(6) Onshore staging areas will probably be located near existing 

 airstrips and docks. 



(7) Total oil spills will range from 140,000 to 15,600,000 barrels 

 over the life of the field. 108 



5.2.8 Bering Sea (Norton Basin) 



Description of the Region 1 ° 9 



The northern Bering Sea is bounded on the south by Nunivak and St. 

 Matthew Islands, on the west by Siberia's Gulf of Anadyr, and on the 

 north and east by Bering Strait and Norton Sound respectively. Shorelines 

 along Norton Sound and the Seward Peninsula are generally abrupt with 

 steep bluffs interspersed with small stretches of low- lying sandy or 

 silty beaches. The entire region is underlain by discontinuous permafrost, 

 which becomes continuous north of the mountainous backbone of the Seward 

 Peninsula. 



The northern Bering Sea is entirely continental shelf and is 

 generally shallow and of low relief. Norton Sound is a subarctic 

 embayment averaging 65 feet deep. Surface currents reflect the general 

 northward drift of water toward Bering Strait. Sea ice is a common 

 condition covering the entire area from late autumn through early spring. 



The presence or absence of ice profoundly affects fish, bird and 

 marine mammal movement and behavior in this area. Many of these species 

 congregate near the edge of the pack ice and move in response to ice 

 motion. Plankton, invertebrates, and fishes that thrive at the ice edge 

 in great abundance provide food for the concentrations of marine birds 

 and mammals. 



65 



