PREFACE 



In February 1974, NACOA was asked by the Director of the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation to review tlie International Decade of Ocean 

 Exploration, then approaching its midpoint, and to make recommenda- 

 tions regarding its future. 



Strictly speaking, the IDOE is an international effort, carried on 

 under the auspices of the United Nations, to devote the period 1971-1980 

 to a series of long-term, continuing, cooperative investigations aimed at 

 accelerating progress toward effective utilization of the ocean and its 

 resources. However the U.S. contribution to the IDOE, managed by 

 the National Science Foundation, is a major national program in its own 

 right, and it is this effort that NACOA was asked to review. 



In his request, the Director noted that IDOE was approaching its 

 fifth year as an NSF program, and that ". . . this half-way point is an 

 appropriate time to review the status of the IDOE and to consider its 

 future. For example, what should be done about those projects which 

 might be productively extended beyond the nominal 10-year life of the 

 program? Should the IDOE be extended beyond 1980 or should these 

 projects be transferred to other programs?" The Director asked NACOA 

 to "review the scientific, budgetary, and managerial aspects of the pro- 

 gram, and more generally, IDOE's compatibility with national priorities 

 in marine and atmospheric sciences." He also identified certain issues and 

 questions as indicative of the scope and flavor desired in this review — 

 these were: 



(1) The responsiveness of IDOE to the 1969 guidehnes under which 

 it was established. 



(2) The current validity of the guidelines as expressions of national 

 and international needs in marine science. 



(3) The effectiveness of large, directed research projects in address- 

 ing the problems posed by the original guidelines. 



(4) Whether IDOE findings to date have been of high scientific 

 quality and have contributed to national and international social, 

 economic, and political objectives. 



