corporation (retired), MenIo Park, California
Gene E. Likens, New York Botanical Gardens, Midbrook
Scott M. Matheson, Parsons, BehIe and Latimer, Salt Lake City, Utah
Jack E. Oliver, Corned University, Ithaca, New York
Philip A. Palmer, Ed. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Newark, Delaware
Frank L. Parker, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Duncan T. Patten, Arizona State University, Tempe
Denis I. Prager, MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, Illinois
Harris Lo. Smarr, University of {llinois, Urbana-Champaign
Crispin Tickell, Uniter] Kingdom Mission to the United Nations, New York
Karl K. Turekian, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Irvin L. White, New York State Energy Resource and Development Authority, Albany
James H. Zumberge, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Staff
Stephen Rattien, Executive Director
Stephen D. Parker, Associate Executive Director
Janice E. Greene, Assistant Executive Director
Jeanette A. Spoon, Financial Officer
Gaylene ]. Dumouchel, Administrative Assistant
This study originally was undertaken under the auspices of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and
Resources.
V1
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Preface
The review leading to this report was initiated in May 1986 by the National Research
Council (NRC) at the request of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S.
Department of the Interior. Under the auspices of the NRC Board on Environmental Studies and
Toxicology, the Committee to Review the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies
Program was formed to carry out the overall assignment. Three panels were established, one of
which, the Physical Oceanography Panel, investigated the physical oceanographic aspects of the
Environmental Studies Program (ESP), the subject of this report, which is the first of three in a
series.
It has been 12 years since a previous review by the National Research Council (OCS Oil
and Gas: An Assessment of the Department of the Interior Environmental Studies Program,
National Academy of Sciences, 1978) recommended a change from the previous program of
supporting descriptive baseline studies to one of carrvin~ out studies that focus on the prediction
· , %, , ·, at,, ~
~ . ~ _ ~ _ .. . . . . ~ . .. . . .
Ot Impacts trom och operations and provide ~nt~ormat~on more directly applicable to leasing and
management decisions. To date, the ESP has expended nearly $500 million over its 17-year
history for environmental studies applicable to lease sales covering most of the outer continental
shelf. It appeared to MMS in 1986 that the time was ripe to assess the status of the present
program and to explore the needs for future studies. Thus, MMS requested an evaluation of the
adequacy and applicability of ESP studies, a review of the general state of knowledge in the
appropriate disciplines, and recommendations for future studies.
The Physical Oceanography Panel based its report on several sources, including
presentations from staff members of the Environmental Studies and Environmental Modeling
Branches of MMS; briefings by other, independent scientists familiar with the work carried out
in the different regions under the support of the Environmental Studies Branch; results of a
workshop on numerical modeling held by the panel; and a review of the relevant scientific
literature and documentation of MMS's planning and implementation processes leading to various
lease sales.
Reviewing the ESP and making recommendations for future studies required the
committee and its panels to consider certain interactions between the ESP and other parts of
MMS, especially the Branch of Environmental Modeling (BEM) and the producers of
environmental impact statements (EISs) for lease sales, the four regional offices of the Branch of
Environmental Evaluation (BEE). It was necessary to consider these interactions in order to
evaluate the "applicability" of ESP studies to MMS needs. Thus, some parts of this report include
particular reference to BEM and to EISs.
Midway through its deliberations, the committee was asked to undertake two additional
tasks. First, MMS requested a review of the adequacy of scientific and technical information
pertaining to environmental concerns for outer continental shelf (OCS) decisions on the Georges
Bank area in the north Atlantic (lease sale 96~. Second, President Bush's Task Force on OCS oil
and gas leasing requested a review of the adequacy of available scientific and technical
information pertaining to environmental concerns for lease sales 116, Part 2 (southwestern
· ~
V11
OCR for page R8
. . .
V111
PREFACE
Florida); 91 (northern California); and 95 (southern California). The report to President Bush's
Task Force has been completed (NRC, 1989a), and the Georges Bank report is near completion.
The additional studies depended for their success on the work done on the original study,
but their focus is not identical. The original charge was broader in that it covered the entire U.S.
OCS and narrower in that it concerned only MMS's ESP; that is why this report does not directly
evaluate the adequacy of information for making leasing and other OCS decisions, as the reports
on California and Florida and on the North Atlantic do.
The panel benefited greatly from the workshop on numerical modeling, in which
J. Herring, J. Galt, J. Leendertse, S. K. Liu, M. Reed, and A. Wallcraft discussed their use of
numerical modeling to obtain oil-spill-trajectory information. Their presentations were the
initial input for the workshop recommendations formulated by all workshop participants, who
also included K. Brink, Z. Kowalik, M. Luther, A. Okubo, R. Pritchard, A. Robinson, R. Smith,
D.P. Wang, and the panel. Those recommendations helped clarify the panel's deliberations and
the formulation of its own recommendations.
f
The panel also learned much from presentations describing the physical oceanography of
the different geographic regions and the MMS contributions thereto by the following experts:
L. Atkinson, B. Butman, L. Pietrafesa, T. Royer, R. Smith, and T. Sturges. R. Sternberg
summarized benthic processes for the panel.
The help and cooperation of the MMS staff, particularly D. Aurand, R. Cohen,
B. Drucker, R. LaBelle, and T. Paluszkiewicz, were crucial. The panel's work was carefully
guided and supported by the National Research Council staff directed by D. Policansky.
L. Sanford, who did a superior job of assembling the drafts prepared by individual panel
members, improved the report substantially. The reviewers' many helpful comments led to an
appreciably better final report.
To all of the above the panel members express their appreciation.
Maurice Rattray, Jr.
Chairman, Physical Oceanography Panel
OCR for page R9
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Present Study, 1
Acquisition and Use of Physical Oceanographic Information by the ESP, 2
Conclusions, 3
Recommendations, 5
INTRODUCTION
Outer Continental Shelf Activities, 7
MMS's Environmental Studies Program, 10
The Present Study, 16
Planning and Procurement of Environmental Studies, 17
Why MMS Needs Physical Oceanographic Information, 19
Acquisition and Use of Physical Oceanographic Information, 19
What Information is Needed, 22
STATE-OF-THE-ART OVERVIEW: PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC
PROCESSES, FEATURES, AND METHODS OF POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE
TO THE ESP
Introduction, 25
Transport, Stirring, and Mixing Processes, 29
Numerical Models, 44
Sea Ice, 49
Sediment Transport, 51
REGIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND EVALUATION OF THE REGIONAL
STUDIES PROGRAM AND WASHINGTON OF-~-lCE GENERIC PROGAMS
Introduction, 53
The Alaska Region, 54
The Pacific Region, 66
The Gulf of Mexico Region, 76
The Atlantic Region, 86
The Washington Office, 94
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction, 95
The Role of Physical Oceanography in the ESP, 95
Conclusions, 96
Recommendations, 102
REFERENCES
1X
7
25
95
107
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x
APPENDICES
A
B
C
CONTENTS
127
Glossary of Physical Oceanography Terms, 129
Workshop on Modeling in Physical Oceanography, 133
Physical Oceanography Study Contracts Awarded by MMS, 137
