evaluate major environmental factors that influence transfer 

 processes, and (3) develop principles governing the transfer 

 of pollutants. Of special interest are the concentration and 

 dispersal of pollutants at the air-sea interface, movement of 

 pollutants through estuaries to continental shelf waters, deposi- 

 tion of pollutants in sediments, and the chemical form and 

 degradation of these pollutants in the marine environment. 



The atmosphere is a major route of transfer for chlorinated 

 and petroleum hydrocarbons and trace metals. Results of studies 

 on atmospheric transfer of trace metals suggest that, except for 

 sea salts, most airborne trace metals over the open ocean and 

 Antarctica are from normal weathering of the earth's crust. 

 However, the concentrations of several easily vaporized trace 

 metals (antimony, cadmium, copper, lead, selenium, and zinc) 

 are greater than those predicted to be of crustal origin. 



Several investigators are studying the atmospheric trans- 

 port of heavy chlorinated hydrocarbons to the oceans. For 

 example, scientists studying PCB transport in the Southern 

 California area have shown that most residues are deposited 

 within a radius of 100 km of the source. Thus, transport of 

 particulate chlorinated hydrocarbons is not a global phe- 

 nomenon. 



Studies also give indirect evidence for atmospheric transport 

 of PCB and DDT compounds to a more remote marine envi- 

 ronment, based on observed distribution in the biota. Both 



of these compounds are universally present in terrestrial and 

 marine Arctic wildlife that live in areas where transport by 

 other pathways is highly unlikely. Marine birds, principally 

 fish-eating species such as cormorants and pelicans or surface 

 feeders such as petrels and shearwaters, have been used to 

 assess present contamination patterns in the Pacific. The greatest 

 concentrations of DDT residues are in the Southern California 

 Bight. Their source is the Los Angeles sewer system. Else- 

 where, aerial dispersal and rainout appear to account for most 

 residues. 



The principal routes by which pollutants reach coastal 

 areas are rivers and sewage and industrial outfalls. Pollutants 

 from these sources subject estuarine ecosystems to the most 

 severe man-induced stresses in the marine environment. 



An extensive investigation of the input of lead to the 

 Southern California Bight from storm runoff and sewage out- 

 falls has begun. This research indicates, in significant contrast 

 to earlier investigations, that less than 1 percent of the waste 

 effluent lead is dissolved while the rest is in particulate form. 

 The isotopic composition of the dissolved lead also was con- 

 siderably different from particulate lead, suggesting different 

 sources for these two forms of lead. Extensive sampling of 

 dissolved and particulate lead in the ocean in the vicinity of 

 sewage outfalls, as well as in rain and storm runoff, is presently 

 underway. Projects in this program are listed in table 3. 



Table 3.— U.S. institutions, investigators, and projects in Pollutant Transfer Program 



Organization 



Investigator 



Project title 



California Institute of Technology 



University of California, 

 Bodega Marine Laboratory 



University of California, 



Scripps Institution of Oceanography 



University of Georgia, 



Skidaway Institute of Oceanography 



Harvard University, 



Bermuda Biological Station, Inc. 



University of Rhode Island 

 San Jose State University 

 Texas A&M University 



Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 



C. C. Patterson 

 R. Risebrough 

 E. Goldberg 

 H. L. Windom 



J. N. Butler 



B. F. Morris 



R. A. Duce 

 J. H. Martin 



C. S. Giam 

 B. J. Presley 



G. R. Harvey 



Determination of Input and Transport of Pollutant 

 Lead m Marine Environments Using Isotope Tracers 



Formulation of Mass Balance Equations for Poly- 

 chlorinated Biphenyls in Marine Ecosytems 



Fluxes of Synthetic Organics to the Marine Environ- 

 ment 



The Uptake of Heavy Metals by Marine Phyto- 

 plankton 



Transfer of Petroleum Residues in Sargassum Com- 

 munities and the Waters of the Sargasso Sea 



Atmospheric Pollutant Transfer and Deposition on 

 Sea Surface 



Cadmium Transport to the Open Pacific Ocean via 

 the California Current System 



Phthalate and Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Transfer 

 Processes in the Marine Environment 

 Quantities and Forms of Pollutants Carried by the 

 Mississippi River and Their Fate in the Gulf of Mexico 



A Survey of PCB and DDT compounds in the South 

 Atlantic, and an Intercalibration of Methods for 

 Determining These Compounds 



