76 MARINE SCIENCE 



Our knowledge is certainly fragmentary and we need badly to speed 

 up a survey program in order to investigate the 72 percent of the 

 earth's surface covered by the oceans. Thorough knowledge always 

 i-epresents power and the more industrialized a country is, the easier 

 and faster it can apply this knowledge toward increasing living stand- 

 ards, giving security, and favorably enlarging the military and eco- 

 nomic forces. 



A few examples of the practical applications which will be made 

 possible by an oceanwide survey program can now be given. Weather 

 forecasting is only partially satisfactory on a short-time basis and 

 nearly impossible on a long-range basis. It has been shown that the 

 ocean surface influences the weather over several months and perhaps 

 over more than a year, nonetheless we are lacking the data necessary 

 to establish this as a predictable fact, and to make use of it. The 

 atmosphere together with the ocean forms a large heat engine which 

 takes its fuel from the sun, but the exact mechanism is not yet undei'- 

 stood. We know, only roughly, the current systems and we are not 

 able to read the fine print in the oceans. If we understood the general 

 circulation and the mechanism of the heat engine driving it, we would 

 also be able to predict weather over a long range and we might obtain 

 a method of controlling the climate. 



Another feature of the sea important to mankind is the distribution 

 of nutrients along with plankton and fish, which together determine 

 the productivity of the sea. Phytoplankton as the primary producer 

 of organic matter in the ocean needs nutrients which are stored in 

 the deep water masses. When this deep water is brought up to the 

 sea surface and light, the phytoplankton can use it to start the food 

 chain in the ocean. This chain follows through small animals and 

 finally reaches the edible fish which store a part of the sun's energy 

 which we may later use as proteins. At present, we recover only a 

 small part of proteins from the sea, but the increasing population 

 pressure will force mankind to use this source to a higher extent. 



We need therefore to know more about the transport of the nutrients 

 to the surface, about the distribution of plankton, about the produc- 

 tivity at a given place and about the density of fish. Wlien we under- 

 stand where and why the nutrients are coming up, into the realm of 

 light, we will be able to predict the amount of fish which may be 

 caught at that place per year. Tuna, as an example, are known to 

 be found near the tops of sea mounts. Sea mounts seem to influence 

 the vertical transport of water masses ; consequently, the study of the 

 bottom topography is important in order to facilitate the recovery 

 of tuna. 



Bottom topography may, in addition, be important to know for 

 future submarine ocean transports where escape from wave action 

 and the severe weather conditions of the surface is possible. The 

 navigation of submarines is more dependent on a knowledge of ocean 

 depth than that of a surface vessel. Captains of these vessels would 

 navigate according to a depth chart and sound beacons may guide 

 them. 



Geochemical processes accumulate manganese ores on the sea floor. 

 We do not know why, how, and where they are found. Therefore 

 a survey of the ocean floor has to be carried out to locate them. When 

 AA'e liaA-e better achieved an estimate of the total amount available. 



