Ice Scour - Gouge Characteristics

Gouge Characteristics

Seabed gouges produced by drifting ice features can be many kilometers in length. In Northern Canada and Alaska, gouge depths may reach 5 metres (16 ft) (Been et al. 2008). Most, however, do not exceed 1 meter (3 feet). Anything deeper than 2 meters is referred to by the offshore engineering community as an extreme event. Gouge widths range from a few meters to a few hundred meters (Héquette et al. 1995, Oickle et al. 2006). The maximum water depths at which gouges have been reported range from 450 to 850 metres (1,480 to 2,790 ft), northwest of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean (Weeks 2010, p. 395). These are thought to be remnant traces left by icebergs during the Pleistocene, thousands of years ago, when the sea level was lower than what it is today. In the Beaufort Sea, Northern Canada, a 50 kilometres (31 mi) long gouge was shown to exist, with a maximum depth of 8.5 metres (28 ft) and in water depths ranging from 40 to 50 metres (130 to 160 ft) (Blasco et al. 1998). The gouge is not always straight but varies in orientation. This event is thought to be about 2000 years old.