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Gyre versus Oil Development

December 01, 1976 / T. Neil Davis

Flowing out of the Copper River into Prince William Sound, suspended sediments show up in Landsat satellite images. Especially in summer these sediments are caught up in a circular current pattern called a gyre.

The persistent summer gyre located southwest of Kayak Island will also trap crude oil, should there be a wellhead accident or tanker spill in the area. Because of the danger, the U. S. Department of Interior recently decided to delete 16 tracts from an oil lease sale in the northeast Gulf of Alaska.

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Since it was established by an Act of Congress in 1946, scientists at the Geophysical Institute have studied geophysical processes from the center of the Earth to the surface of the sun and beyond, turning data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic and national priorities.

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