ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 5 



"Between them the}^ receive energy from the sun and radiate heat 

 back to spacp." he states in a report to the Committee on Oceanog- 

 raphy of the National Academy of Sciences, of which he is a distin- 

 guished member. 



Winds and rain, hurricanes and tj-phoons represent the 

 working of this gi*eat machine. To understand this sea-air 

 steam engine we must learn far more than we know now, not 

 only about processes in the atmosphere, but also about the 

 currents beneath the sea siu^face and the sluggish circulation 

 in the deep waters. 



Man's destiny is inseparably linked to the oceans, atmosphere, and 

 sun, and the interchange of energy between them. 



Dr. F. G. Walton Smith, director of the University of Miami 

 Marine Laboratorv, in a letter to the C'ommerce Committee supporting 

 S. 901, stated: 



The ocean which absorbs and stores the greater part of the 

 sun's heat falling on this planet and which is the reservoir of 

 atmospheric moisture is a major part of the weather machine. 



Prediction and eventually the human control of weather 

 and destructive phenomena such as hurricanes are inescap- 

 ably dependent upon our improved understanding of the 

 ocean itself. 



Spectacular advances in recent years and months have been made 

 in studies of the atmosphere, the troposphere, and stratosphere. 

 Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to explore outer space 

 and add to man's knowledge of the universe. 



But the O'^ean that surrounds us. its depths stirred b}' mighty forces 

 still unexplained, continues to retain most of its age-old secrets. 



S. 901 authorizes a program to help unlock them. 



MINERALS FOR THE FUTURE 



The world ocean contains, in solution, all identified natural elements, 

 40 of them in measurable amounts. 



The most connnon elements, sodium and chlorine, combine as the 

 salt that seasons and preserves our food. All of it is of marine origin. 

 Ten million tons are evaporated directly from the sea each year by 

 man. Fifteen million tons are extracted from mines that are merely 

 the beds of ancient, vanished seas. 



Magnesium, an important component of light alloys and with 

 man}^ other uses, is produced from waters of the ocean. So is bromine, 

 an ingredient of high-octane fuels and dyestuffs, and potassimn for 

 chemicals and fertilizers. 



But most of the elements and combinations of elements in the 

 ocean, an inexhaustible reserve, remain untouched. 



Vast areas of the deep ocean floor are carpeted with concretions of 

 manganese and iron in fh'st-size and larger nodules. The manganese 

 nodules contain cobalt, nickel, and copper in notable amounts and in 

 smaller ratios rare earths, vanadium, molybdenum, and other metals. 



"The Soviets are currently' very active in the field of sea floor 

 mineral surveying and have recently published a map showing the 

 location of many manganese nodule deposits, even some deposits close 



