Environmental Quality Program 



This program, primarily through research in marine pol- 

 lution and geochemical processes, is designed to provide infor- 

 mation on the quality of the oceanic environment, and the 

 assessment and prediction of man's impact on this environ- 

 ment. The present program consists of three major investiga- 

 tions: the Geochemical Ocean Sections Study (GEOSECS), 

 which is concerned with detailed measurement of physical and 

 chemical characteristics of ocean waters along Arctic to Ant- 

 arctic sections; Pollutant Transfer Studies, which involve in- 

 vestigations of mechanisms and pathways by which pollutants 

 are transported to and within the oceans; and Biological Effects 

 Studies, which assess the impact of selected pollutants on marine 

 organisms and communities. 



Geochemical Ocean Sections 

 (GEOSECS) Study 



This international cooperative program involves geochem- 

 ists at 14 United States universities and from Belgium, Canada, 

 France, Germany, India, Italy, and Japan. Water and suspended 

 material samples collected at selected geographic locations and 

 depths are being analyzed for more than 40 physical and chem- 

 ical parameters, including: Temperature, salinity, pH, alkalinity, 

 PCO2. dissolved and trace gases, nutrients, trace metals, dissolved 

 and particulate organic and inorganic matter, natural radio- 

 nuclides, manmade radionuclides, and stable isotopes. Main 

 survey cruise tracks were along the approximate paths of 

 bottom water currents. At each station, 50 samples of 30 

 liters each were obtained at selected depths to provide vertical 

 profiles of the properties. At alternate stations, 270-liter sam- 

 ples at 18 to 20 depths were taken for measurements of trace 

 constituents and low-concentration radioisotopes. Information 

 gained from study of the data will improve our understanding 

 of ocean mixing processes. The data also will serve as baselines 

 for assessing future concentration levels of radioactive and 

 other pollutant wastes that are being added to the sea. Projects 

 in this program are listed in table 1. 



Atlantic Cruises 



Atlantic cruises were conducted from July 1972 to April 

 1973 by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's RV 

 Knorr and occupied 121 stations. GEOSECS Atlantic legs 



were reported in I DOE Progress Report Volume 2: July 1972 

 to April 1973. 



Pacific Cruises 



Pacific cruises were conducted from August 1973 to June 

 1974 by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's RV Mel- 

 ville, which occupied 147 stations. GEOSECS Pacific legs 1 

 through 6 were reported in WOE Progress Report Volume S.- 

 April 1973 to April 1974. Legs 7 through 10 are as follows: 



Leg 7. Wellington to Wellington, New Zealand (fig. 1). Six- 

 teen stations were occupied. Four collected large-volume sam- 

 ples, ten small-volume samples, and two STD measurements 

 only. 



Leg. 8. Wellington to Papeete, Tahiti (fig. 1.) Twenty sta- 

 tions were occupied. This cruise track crossed the benthic 

 front into "pure" circumpolar water. Observations were 

 made along and across the front until it "died" at 25°S, 

 155 W and at a depth of 3,300 meters. GEOSECS Pacific 

 cruises have tracked the front for 3,300 miles to this "triple 

 water junction" where South Pacific Deep Water, Equatorial 

 Deep Water, and Antarctic Bottom Water meet. 



Leg. 9. Papeete to Papeete, Tahiti (fig. 1). Ten stations were 

 occupied. The first of these served as a calibration cast. In 

 addition to the regular measurements, XBT soundings were 

 made to locate mesoscale eddies in the upper ocean. Data 

 gathered during this leg should provide information about 

 the geographical distribution of the eddies, the mechanism 

 that causes them, and their possible source of energy. 



Leg 10. Papeete, Tahiti, to San Diego (fig. 1). Twenty-three 

 stations were occupied, concluding GEOSECS Pacific cruises 

 on June 10, 1974. Closely spaced stations in the vicinity of 

 the Equator revealed the complexity of the zonal-current/ 

 counter-current regimes near the Equator. 



Shipboard observations for GEOSECS Pacific cruises have 

 not been released to the National Oceanographic Data Center 

 (NODC). Analyses for trace constituents and radioactive mate- 

 rials by shore-based laboratories are expected to require several 

 years until completion. Laboratories which have completed 

 some analyses and have forwarded these data to the GEOSECS 

 data bank at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are listed in 

 table 2. 



GEOSECS Bibliography 



Amin, B. S., S. Krishnaswami, and B. L. K. Somyajulu, 1974: 

 Th-'VU-'" activity ratios in South Pacific bottom waters. 

 Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 21: 342-344. 



Brass, Garrett W. and Karl K. Turekian, 1974: Strontium dis- 

 tribution in GEOSECS oceanic profiles, Earth Planet. Sci. 

 Lett. 23(1): 141-148. (GEOSECS Publ. #36) 



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