Behavior of the Atlantic : 45 



tically accurate picture of the winds and weathers, the seasons, the 

 storm systems, the surface currents, etc., of the sea. 



The early work may have been crude and rather Hmited to surface 

 conditions, but it was also broad and constructive; as it owed its 

 materials and direction to practical men it also was of value for prac- 

 tical purposes as in the management of vessels, navigation and the 

 development of superior trade routes. Later research at sea has not 

 only refined the methods and extended the results of earlier study, 

 it has also plunged into new regions, developing knowledge of the 

 ocean slopes and bottom, of the several separate kinds of water masses 

 that make up the undersurface body of the ocean and the way in 

 which these waters behave in relationship to each other. 



We may acknowledge at once the theoretical importance and the 

 intellectual fascination of the new works in oceanography. A single 

 example will suffice to indicate what is involved and we select quite 

 arbitrarily the newly developing field of oceanic (really sea bottom) 

 geology. In those days neither governments nor private institutions 

 were supporting systematic research at sea and even vessels assigned 

 to some special inquiry were a rarity. Nowadays both governments 

 and private institutions provide special vessels, instruments of great 

 complexity and cost, and special opportunities for all manner of ocean 

 research from the surface of the sea to geological strata below the 

 sea's bottom, and professionally trained specialists carry out studies of 

 great refinement and fascinating mathematical accuracy. It is interest- 

 ing to remember, however, that in the beginning ocean meteorology 

 and oceanography were made possible by the co-operative contribu- 

 tions of many thousands of practical navigators.* Since only about 

 30 per cent of the surface of the earth is dry land and 70 per cent is 

 below water and since many geological strata now exposed on land 

 were formed under sea and many strata formed as dry land are now 

 underwater, it seems reasonable to believe that there will be serious 

 gaps and flaws in geological history until submarine geology is fur- 

 ther developed. 



We may also admit that present studies though they may seem 

 remote can and have produced practical results as in submarine 

 sound and supersonic devices including sonar, submarine navigation, 

 and devices for defensive and offensive submarine warfare. Who 

 knows what lies in store in the development of the ocean as a source 

 of raw materials, of food and of power? 



• The chapter on M. F. Maury contains some further information on this period. 



