Research, Manpower, and Engineering 



upper, photic layer from phosphate concentrations at depth, mixing rates, 

 and temperature. Recently developed techniques for determining the bio- 

 logical productivity of the sea have now been employed routinely in all of 

 the major oceanic regions. We have a qualitative and quantitative under- 

 standing of the transfer of energy and matter within the "food web" of living 

 organisms in the sea. New observations of ocean circulation, distribution of 

 nutrients, and the interrelationships of organisms to physical and chemical 

 variable* have provided knowledge that allows the prediction of new ex- 

 ploitable stocks of fish. In the deep sea, new measurements of dissolved and 

 particulate organic carbon show convincingly that both of these constituents 

 are uniformly distributed at depths below a few hundred meters, both ver- 

 tically and geographically. 



In the field of geochemistry, new radiochemical techniques to determine 

 sediment age have extended the useful limits of these measurements from 

 about 30,000 years to 50 to 100 million years. Studies of manganese nodules 

 suggest that the growth rates are of the order of a few millimeters per million 

 years. Investigations of marine sediments have demonstrated that their 

 mineral content reflects their source environment rather than their deposi- 

 tional environment, and thus give indications of the major terrestrial source 

 regions for deep sea sediments. Finally, recent analytical refinements have 

 established beyond doubt that man-made pollution has already affected 

 surface layers of the ocean, everywhere. 



Federal Funding of Research and Facilities 



These accomplishments have been made possible by investments in re- 

 search conducted primarily at academic institutions over the last decade. 

 Maintaining that support has been a Federal responsibility — one that has 

 been difficult to implement during the past year when overall limitations on 

 Federal expenditures were required by the Congress. Every sector of Federal 

 activity has felt this necessary fiscal limitation, and every effort has been 

 made to balance available funds among competing demands and between 

 in-house and extramural activities. 



The total Federal support of basic and applied marine research, including 

 work performed by universities, industry, and government, is shown in Fig- 

 ure XIV-1. Research proposed for FY 1970 is about $24 million greater and 

 research ship operation costs about $1.8 million greater than the appropria- 

 tions for FY 1 969. Many of these programs are discussed in other chapters. 



The Navy, primarily through the Office of Naval Research, supports 

 marine science research at almost 100 universities and colleges, private 

 laboratories, and a dozen Navy laboratories. The Navy Ocean Science 



175 



