Priority areas to be mapped are selected by the urgency of the "need-to-know" 

 in terms of assessing the economic value of lands to be offered for leasing, 

 identifying geological hazards to construction activities, and locating 

 potential new deposits of needed minerals to stimulate development by 

 private industry. 



Among recent Geological Survey marine programs are — 



(1) Intermediate scale geologic mapping in the central Gulf of 

 Alaska and on the Bering and Chukchi continental shelves to serve 

 as a guide for the assessment of placer deposits of gold, tin, platinum, 

 and oil and gas resources ; 



(2) Participation with the Coast Guard and ESSA's Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey in "Polar Profile — 1969," an oceanographic survey 

 of the Chukchi Sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Storis which 

 identified geologic structures and sedimentary rock sequences possibly 

 favorable for large accumulations of petroleum ; 



(3) Detailed geologic and hydrologic investigations of San Fran- 

 cisco Bay to assist in planning for land development and construction 



. engineering in a seismically active area; 



(4) A geochemical analysis of 1,400 bottom samples from the north- 

 western Gulf of Mexico which revealed anomalously high concentra- 

 tions of zirconium, possibly indicating the presence of economically 

 important heavy mineral occurrences ; 



(5) An extensive regional structural, stratigraphic, and geochemical 

 survey of the Gulf of Mexico, conducted jointly with the Navy aboacd 

 the USNS Kane in concert with its military objectives, which demon- 

 strated that geologic conditions are favorable for oil and gas beneath 

 much of the Gulf ; and 



(6) Mapping programs ofT Boston to identify sand and gravel de- 

 posits, £ind between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear to investigate the 

 resource potential of that region. 



In August 1969, the Geological Survey published four new maps plus 

 an interpretive text which represent a major contribution to our consoli- 

 dated knowledge of global marine mineral resources.^ "World Subsea Min- 

 eral Resources" is a first attempt to summarize data on the occurrence of 

 subsea minerals and to outline their location and extent throughout the 

 world's ocean basins. Information and advice was provided by experts from 

 industry and academia as well as from Federal agencies. 



These preliminary maps were prepared at the request of the Marine 

 Sciences Council as part of the Government's effort to assemble basic in- 

 formation helpful to its own officials and to those of other nations concerned 

 with seabed exploration and development. Copies of the maps were pre- 

 sented to representatives of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful 

 Uses of the Seabed and Ocean Floor Beyond the Limits of National Juris- 

 diction at the opening of its session last August. 



- "World Subsea Mineral Resources" (preliminary maps) ; McKelvey, V. E. and 

 Wang, F. H., U.S. Geological Survey; Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations, Map 

 1-632, 1969. 



72 



