OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 185 



the continents. As valuable side effects from this work, we have 

 garnered information on the transmission of somid through the sea 

 floor sediments, and somid velocity in sea water at different depths 

 and temperaturas. This has contributed extensively to the Navy's 

 antisubmarine warfare program. ^Marine seismic work has also shown 

 us that it will be possible to drill a hole through the earth's crast, 

 in some oceanic area, and bring up samples of the next portion of the 

 earth which is called the mantle. By doing this, we may settle an 

 entire host of questions, long puzzling to geologists and astronomers 

 alike, which have principally to do with the history and origin of 

 the earth, the rate at which the earth is losing heat, the origin and 

 histoiy of the permanent ocean basins, and the physical and chemical 

 nature of the rocks of the earth's interior. 



The gravity and magnetic work is usually performed in conjunction 

 with the seismic shooting and is useful in locating structural features 

 of the earth which might otherwise be overlooked through difficulty 

 of interpreting seismic records. 



In the special field of oceanic circulation, one of the most significant 

 discoveries in 1958 was the mapping of the equatorial undercurrent, 

 which is now called the Cromwell Current in honor of its discoverer. 

 This current underlies the South Equatorial Current in the Pacific 

 Ocean. It was measured to be at least 3,500 miles in length, having 

 a thickness of approximately 700 feet and a breadth of 250 miles. At 

 a depth of 300 feet the current averages almost 3 knots toward the 

 east compared with 1 knot toward the west of the overlying South 

 Equatorial Current. The discovery compares in significance to the 

 wartime discovery of the jet stream in the atmosphere. This par- 

 ticular feature is of practical use to the Navy in submarine warfare. 



Prior to the work in the Pacific the existence of a countercurrent 

 under the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic was postulated by Mr. Henry 

 Stommel at Woods Hole and later was proved to exist by a two-ship 

 cruise similar to the one which worked on the Cromwell Current. 

 This work contributed directly to the success of the study in the 

 Pacific. 



I have mentioned a few of the highlights of our extensive basic 

 research program, and I would like now to turn your attention to 

 one of our more important applied research projects which utilizes 

 the bathyseaph as a research vehicle. 



The accompanying paper which I have made available for distribu- 

 tion explains some of the uses of the bathyseaph and describes one of 

 our projects in the Mediten^anean during wliich unique acoustical in- 

 formation was gathered. . 



Since that time, and about one year ago, the Office of Naval Re- 

 search purchased the bathyseaph Tries,te from its inventor, the 

 Piccards. 



Slide number 5 is a picture of the Trieste in operation in the Medi- 

 terranean Sea, while slide number 6 shows the craft as it appears in 

 full view out of the water. The tank which you see above the sphere 

 is filled with gasoline, which is used for buoyancy control. The 

 people are in the sphere which is suspended neath the gasoline tank. 



The Trieste will carry two men to operating depths of about 20,000 

 feet for the purpose of making firsthand observations of the sea floor, 

 observing the behavior of oceanon;raphic instruments at great depths, 



