plate in order to achieve a better understanding of the processes by 

 which ore deposits originate. An international workshop on 

 ferromanganese nodules on the ocean floor was convened under 

 IDOE in New York in January 1972 to assess the present state of our 

 knowledge in this area. As a result of this meeting, substantial 

 quantities of existing data are being compiled for comparison and 

 publication prior to the initiation of new laboratory and field 

 investigations. 



In addition, the NSF's Office of Polar Programs supports the 

 Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX). Understanding 

 arctic ice and weather conditions is critical for developing the 

 predictive capability necessary for future marine transportation in 

 arctic waters. AIDJEX is a meteorological and oceanographic study 

 of the strength and dynamics of pack ice and the interaction of air 

 and sea in the Arctic Basin. The main goal is to understand the 

 driving effects of wind and ocean currents on the pack ice so that it 

 will be possible to predict the motion and deformation of sea ice into 

 pressure ridges, leads, and large open-water areas. During March 

 and April 1972, the second AIDJEX pilot study was performed on sea 

 ice 300 miles north of Point Barrow. Three manned and five 

 unmammed stations gathered data and allowed evaluation of 

 instruments and techniques that will be used in the main experiment 

 in 1975. 



The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), the major activity of NSF's 

 Ocean Sediment Coring Program, continued last year. Since 1968 the 

 drilling ship Glomar Challenger has conducted its history-making 

 expeditions to explore the deep ocean's sediment floor. Leg 28 of the ' 

 project, conducted over the past year, was the first drilling operation 

 in high latitudes, progressing from Freemantle, Australia, to 

 Christchurch, New Zealand. Analysis of the data indicates that 

 Antarctic glaciation began some 20 million years ago instead of the 

 six or seven million years ago formerly assumed. The ice appears to 

 have reached its maximum extent five or six million years ago, then 

 rapidly receded to its present limits. Other findings were that 

 Australia had broken away from Antarctica some 50 to 55 million 

 years ago. Plans for the coming year include drilling in the western 

 Pacific, then returning to Valparaiso, Chile. The project leaders hope 

 to achieve deeper penetrations of the oceanic crustal structure. 



The International Field Year for the Great Lakes (IFYGL), a major 

 cooperative research undertaking of the United States and Canada, 

 completed its field work in and around Lake Ontario during the year 

 and moved into its data-analysis phases. U.S. support for this 

 program is provided by NOAA, EPA, and NSF. A comprehensive 

 international system has been established to process, archive, and 

 disseminate the IFYGL data using two IFYGL Data/Computer 

 Centers, one at the Canadian Centre forlnland Waters inBurlington, 

 Ontario, and other at NOAA's Center for Experiment Design and 



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