43 



3 



Operations in FY 1992 involved many diverse activities which 

 included examination of the health effects of diving in polluted 

 waters, development of innovative methods to assess fisheries in 

 untrawlable areas, understanding the fate of anthropogenic 

 pollutants dumped into the sea and their effects on marine 

 resources, and investigation of the highly unusual hydrocarbon 

 seep and methane vent communities in the Gulf of Mexico. NURP, 

 in conjunction with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental 

 Laboratory, also supported development of a 'manifold sampler' 

 for obtaining unadulterated hydrothermal vent fluids. This 

 device is now used routinely by the U.S. research community on 

 the submersible ALVIN to allow advanced study of the unique 

 chemistry of hydrothermal vents. 



The NURP program's proposal request and review process for the 

 centers has evolved over 10 years. The National Office annually 

 updates its guidance for identifying high priority research and 

 technology themes. This guidance is integrated with the 

 capabilities of the individual regional centers to produce 

 announcements of proposal opportunities for the general 

 scientific community. Funded proposals are then selected by a 

 national peer review process which determines which proposals 

 have merit. 



