community outside the Federal Government, in 

 addition to in-house review. Proposals are as- 

 sessed from a technical standpoint to determine 

 their importance to the basic objectives and aims 

 of the Bureau. In general, proposals are supported 



in order of merit to the extent permitted by availa- 

 ble funds. In cases of proposals of substantially 

 equal merit, consideration is given to the general 

 subject matter coverage of grants made in the pro- 

 gram. 



U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



Geological Survey's Mission 



Role of Basic Research 



The U.S. Geological Survey was created in 1879 

 to study the geological structure and mineral re- 

 sources of the public domain and to provide infor- 

 mation to support development of the West. Con- 

 gress and the Secretary of the Interior later ex- 

 panded the Survey's responsibilities to include 

 topographic mapping; chemical and physical re- 

 search; stream gaging and water-supply assess- 

 ments; supervision of mineral exploration and 

 development activities on Federal and Indian 

 lands; engineering supervision of water power 

 permits; and administration of a minerals explora- 

 tion program. 



Although the emphasis and balance of the Sur- 

 vey's programs have changed over the years, they 

 still reflect the fact finding mission described in the 

 brief authorizing legislation of 1879. Today, that 

 mission has two major objectives. First, the Sur- 

 vey is charged with increasing the knowledge of 

 the extent, distribution, character, and origins of 

 the Nation's earth resources and of the geologic 

 processes that affect the use of the land so that 

 man may adjust his activities to the constraints 

 imposed by the environment and so that the 

 Earth's resources may be managed wisely. Sec- 

 ond, and no less important, are the Survey's regu- 

 latory responsibilities — classifying Federal lands 

 and supervising mineral lease development on 

 Federal and Indian lands. 



Both missions call for objective and impartial 

 reporting of investigations, identification of natural 

 constraints on land use and resource development, 

 and analyses of the consequences of alternative 

 policies or actions related to resource develop- 

 ment, conservation, and environmental protection. 



Definition of Basic Research 



The Geological Survey's operating definition of 

 basic research is research that advances man's 

 understanding of earth science and related natural 

 science processes and phenomena. 



Most of the activities of the Survey are founded 

 on the information gained from the basic research 

 program. In short, basic research is the corner- 

 stone of the Geological Survey's mission. 



An appreciation of the breadth and scope of cur- 

 rent Geological Survey research activities can be 

 gained from U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

 Paper 1000, "Geological Survey Research 1976" — 

 a 400-page summary of significant results in the 

 following topic areas: 



• Mineral resource and mineral fuel investiga- 

 tions 



• Regional geologic investigations 



• Water resource investigations 



• Marine geology and coastal hydrology 



• Management of natural resources on Federal 

 and Indian lands 



• Geologic and hydrologic principles, process- 

 es, and techniques 



• Geology and hydrology applied to hazard as- 

 sessment and environment 



• Remote sensing and advanced techniques 



• Land use and environmental impact 



• Topographic surveys and mapping. 



Examples of Basic Research 



Recent basic research related to the above topi- 

 cal areas has resulted in substantial advances in 

 knowledge in a number of fields, including: 



• Mineral- and energy-resource assessments 

 using refined geologic, geochemical, and geo- 

 physical techniques 



• Geologic hazards investigations — earth- 

 quakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions 



• Geodynamics — investigations of the geologic 

 composition and structure of the continental 

 crust, outer continental shelf (OCS), and 

 deep ocean crust 



• Application of numerical methods to the solu- 

 tion of mass and momentum equations to fluid 

 flow, both for ground water and surface water 



128 INTERIOR 



