THE BELL SYSTEM 



TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



VOLUME XXXVI SEPTEMBER 1957 number 5 



Copyright 1957, American Telephone and Telegraph Company 



Oceanogr^phic Information for 



Engineering Submarine 



Cable Systems* 



By C. H. ELMENDORF and BRUCE C. HEEZEN 



(Manuscript received June 4, 1957) 



Information on the environment in which submarine cable systems are 

 placed is of vital interest in designing, selecting routes for, placing, and 

 repairing this type of communications facility. Existing data are sum- 

 marized and evaluated, and their application to submarine cable systems is 

 considered. 



I. INTRODUCTION 



1.1 General 



Oceanography, broadly defined, includes the study of all aspects of 

 the oceans. As a science, it is concerned with gathering data and de- 

 vising theories which describe and explain the past, present, and the fu- 

 ture of the oceans. Oceanography includes physical description of the 

 topography, sediments, and teinperatiu-c of the ocean bottom; investi- 



* This is T^amoiit (loolo^ical Oliservatory Cont ril)iiti()n No. 251. Dr. Hoozcn is 

 a meml)er of the Ijamoiit Cicological Observatory of Columbia University. Addi- 

 tional information on this sul)ject is being presented by Dr. Heezen in a publica- 

 tion by the Geological Society of America. 



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