2 FRONTIERS IN OCEANIC RESEARCH 



STATEMENT OF DR. HARRISON SCOTT BROWN, PROFESSOR OF 

 GEOCHEMISTRY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 



As you have already mentioned, my name is Harrison Brown. I 

 am professor of geochemistry at the California Institute of Technol- 

 ogy, and Chairman of the Committee on Oceanography of the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences, and also I am a member of the Space 

 Science Board of the Academy. 



I would like to thank the Committee on Science and Astronautics 

 for the opportunity of appearing before you to discuss the broad 

 problems of oceanography, and something about the urgency of these 

 problems. 



About 4,500 million years ago a series of events took place which 

 led to the formation of our Earth and the other planets of our solar 

 system. 



We know that when our Earth was first formed it had no atmos- 

 phere and no oceans. 



We know that water did not exist on the Earth, or for that matter 

 probably not on the other inner planets in liquid form. 



The planets retained water chemically, and over a period of time 

 following their formation this water was released. 



Some planets apparently retained very little. The planet Mars, 

 for example, we know, has some water. It has polar caps which are 

 definitely ice. It has water vapor in its air. We know that because 

 the polar caps migrate from one end of the planet to the other. But 

 the temperature is so cold that water cannot exist in a liquid form. 

 It exists as water vapor and as solid ice. 



In the case of Venus 



Mr. Anftjso. May I interrupt you for a minute ? 



Your information indicates that the water is not in liquid form on 

 Mars ? 



Dr. Brown. That is correct, sir. 



Mr. Anftjso. You may proceed. 



Dr. Brown. There is very little water. The polar caps are prob- 

 ably all of an eighth of an inch in thickness, and occasionally one 

 can see deposits of hoarfrost on the planet in those regions when 

 night is just beginning to turn into daylight. 



In the case of Venus, for a long time we thought there was no 

 water there at all. It seems clear that the temperature of the planet 

 is quite warm, possibly over the boiling point of water. Recently, 

 however, water vapor has been detected. It is questionable that 

 there are any vast oceans. 



In the case of the Earth, however, the conditions were particularly 

 favorable for the chemical retention of water during the process of 

 planet formation and over a period of time — we don't know how long 

 it took — water was released, and the net result was the formation of 

 vast oceans which, were our Earth perfectly flat — thai is were we not 

 to have mountains or continents — would cover the Earth to a depth 

 of roughly 2 kilometers. 



There are about 300 million cubic miles of water on the surface of 

 the Earth. 



We have reason to believe that at one time there was actually more 



