Marine Science Affairs 



As to oil and gas, there is almost universal agreement that exploration 

 and production offshore will continue to increase to the extent that, by the 

 year 2000, perhaps 25 percent of the world-wide demand will be met by 

 marine sources. 



Further, it has been predicted that, over the course of the next 10 years, 

 the oil industry will invest more than $25 billion in off-shore exploration, 

 in 100 different countries. If to this were added the expenditures for off- 

 shore leases and production facilities, annual outlays could well double. 

 This compares with an annual investment now of some $1 billion, on the 

 shelves of all continents. Another $1 billion is invested in off-shore drilling 

 equipment at work around the world. Just 11 years ago the count of off- 

 shore mobile rigs was only 25; last year it had reached 150. We can look 

 forward to comparable growth in the rig fleet in the years ahead. 



These projections emphasize the importance of prompt reconnaissance 

 surveys of the Shelf — as a guide to both resource development and to policy 

 formulation. Knowing what is there is a necessary prerequisite to other 

 decisions, public and private, national and international. The Marine 

 Sciences Council has to this end identified as an important next step the 

 completion of geological, geophysical, and bathymetric mapping of the 

 Continental Shelves of the United States at reconnaissance scale. 



During FY 1969, resource appraisal activities of the Geological Survey 

 are budgeted at $2.4 million. Bathymetric mapping and other studies of 

 ESS A, which contribute to resource mapping, are budgeted at nearly $13.6 

 million, and substantial contributions will be made by the Navy. The pro- 

 gram also will include participation by universities, research institutions, 

 and industry as well as the Federal Government. The activity has four 

 major aspects: 



— production of bathymetric maps of selected areas on a scale of 



1:250,000 as a basis for all engineering activity on the Shelf; 

 — completion of geological and geophysical reconnaissance of the 

 Shelf and Slopes, analysis, and publication of technical studies; 

 — delineation of the seaward extension of state and national bound- 

 aries; 

 — reduction of time and cost of Shelf surveys through new technology, 

 including automation. 

 Other marine science needs for eventual development of mineral re- 

 sources from the marine environment include: 



— studies on physical, chemical, and biological oceanography of the 



water-seafloor system of sedimentation; 

 — engineering studies of off-shore mining systems; 



— chemical understanding of the form of ores recovered from the 

 marine environment and chemical and mechanical engineering 

 of beneficiation processes. 



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