►* - "* 



j _.. _ __. 





The most recent addition to the academic oceanographic fleet is the University 

 of Miami's R/V Columbus Iselin. 



influence of the North Pacific on the weather and climate of North 

 America. This has been a matter of scientific speculation for nearly 

 fifty years. During the 1960's the Office of Naval Research (ONR) 

 sponsored research in the North Pacific aimed at identifying the 

 ocean processes linked to unusual weather conditions. Large areas of 

 abnormally hot or cold sea surface temperatures (in terms of 30-year 

 monthly averages) were identified in the North Pacific. 

 Meteorologists and oceanographers postulated that these surface 

 temperature anomalies influenced the atmosphere in a way that 

 affected the climate from the Pacific eastward across the entire 

 North American continent. 



In 1972, the IDOE and ONR joined to support research designed to 

 unravel these relationships. The goal of NORPAX is to study and 

 develop a basis for understanding the major physical processes 



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