Extreme Bottom Currents in the North Sea

During the last ten years currents have been measured at several locations in the North Sea. Due to the offshore activity special emphasis has been placed on currents in deeper layers of the sea and near the bottom. In 1978 the Norwegian Hydrodynamic Laboratories (NHL) commenced a project for Geoteam/Phillips Petroleum Company A/S to measure current velocity and direction along the Ekofisk-Teesside and Ekofisk-Emden pipelines, Fig. 1. Both sets of measurements were made 3 m above the bottom at 70 m depth by Aanderaa RCM-4 selfrecording current meters.