sediments and fossil remains in relation to the sedimentation rate it has been 

 determined that there is evidence of continental glaciation in the Arctic 

 Basin 4 million years ago, this probably representing the beginning of Arctic 

 ice conditions. Composition of sediments, plus display of certain temperature 

 dependent morphological characteristics of fossils, indicate the Arctic has 

 not been warmer than at present for at least 1.5 million years and that there 

 is no evidence of the Arctic Ocean having been free of ice in a similar time 

 period. 



Water motion within the deep ocean (benthic) boundary layers has 

 been studied through the use of self-contained instrument capsules dropped 

 to the sea floor in the deep ocean to record current velocity, temperature, 

 and pressures for extended periods of high sensitivity and then recalled 

 acoustically to the surface.^^ Problems under study in depths exceeding 

 3 kilometers are the character of flow in the few meters just above the 

 bottom, tides, and planetary waves.^® Results imply a turbulent boundary 

 layer several meters thick, the turbulence deriving from shear rather than 

 geothermal flux. The bottom current is predominantly tidal. 



An accurate measurement of the volume transport of the Gulf Stream 

 extending over several years has been completed. ^'^ The measurements are 

 of sufficiently high quality to provide data for testing modern physical 

 theories. A series of direct transport and hydrographic measurements showed 

 that the Gulf Stream extends to the bottom; as it does so, it becomes nar- 

 rower. On both sides of the northward flowing water there is a deep 

 counterflow. 



Chemists have demonstrated that carbon monoxide is naturally trans- 

 ferred from the ocean to the air.-" The exchange apparently accounts for 

 as much as 10 percent of the carbon monoxide observed in the atmosphere. 

 This finding is of major significance because scientists previously believed 

 that nearly all atmospheric carbon monoxide was produced by man-made 

 processes. 



Extension of a previous hypothesis concerning the relationship of sub- 

 marine volcanoes to a spreading sea floor has been extended to enable sci- 

 entists to estimate where hazards to submarine navigation by submerged 

 volcanoes or seamounts may be found. -^ In general, it appears to take 

 about 10 million years for a volcano to grow to the ocean surface to form 

 an island. 



" F. Snodgrass, "Deep Instrument .Capsules," Science, vol. 162, pp. 78-87. 1968. 



" Cauldwell, D., and F. Snodgrass, "Sensors and the Deep Sea," Physics Todav. 

 vol. 22, pp. 34-42, 1969. 



" Richardson, Phillip, "Transport and velocity of the Gulf Stream at Cape Hat- 

 teras," M.S. Thesis, Univ. of Rhode Island, 1969. 



^ Swinnerton, J. W., Linnenbom, V. J. and R. A. Lamontagne, "The Distribution 

 of CO between the Atmosphere and the Ocean," New York Academy of Sciences — 

 Conference on Biological Effects of Carbon Monoxide, 12-14 January 1970, New 

 York City. 



"■ H. W. Menard, "Growth of Drifting Volcanoes," Journal Geophysical Re- 

 search, vol. 4, No. 20, pp. 4827-4837, 1969. 



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