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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  all 
  possible 
  information 
  may 
  be 
  brought 
  to 
  bear 
  on 
  this 
  perplexing 
  

   and 
  still 
  unsolved 
  problem. 
  

  

  PRESENT 
  STATUS 
  AND 
  FUTURE 
  DEVELOPMENT 
  OF 
  

   SUBMARINE 
  GEOLOGY 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  newly 
  awakened 
  interest, 
  stimplated 
  by 
  the 
  intro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  new 
  techniques, 
  the 
  geological 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  science 
  is, 
  

   at 
  present, 
  in 
  a 
  position 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  rapid 
  advance. 
  The 
  foreword 
  to 
  

   the 
  reports 
  of 
  the 
  Snellius 
  Expedition 
  (1938, 
  p. 
  vii) 
  reflects 
  this 
  

   change 
  of 
  attitude 
  which 
  has 
  taken 
  place 
  both 
  here 
  and 
  abroad. 
  

  

  While 
  in 
  the 
  Siboga 
  expedition 
  of 
  1900, 
  biology 
  stood 
  in 
  the 
  foreground, 
  physical 
  

   oceanography 
  came 
  only 
  in 
  second 
  place 
  and 
  geology 
  was 
  not 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  

   program 
  at 
  all 
  ; 
  in 
  the 
  Snellius 
  expedition 
  the 
  parts 
  were 
  reversed 
  and 
  more- 
  

   over 
  a 
  prominent 
  place 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  geology. 
  

  

  The 
  application 
  of 
  the 
  geophysical 
  methods 
  has 
  placed 
  within 
  our 
  

   grasp 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  dispelling 
  much 
  of 
  our 
  ignorance 
  concerning 
  the 
  

   suboceanic 
  lithosphere, 
  a 
  subject 
  of 
  primary 
  importance 
  to 
  our 
  think- 
  

   ing 
  concerning 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  The 
  procedure 
  for 
  meas- 
  

   uring 
  terrestrial 
  magnetism 
  and 
  gravity 
  can 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  perfected, 
  

   while 
  that 
  for 
  securing 
  seismological 
  data 
  is 
  rapidly 
  approaching 
  that 
  

   stage. 
  

  

  The 
  recent 
  advances 
  in 
  offshore 
  surveying 
  methods 
  have 
  so 
  far 
  been 
  

   applied 
  only 
  to 
  charting 
  comparatively 
  small 
  areas 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  floor, 
  

   but 
  these 
  preliminary 
  results, 
  if 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  so 
  called, 
  have 
  been 
  suffi- 
  

   ciently 
  startling 
  to 
  unsettle, 
  in 
  many 
  minds, 
  deep-rooted 
  ideas 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  the 
  relative 
  stability 
  of 
  land 
  and 
  sea, 
  and 
  possibly 
  even 
  the 
  

   permanency 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  basins. 
  For 
  others 
  they 
  have 
  stimulated 
  

   thought 
  concerning 
  submarine 
  currents 
  and 
  rivers 
  of 
  liquid 
  mud 
  of 
  

   a 
  type 
  which 
  had 
  never 
  before 
  been 
  considered 
  among 
  the 
  processes 
  

   of 
  erosion. 
  The 
  study 
  of 
  submarine 
  morphology 
  has 
  thus 
  taken 
  on 
  a 
  

   new 
  significance. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  sedimentation 
  the 
  emphasis 
  is 
  shifting 
  from 
  a 
  purely 
  

   areal 
  study 
  of 
  a 
  region 
  to 
  investigations 
  of 
  the 
  sediments 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  

   the 
  marine 
  environments 
  which 
  have 
  produced 
  them. 
  The 
  forces 
  

   governing 
  transportation 
  and 
  deposition 
  are 
  all 
  too 
  imperfectly 
  known, 
  

   and 
  a 
  clear 
  understanding 
  of 
  conditions 
  of 
  sedimentation 
  in 
  the 
  sea 
  

   today 
  will 
  go 
  far 
  toward 
  helping 
  the 
  stratigrapher 
  in 
  the 
  interpreta- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  sedimentary 
  rocks 
  on 
  land. 
  Modern 
  methods 
  of 
  mechanical 
  

   analysis, 
  largely 
  developed 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  studies 
  in 
  soil 
  mechanics 
  

   and 
  foundation 
  engineering, 
  and 
  the 
  statistical 
  treatment 
  of 
  data 
  have 
  

   been 
  of 
  great 
  assistance 
  in 
  this 
  work. 
  The 
  ability 
  to 
  take 
  long 
  cores 
  

   is 
  playing 
  an 
  increasingly 
  important 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  sediments, 
  

   and 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  in 
  many 
  instances 
  to 
  penetrate 
  the 
  mantle 
  of 
  present- 
  

   day 
  deposition 
  and 
  reach 
  the 
  older 
  formations. 
  It 
  is 
  hoped 
  that 
  in 
  

   this 
  way 
  at 
  least 
  something 
  of 
  the 
  Pleistocene 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  

  

  