portions of regions where a need for offshore powerplant siting may 

 soon arise. AEC will also emphasize studies of the fate and behavior 

 of plutonium and other transuranics in the ocean. 



The Navy has developed a system for classifying the world's 

 coasts; a new concept for investigation of the three-dimensional 

 structure and transport of turbidity cells, a model of effluent 

 dynamic behavior and bar formation at river mouths, and a 

 computer program for the analysis of wave refraction from deep 

 water to the shoreline; a satellite-derived capability for fast 

 response prediction for some coastal environmental conditions, a 

 model to predict beach profile changes, and a program to determine 

 and predict delta morphologies by river discharge wave power 

 climates. A mathematical simulation of single-wave (tsunami) 

 runup at a coastal area is available, and the effects of rhythmic beach 

 topography and associated rip current spacing are now understood; 

 a model has been formulated to describe quantitatively the 

 interaction of a river and its receiving basin; and it has been 

 determined that wave characteristics are significantly affected by 

 changes in surface tension. 



Open Ocean Processes 



Studies of physical and chemical processes in the open ocean seek 

 to describe, measure, and model the ocean's dynamic phenomena and 

 chemical constituents. Physical oceanography includes the study of 

 currents, waves, temperature, density, and mass and energy 

 exchange between the atmosphere and ocean surfaces and within the 

 water column. The knowledge required in these studies has a wide 

 number of users. The analysis and forecasting of wave height and 

 frequency, for example, are important to shipping, fishing, the 

 design and operation of offshore drilling platforms or other 

 structures, and military operations. 



A significant advance in the state of the art of wave forecasting 

 was marked by the recent introduction of a spectral model, now 

 being used by the Navy, to predict surface conditions in the 

 Mediterranean Sea. A spectral model for the North Atlantic is nearly 

 ready for service and a similar approach to forecasting Pacific seas is 

 under development. The physics of wave generation, propagation, 

 and decay are also being studied, and as theory becomes more 

 refined, the estimates and approximations used in model building 

 are becoming more explicit. 



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's Environmental 

 Research Laboratories conduct investigations of three types of wave 

 phenomena; wind waves, internal waves, and tsunamis. Using 

 specially instrumented aircraft, investigators at the Atlantic 

 Oceanographic Marine Laboratory in Miami are studying the 



97 



