Efforts have started on the three-year French-American Mid- 

 Ocean Undersea Study (FAMOUS) to make a detailed investigation 

 of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in an area some 200 miles south of the 

 Azores. This study is expected to furnish direct knowledge of how 

 the earth's continents and oceans were formed, and provide 

 information that bears directly on the formation of ore deposits. 

 Study of ridge structural relationships may also provide information 

 on the formation of continental structures capable of trapping oil. 



In 1974, the French bathyscape Archimede, French submersible 

 SP-300, and the American submersible Alvin will carry out some 40 

 dives to depths of 12,000 feet, with special missions for each 

 submersible, including detailed mapping, bottom sampling, and 

 instrument emplacement and retrieval. These will be the most 

 extensive manned submersible operations yet to be undertaken in 

 the deep ocean. The United States effort is being supported by the 

 Navy, the National Science Foundation, and by NOAA, the lead 

 American agency in overall U.S. -French cooperation in 

 oceanography. The French effort is led by the Centre National pour 

 l'Exploitation des Oceans. 



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