﻿228 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  main 
  and 
  having 
  little 
  to 
  offer. 
  Men 
  whose 
  chief 
  interest 
  lay 
  along 
  

   other 
  lines 
  were 
  mainly 
  responsible 
  for 
  what 
  geological 
  information 
  

   there 
  was. 
  

  

  Up 
  to 
  this 
  point 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  oceanography 
  had 
  proceeded 
  more 
  or 
  

   less 
  along 
  the 
  same 
  lines 
  which 
  the 
  Challenger 
  expedition 
  had 
  laid 
  

   down. 
  The 
  same 
  general 
  problems 
  were 
  attacked 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  general 
  

   way 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  point 
  of 
  view. 
  The 
  biological 
  sciences, 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  systematic 
  zoology, 
  had 
  long 
  been 
  the 
  mainspring 
  which 
  moti- 
  

   vated 
  oceanography 
  as 
  a 
  whole, 
  but 
  even 
  here 
  diminishing 
  returns 
  were 
  

   beginning 
  to 
  be 
  felt 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  century, 
  as 
  each 
  subsequent 
  

   expedition 
  merely 
  added 
  data 
  which 
  tended 
  to 
  confirm 
  what 
  was 
  al- 
  

   ready 
  known. 
  "And", 
  as 
  Dr. 
  H. 
  B. 
  Bigelow 
  ( 
  1931, 
  pp. 
  8-9) 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  a 
  period 
  of 
  general 
  oceanographic 
  stagnation 
  might 
  then 
  have 
  succeeded 
  to 
  the 
  

   preceding 
  peak 
  of 
  activity 
  (this 
  did, 
  in 
  fact, 
  happen 
  in 
  America), 
  had 
  there 
  not 
  

   arisen 
  new 
  schools, 
  centering 
  their 
  attention 
  on 
  the 
  biologic 
  economy 
  of 
  the 
  in- 
  

   habitants 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  as 
  related 
  to 
  their 
  physical-chemical 
  environment, 
  on 
  

   mathematical 
  analysis 
  of 
  the 
  internal 
  dynamics 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  water, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   geologic 
  bearing 
  of 
  submarine 
  topography 
  and 
  sedimentation, 
  rather 
  than 
  on 
  

   areal 
  surveys 
  of 
  one 
  or 
  another 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  This 
  conscious 
  alteration 
  of 
  viewpoint, 
  from 
  the 
  descriptive 
  to 
  the 
  analytic, 
  

   is 
  one 
  of 
  two 
  chief 
  factors 
  that 
  gives 
  to 
  oceanography 
  its 
  present 
  tone 
  ; 
  the 
  other 
  

   is 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  an 
  economic 
  demand 
  that 
  oceanography 
  afford 
  practical 
  as- 
  

   sistance 
  to 
  the 
  sea 
  fisheries. 
  

  

  In 
  Europe 
  the 
  Conseil 
  International 
  pour 
  l'Exploration 
  de 
  la 
  Mer 
  

   was 
  formed 
  as 
  a 
  cooperative 
  effort 
  to 
  handle 
  this 
  latter 
  problem 
  of 
  such 
  

   vital 
  importance 
  to 
  the 
  nations 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  Sea 
  and 
  neighbor- 
  

   ing 
  fisheries, 
  and 
  attention 
  was 
  perforce 
  directed 
  to 
  the 
  shallower 
  

   waters. 
  Interest 
  in 
  the 
  mathematical 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  dynamics 
  of 
  the 
  cir- 
  

   culation 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  centered 
  in 
  the 
  Scandinavian 
  countries. 
  This 
  school 
  

   developed 
  rapidly, 
  until 
  today 
  perhaps 
  more 
  attention 
  is 
  focused 
  on 
  

   physical 
  and 
  dynamical 
  oceanography 
  than 
  on 
  any 
  other 
  single 
  sub- 
  

   division 
  of 
  the 
  science. 
  

  

  Lest 
  it 
  be 
  thought 
  that 
  too 
  much 
  space 
  has 
  been 
  devoted 
  up 
  to 
  this 
  

   point 
  to 
  nongeological 
  matters, 
  it 
  is 
  once 
  again 
  pointed 
  out 
  that 
  ocean- 
  

   ography 
  is, 
  of 
  necessity, 
  a 
  cooperative 
  affair, 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  

   development 
  of 
  the 
  science 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  is 
  to 
  lose 
  perspective. 
  Interest 
  

   and 
  impetus 
  generated 
  in 
  one 
  field 
  may 
  be 
  used 
  to 
  advantage 
  in 
  another. 
  

   Indeed, 
  if 
  this 
  were 
  not 
  the 
  case, 
  submarine 
  geology 
  in 
  its 
  present 
  state 
  

   would 
  not 
  exist. 
  Although 
  the 
  recent 
  advances 
  in 
  surveying 
  methods, 
  

   in 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  geology 
  techniques, 
  and 
  in 
  sedimentation 
  and 
  

   stratigraphy 
  have 
  been 
  marked, 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  spectacular, 
  the 
  

   geologist 
  must 
  remember 
  that 
  the 
  main 
  emphasis 
  in 
  oceanographic 
  

   research 
  is 
  still 
  on 
  physics 
  and 
  the 
  internal 
  dynamics 
  of 
  sea 
  water 
  and 
  

   on 
  biology. 
  

  

  