INTRODUCTION xv 



A statement should now be made regarding those topics that are not discussed in 

 detail in this report, except in so far as they have already been mentioned and in so far 

 as they are considered in the catalogue of institutions engaged in oceanographic work. 

 They are the biological aspects of oceanography, including fisheries, the interaction 

 between the atmosphere and the ocean, and the penetration of solar radiation into the 

 sea. The emphasis of the report is on the geophysical aspects of oceanography, but with 

 only subordinate consideration of marine meteorology and solar radiation, two very 

 important subjects. 



It has already been said more than once that the purpose of this volume is to present 

 synopses of information available for the study of several aspects of the oceans. Only a 

 few interpretations of data are here attempted, but the ultimate object is interpretation 

 toward which the cataloging of data is only a step, while the catalogue of institutions 

 merely shows the agencies concerned with collecting and interpreting data. Although 

 there are no interpretations of most of the data, it is pertinent to include some references 

 to literature in addition to those in the lists of sources of data. 



Two publications on oceanographic expeditions by Rafael de Buen, the second a 

 revised edition of the first, are as follows : 



de Buen, Rafael, Lista cronologica de las campanas y navegaciones a las que 

 se deben observaciones cientificas de caracter oceanografico : Consejo 

 Oceanog. Ibero-Amer., Mem., no. 5, pp. 62, 1930. 

 de Buen, Rafael, Liste chronologique des croisieres oceanographiques : Com. 

 internat. Expl. Sci. Mer Medit., Man. Observ. oceanog. a la Mer, 

 vol. l,pp. 73, 1934. 



Gerhard Schott in his "Georgraphie des Atlantischen Ozeans" (1926) gives a history 

 of the voyages of discovery in the Atlantic Ocean (pp. 1-20) and an account of investiga- 

 tions of the Atlantic up to the end of 1925 (pp. 21-39). Since 1926 there has been a great 

 deal of additional research on the Atlantic. The names of the principal expeditions are 

 given in the lists of sources of the data plotted on the charts of stations occupied for 

 vertical sections of temperature and salinity, and there are references to the latest most 

 important literature on the dynamical oceanography of the Atlantic. 



Schott in his volume "Geographie des Indischen und Stillen Ozeans" (1935) has given, 

 in the same way as in his volume on the Atlantic, an account of the voyages of exploration 

 in the Pacific (pp. 1-15), and of the researches prosecuted on those tw^o oceans (pp. 16-31). 



In each of the volumes by Schott there are extensive lists of publications, making it 

 possible for the reader to go to the sources from which he took his data. 



Another publication worthy of mention is the volume, "Oceanography," published 

 as volume five of the "Physics of the Earth" by the United States National Research 

 Council in 1932. The contents of this volume are as follows: 



Introduction : 



* Introduction: The domain of oceanography. N. H. Heck. 

 Bottom of the Ocean : 



* Configuration of the oceanic basin.s. G. W. Littlehales. 

 Deep-sea deposits. Leon W. Collet. 



Properties of Sea Water : 



* Physical properties of sea water. Thomas G. Thompson. 



* Chemistry of the sea. Thomas G. Thompson and Rex J. Robinson. 



