responsible for the large-scale fluctuations in the ocean and 

 atmosphere in the mid-latitudes of the Pacific. Once underway, the 

 NORPAX oceanographic-meteorological observation program will 

 rely on data obtained from oceanographic ships, ships of 

 opportunity, synoptic observations, aircraft, moored and drifting 

 buoys, island stations, and satellites. 



Another IDOE project, Climate — Long-Range Investigation, 

 Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP), seeks to increase accuracy in 

 environmental prediction by improving our understanding of past 

 climatic conditions. Defining global changes on a continuous time 

 scale for hundreds of thousands of years is important for several 

 reasons. First, it may reveal for the first time the actual series of 

 events during the transition between what are currently considered 

 the two stable states of global climate, the ice age and the temperate 

 age. Second, knowledge of the nature of the transitions is critical for 

 building models of global oceans and climate. Finally, if the 

 mechanisms of natural climate changes are not understood, then it 

 becomes virtually impossible to assess or anticipate the effect of 

 man's activity on the global environment. 



CLIMAP researchers, through the study of deep-sea sediments, 

 will examine changes in circulation patterns and water mass 

 properties in the world oceans during the Quaternary, the current 

 geological epoch. The goal of CLIMAP is to determine in detail the 

 surface ocean climatic fluctuations associated with glacial and 

 interglacial transitions. Plans are to make four oceanographic maps 

 showing sea surface temperatures from: (1) 6000 years ago, the 

 warmest post-glacial period; (2) 17,000 years ago, the last glacial 

 stage; (3) 120,000 years ago, the last interglacial period; and (4) 

 700,000 years ago, the mid-Pleistocene base. Contemporary sea 

 surface maps provide the basis for historical comparisons. 



Researchers participating in the Geochemical Ocean Sections 

 Study (GEOSECSj are gathering chemical data on a large number of 

 substances in deep ocean water. These data are essential for 

 determining the rates at which pollutants will mix and diffuse in the 

 deep ocean. GEOSECS scientists are making detailed measure- 

 ments of oceanic constituents at selected depths along Arctic to 

 Antarctic sections to provide for the first time a set of physical and 

 chemical data measured on the same water samples. In addition to 

 establishing geochemical baselines, these data will provide a basis 

 for quantitative studies of oceanic mixing and for descriptive models 

 of ocean circulation. The Atlantic phase of GEOSECS was com- 

 pleted in March 1973, and the Pacific phase is scheduled to begin in 

 June 1973. 



The IDOE is also supporting studies of coastal upwelling. 

 Upwelling occurs when the effects of favorable winds, coupled with 

 those of the earth's rotation, produce an offshore drift of surface 

 layers of the sea along the coast. This induces an upwelling of 



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