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NOAA's National Ocean Survey Ship, Oceanographer, one of 37 ships in- 

 volved in GATE. 



Environmental Quality Studies 



In addition to investigation projects like those described in 

 chapter II that contribute directly to specific pollution control 

 efforts, the solution of environmental problems requires greatly 

 increased knowledge of oceanic conditions and processes, the nature 

 and movement of various pollutants and their effects on marine and 

 human life. Several Federal agencies are engaged in research 

 directed to this goal. 



Research projects supported by the NSF/IDOE Environmental 

 Quality program seek to determine existing concentrations of 

 pollutants and trace compounds in the marine environment. Specific 

 projects are aimed at determining sources and rates at which 

 pollutants enter the oceans, the way in which they are carried and 

 dispersed, and their effect on marine life. 



Throughout 1971 and 1972 researchers carried out regional 

 baseline acquisition projects in1he Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the 

 Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Initial results indicate that heavy 

 metals, petroleum, and chlorinated hydrocarbons were present in 

 these areas to the extent that they constituted a problem of 

 potentially global importance. These and other findings led to 

 research projects that were designed to determine pollutant 

 pathways and mechanisms controlling the rates at which these 

 pollutants enter the oceans. 



105 



