Non-Living Resources 



1. The Geological Survey's marine program is directed to: 



— appraising undeveloped mineral, water, and energy resource po- 

 tentials of the Continental Shelf and Slope ; 

 — relating marine geological processes to occurrence of land and ocean 



floor resources; 

 — evaluating hazards to engineering related to seafloor stability; 

 — supplying geological data essential to the management of marine 



mineral resources and wise coastal land use; and 

 — contributing fundamental data on the origin of the continental 

 margins and the deep ocean basins. 

 The Geological Survey currently supports research in-house, at univer- 

 sities, and at oceanographic institutions, through service contracts with 

 industry and by cooperative programs with other Federal agencies. Among 

 the 1968 accomplishments of these programs were: 



— Bering Sea — discovery of several large sedimentary basins with indi- 

 cations of hydrocarbon accumulations and outlining of target areas 

 where high gold concentrations may occur; 

 — Oregon-California — identification of gold anomalies in nearshore, 



surface sediments; 

 — Northeastern Atlantic Coast — delineation of large tracts of sand and 



gravel of significant economic potential ; and 

 — Puerto Rico — delineation of offshore canyons which may be suitable 

 for dumping mining wastes without adversely afTecting the marine 

 environment. 

 Additionally, increased emphasis is being given to programs to analyze geo- 

 logical and geophysical data collected by private companies in the course of 

 offshore oil and gas exploration and development. With regard to responsi- 

 bilities in the field of water resources, a new program in hydrology includes 

 use of mathematical models to describe the movement of solutes in estuaries. 

 Also, the Office of Saline Water conducts research on the chemistry and 

 behavior of saline water systems. 



2. The Bureau of Mines conducts continuing studies of the U.S. position 

 with respect to consumption, domestic production, and reserves of more 

 than 80 mineral commodities, including examination of the economics of 

 minerals production and acquisition from marine and alternative sources. 

 The marine program of the Bureau is designed to assist in the development 

 of technology for the extraction and beneficiation of marine minerals and 

 the development of equipment and techniques for sampling and delineation 

 of marine mineral deposits. 



During the past year, the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the 

 Geological Survey, completed a research project off the southern coast of 

 the Seward Peninsula to develop equipment and techniques for obtaining 

 the deposit characteristic and environmental data needed for reliable evalua- 

 tion of seafloor placer-type mineral deposits and for defining the initial 

 problems in the development of a mining system. Over 500 miles of sub- 

 bottom profile lines were run; 56 holes were drilled; and over 20 tons of 



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