FRONTIERS IN OCEANIC RESEARCH 29 



( b ) Physical and chemical oceanography : 



(1 ) Physical properties of the sea. 

 i a i Temperature structure, 

 (ft) Density. 



(e) Water transparency. 

 id) Light penetration. 



(2) Chemical properties of the sea. 

 (a) Salinity. 



(6) Dissolved gas. 



(c) Dissolved solids. 



(d) Suspended colloids. 



(e) Radioactivity (cooperative study with other naval laboratories). 



(c) Biological oceanography : 



(1) Distribution of animal and plant life. 



(a) Plankton and relationships to sound transmission. 



(&) Organic detritus and relationships to sound transmission. 



( 2 ) Biological noises. 



(a) Kinds, distribution, and intensity of biological noises. 

 ( 6 ) Biological noises and target classification. 



( 3 ) Ecological studies. 



(a) Ecology and sound transmission — physicochemical relationships 

 of deep-water and marine organisms. 



(b) Benthonic organisms and their relationship to food chains, influ- 

 ence on topography and sedimentation, and possible influence on the 

 concentration of radioactive materials that occur in limited quantities 

 in the water mass. 



( c) Deep-sea organisms and sound generation. 

 ( d) Distribution and quantity of bioluminescence. 



2. Acoustic projects 



(a) Continuous sound velocity profiles (continuation of the measurements 

 planned for Project Sonus to be conducted in June 1960 in the ilarianas Trench) . 



(b) Deep scattering layer investigations correlating acoustic measurements, 

 visual observations, and photography. 



(c) Study of sound field levels in the sea from near surface sources at various 

 frequencies. 



(d) Reciprocal case of shallow receivers and source at various great depths. 



(e) Investigation of ambient noise types, levels, vertical, and geographical 

 distribution. 



,'J. Evaluation of the "2'rieste" and its possible relation to future submarines 



(While the craft is being operated and developed as a research vehicle, many 

 technological developments arise that appear to be useful for other military 

 submersibles.) 



(a) Logistic support problems and general operations. 



(b) Research and development of new equipment and materials for deep sub- 

 mersible craft construction and more effective operation. 



(c) Development of construction techniques. 



The bathyscaph Trieste is available to scientists from universities and Gov- 

 ernment laboratories for the pursuit of studies that warrant the use of the craft 

 and are compatible with the capabilities of the craft. 



CAPABILITIES OF THE BATHYSCAPH "TPaESTE" 



The bathyscaph represents the first U.S. untethered deep-sea research platform 

 for man and his machines. Carrying oceanographers and scientific equipment, 

 the bathyscaph can descend to any depth in the sea and provide an in situ base 

 of operations for direct visual observations and measurements. This capability 

 renders the craft unique and is its most important attribute. It can — even in 

 its primitive state of development — serve the same purpose as a manned atmos- 

 pheric balloon sent aloft for investigating meterological phenomena. Atmos- 

 pheric studies can be viewed much more easily than the deep sea. What lies 

 below the air-sea surface boundary remains much of a mystery. The window 

 of the bathyscaph, supplemented with external illumination capabilities of the 

 bathyscaph, makes possible the use of the best known servomechanism — man 

 himself. The craft vitiates the need for operating equipment or samplers hung 

 at the end of extremely long cables lowered into the abyss. This classical group- 

 5543S— 60— 5 



