PREFACE 



The International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE) is a long-term, 

 international, cooperative program to improve the use of the ocean and its 

 resources for the benefit of mankind. 



On March 8, 1968, the President of the United States proposed "an 

 historic and unprecedented adventure— an International Decade of Ocean 

 Exploration for the 1970's." In December 1968 the United Nations General 

 Assembly endorsed "the concept of an international decade of ocean explora- 

 tion to be undertaken v^dthin the framework of a long-term programme of 

 research and exploration. . . ." 



In late 1969, the Vice President of the United States, in his capacity as 

 Chairman of the National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering 

 Development, assigned responsibilty for planning, managing, and funding the 

 U.S. program to the National Science Foundation (NSF), and set forth the 

 following goals: 



Preserve the ocean environment by accelerating scientific observations of 

 the natural state of the ocean and its interactions with the coastal margin- 

 to provide a basis for (a) assessing and predicting man-induced and natural 

 modifications of the character of the oceans, (b) identifying damaging or 

 irreversible effects of waste disposal at sea, and (c) comprehending the inter- 

 action of various levels of marine life to permit steps to prevent depletion or 

 extinction of valuable species as a result of man's activities; 



Improve environmental forecasting to help reduce hazards to life and 

 property and permit more efficient use of marine resources— by improving 

 physical and mathematical models of the ocean and atmosphere to provide the 

 basis for increased accuracy, timeliness, and geographic precision of environ- 

 mental forecasts; 



Expand seabed assessment activities to permit better management— 

 domestically and internationally— of marine mineral exploration and exploita- 

 tion by acquiring needed knowledge of seabed topography, structure, physical 

 and dynamic properties, and resource potential, and to assist industry in plan- 

 ning more detailed investigations; 



Develop an ocean monitorini? system to facilitate prediction of oceano- 

 graphic and atmospheric conditions— through design and development of 

 oceanographic data buoys and other remote sensing platforms: 



Improve worldwide data exchange through modernizing and standardizing 

 national and international marine data collection, processing, and distribution; 

 and 



Accelerate Decade planning to increase opportunities for international 

 sharing of responsibilties and costs for ocean exploration, and to assure better 

 use of limited exploration capabilities. 



Shortly after receiving the Vice-President's charge, the National Science 

 Foundation set up the Office for the International Decade of Ocean Exploration 

 and began to define the United States program. In the first year of IDOE's 



