Chapter III 



SPECIAL GROUPS CONCERNED 



WITH OCEANOGRAPHY 



One of the fundamental goals of the Federal 

 Government is "to ensure the development (of the 

 individual) and to enhance his opportunity." 

 There are several private seagoing groups whose 

 development and opportunity can be considerably 

 enhanced by oceanographic knowledge. Among 

 these are the fishing industry, the shipping indus- 

 try, the oil and mining industries, the ocean- 

 related sf)ort industries, and the community of 

 oceanographic scientists itself. To the extent that 

 it is compatible with broader national goals, the 

 Federal Government should conduct its oceano- 

 graphic program so that it supports the goals of 

 these special groups as well. To see how this can 

 best be done, let us next examine these individual 

 goals as they involve oceanography. 



A. Oceanographic Science 



It has already been argued that there is an iden- 

 tity between the federal goal of strengthening 

 oceanographic science and the scientist's goals in 

 pursuing oceanographic knowledge for its own 

 sake. Of course, it must be added that this identity 

 is one of kind and not of degree. Some reasonable 

 portion of the scientist's time and effort must be 

 directed toward the numerous other and more 

 practical goals of the government which is spon- 

 soring his work. As an oceanographic scientist, 

 however, what is it that interests him? 



In oceanography, the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences, through its Committee on Oceanography 

 (NASCO), speaks for the scientific community as 

 much as any committee can speak for people who 

 are traditionally accustomed to speaking for them- 

 selves. The particular front-lines in oceanography 

 as they existed four years ago which were singled 

 out for special mention in NASCO's report of that 

 year* are typified by a few of the questions posed 

 in Volume II of this report, "Basic Research in 

 Oceanography during the Next Ten Years." These 

 fall into five main areas: 



•Oceanography 1960-1970, a Report of the National Academy of 

 Sciences Committee on Oceanography, 1959. 



I. THE HISTORY OF THE OCEANS 



"Why is the layer of unconsolidated sediments 

 in the deep sea so thin, on the average only about 

 300 meters in thickness?. . . Why do we find fossils 

 of Tertiary or Cretaceous age but none older? 

 (That is, under about 100 million years.) 



"In most cores taken in the Pacific and Atlantic 

 there seems to be a sudden increase in radium con- 

 tent at an age level of about 200,000 years. What 

 is the cause of this increase? . . . 



"What is the history of the deep, narrow, almost 

 sediment-free trenches that ring the Pacific Basin? 

 . . . Why are these border features . . . apparently 

 the loci of very low heat flow from the earth's 

 interior? 



"Existing abyssal plains are all adjusted to re 

 cent topography. Where are the ancient abyssal 

 plains? . . . 



"How have the broad swelling ridges that bisect 

 the Atlantic and the South Pacific been formed? 

 How old are they? Why are they the loci of very 

 high heat flow from the earth's interior? 



"Faults around the margins of the Pacific Basin 

 appear to be right lateral as though the basin 

 were rotating counterclockwise. Does submarine 

 topography support this hypothesis? Are fracture 

 zones the spokes of the wheel? 



"Is the base of the crust a phase transition, or 

 is there a real difi^erence in chemical composition 

 between crust and mantle? 



"Are there pools or sheets of molten rock deep 

 beneath the earth's crust associated with inland 

 arcs, trenches and fracture zones? . . . 



"What pre the reasons for the large scale, re- 

 markably regular magnetic topog[raphy of the deep 

 sea floor off" the west coast of North America? . . . 



"What is the history of sea water? . . . 



"How did the pattern of the major ocean cur- 

 rents during past times compare with that of to- 

 day? . . ." 



2. THE WAYS OF LIFE IN THE SEA 



"The fauna and bacterial flora of the great deeps 

 provide unique opportunities for the general biol- 

 ogist. Nowhere else can he find organisms adapted 



17 



