187 



Testimony of administration witnesses opened on June 13. In antici- 

 pation, Dr. Haworth had sent a letter to the subcommittee chairman, 

 Senator Warren G. Magnuson, June 1, in which he urged that the 

 House reduction in NSF funding be restored. The letter said in part: 



I strongly recommend that the Senate support a continuation of Project Mo- 

 hole, an important and unique scientific effort which the House acbon would m 

 effect force us to cancel. My recommendation is endorsed by the Bureau of the 

 Budget, the President's science adviser, the National Science^ Board, and a num- 

 ber of outstanding geologists and geophysicists with whom I have recently con- 

 sulted Most of the major technical and engineering problems associated witn 

 this project have now been solved or are about to be solved, and we are now 

 moving ahead with excellent prospects for successful conclusion and with rela- 

 tively firm estimates of cost.'* 



In his prepared statement to the subcommittee, Dr. Haworth reviewed 

 the kinds of information that would be obtamed by drilling through 

 the earth's crust and on into the mantle — 



1. A better age determination for the earth. 



2. A determination of the age and origin of the ocean basins and their con- 

 tained sea water. . i V, • 



3 A better understanding of how the earth-moon system came into being. 



4. An understanding of the distribution of the chemical elements in the earth, 

 which in turn bears on the origin of the sun and perhaps other stars. 



5. An understanding of the origin of continents and whether or not they are 

 drifting about on the earth's surface. . 



6. Knowledge of the mantle's composition and the origin of magnetic and 

 gravity anomalies that have been discovered beneath the sea. 



7. A better understanding of the origin of life and the carbon cycle with which 

 it is closely connected.^' 



He enumerated the many scientific and technical purposes that could 

 be served only by deep drilling. With respect to the JOIDES pro- 

 gram, Haworth said it was a complementary program to obtain 

 samples from shallow depths. He noted : 



There seems to be a mistaken impression in some quarters that this program 

 would be a satisfactory substitute for Project Mohole. Although complementary, 

 they are, in fact, dissimilar in objectives. In contrast to Project Mohole. which is 

 aimed at drilling for many thousands of feet in hard rock, the ocean sediment 

 coring project is directed at securing cores from the relatively soft layers of 

 sediment just below the ocean bottom. These cores will involve penetrations 

 ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand feet, depending on the hardness of 

 the material. The platform and the drilling and station-keeping equipment are not 

 designed for the longtime drilling required for very deep drilling in hard rock, 

 nor will there be any capability for hole reentry when it is necessary to withdraw 

 the drill stem and casing. The samples obtained from the ocean coring project 

 will permit important studies of the history of the oceans but will yield little or 

 no information regarding the deeper crustal rocks, and the mantle will of course, 

 not even be approached.**" 



In reviewing the costs of the Mohole program, Haworth said the 

 total acquisition cost of the fully equipped drilling platform was now 

 estimated at $85.6 million, with annual operating costs of about $13 

 million. About $21 million would have been spent by the close of the 

 fiscal year 1966. Forecast requirements for Mohole funding were: 



Millions 



Fiscal year 1967 $19.5 



Fiscal year 1968 18.5 



Fiscal year 1969 13 



^ Letter reproduced in ibid., p. 1492. 

 69 Ibid., p. 1631. 

 6" Ibid., p. 1636. 



