m 



liope to unravel their complexity. No one 

 approach will suffice. Marine science is no 

 respecter of semantic boundaries; basic 

 studies merge indistinguishably into the ap- 

 plied; exploration blends into research, 

 oceanography into a bewildering variety of 

 disciplines. 



Research and Survey Programs 



Effective exploration of the oceans can 

 best be achieved tlirough a balanced program 

 of research and surveys. Programs to solve 

 specific scientific problems as well as pro- 

 grams for systematic collection of data on a 

 world-ocean basis have yielded results of re- 

 markable scientific and material import in 

 the past and will do so in the future. 



Marine Geology and Geophysics 



Our views on the structure of the ocean 

 crust and its origin are modified constantly 

 as new data accumulate. Sediments of un- 

 precedented thickness have been found to 

 exist in unsuspected areas along the conti- 

 nental margins. New information about geo- 

 magnetic and gravity patterns has revised 

 opinions about the origins and formation of 

 the continents. Research programs sponsored 

 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

 and by the U.S. Navy and the systematic 

 SEAMAP surveys of the Environmental 

 Science Services Administration (ESSA), 

 have advanced our knowledge of the earth's 

 structure and history. 



In the course of the NSF-sponsored pro- 

 gram JOIDES to drill deeply into the 

 earth's crust under the sea, oil has been dis- 

 covered in the seabed at water deptiis of ap- 

 proximately 11,000 feet, although not in ex- 

 ploitable quantities. As noted in Chapter 4, 

 there are indications that tlie thin sedimen- 

 tary layer underlying parts of the deep 

 oceans may contain other minerals as valu- 

 able as the nodules known to lie on the ocean 



The Theory of Continental Drift 



Source : A. Wegener, The Origins of Continents and Oceans 

 (trans, from 3d German ed., E.P. Button and Co., 1922). 



bottoms. The value of these resources is at 

 this time entirely speculative because of the 

 lack of any systematic knowledge of their lo- 

 cation or composition. But their value to man 

 in the 21st century will depend upon the de- 

 velopment now of systems to survey their 

 extent and to bring them to shore. 



Marine Biology 



The problems to be solved by global oceanic 

 exploration are many and diverse. Man's in- 

 creasing dependence upon food resources 

 from the sea and his growing ability to mod- 

 ify his environment make it imperative to 

 understand better the ecology of the global 

 oceans. Life in abundance has been discov- 



