Bight project plan. The success of this effort will help to determine 

 the applicability of the program to other critical marine areas. 



Estuarine and coastal zone research is being carried out on both 

 coasts and in Alaska with support from the Atomic Energy 

 Commission (AEC). This work includes an environmental study, 

 begun in 1961, to determine the properties, distribution, and move- 

 ment of Columbia River water and its dissovled and suspended load 

 in the northeast Pacific Ocean. 



The marine sciences research program of the AEC is directed 

 toward determining those environmental factors which influence 

 the movement of radioelements through the marine environment, the 

 possible means and rates of return of radioactivity to man through 

 marine food webs, and basic ecological processes. Within this broad 

 program are studies of biological, physical, and chemical oceano- 

 graphy, and studies related to operational activities such as the 

 impact of waste heat from nuclear power stations on the local 

 ecology at such sites. 



As nuclear power-plant siting in the estuarine and coastal areas 

 increases, studies must be accelerated on trace-element cycling, 

 modeling of water circulation and sedimentation, productivity at 

 various levels of the food web, and the effects of waste heat and other 

 non-nuclear discharges on the general ecology of the region. Insight 

 into the physical and biological dynamics of the system is essential 

 in order to predict the response of the marine ecosystem to man- 

 induced stresses. During 1972, the AEC continued' support for a 

 multidisciplinary study of nuclear power-plant siting in Chesapeake 

 Bay. In 1973, the AEC will accelerate portions of its marine research 

 program toward increasing present understanding of the effects on 

 the marine environment of nuclear power-plant operations. The U.S. 

 Coast Guard, in 1972, collected periodic temperature-salinity-depth 

 profiles at 12 stations on the continental shelf as part of the light- 

 ship/ light-station sampling program. In addition, monthly maps 

 showing sea surface temperature variations and certain biological 

 phenomena were prepared from airborne radiation thermometer 

 coverage of Atlantic and Pacific shelf areas. 



Prediction of tides and tidal currents by NOAA's National Ocean 

 Survey is the Nation's oldest marine environmental service. In 1972, 

 125 permanent tide gauges were in operation along the coasts and 

 within major embayments of the United States, Puerto Rico, and 

 other territories and possessions. The National Ocean Survey also 

 operated 51 permanent water-level gauging stations and 60 to 80 

 temporary ones in the Great Lakes area last year. 



Special tide surveys were conducted along the Florida Coast to 

 define marine boundaries and in the Chesapeake Bay to support the 

 Bay study of theCorps of Engineers. Special circulatory studies were 

 conducted in 1972 along the Massachusetts and South Carolina 

 coasts. The 1973 field season will include tide and tidal current 

 surveys in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, and circulatory 



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