MARINE SCIENCE 113 



Slide No. 29, Bathyscaph Trieste: In August of 1958, the Navy 

 procured the bathyscaph, Trieste^ to assist in the study of the areas 

 of the ocean previously inaccessible to man. Navy oceanographers 

 hold the world's record in their recent descent to 35,800 feet in the 

 Marianas Trench off Guam. The Trieste looks and acts like an 

 underwater blimp. The upper tank — like the gas bag — is for buoy- 

 ancy. The lower sphere — or gondola — containing the crew, is con- 

 structed of heavy steel to withstand the pressures of the ocean depth. 



Slide No. 30. Mohole : The Navy is also assisting in the Mohole proj- 

 ect — a project for drilling a hole 5 miles through the ocean floor to 

 the boundary between the earth's crust and the underlying mantle of 

 extremely dense dock. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 

 which is backing this project, has four drilling areas mider con- 

 sideration. Initial explorations are being conducted in the vicinity 

 of Bermuda — one of the areas where the earth's crust is believed to be 

 the tliinnest. Wherever it is sunk, the Mohole will give scientists a 

 better idea of the structure of the earth and a priceless record of 

 sediments that have settled since the eartJi was yomig. 



Let us now consider the second major reason for exploring the fron- 

 tier of the seas — and this is one which touches us all — that of eco- 

 nomics. 



Slide No. 31. Population: Our world is facing an explosive in- 

 crease in its population with a daily increase of over 100,000 human 

 beings. Even today, 70 percent of the world's population is under- 

 nourished. To support this increasing population, we must make 

 every effort to discover new sources of food and minerals. 



Slide No. 32. Fish: The sea is presently supplying only a small 

 percent of its potential food harvest. Although 35 million tons of 

 fish in various forms are taken annually, this might well be increased 

 10 times or more. 



Slide No. 33. Diatoms : Challenging and more visionary is the pos- 

 sibility of harvesting minute plants and creatures of the sea — for 

 example, the mass cultivation of sea water algae for foodstuff. 



This is not as farfetched as it somids. Japanese scientists have 

 already prepared algae bread, algae noodles, algae soup, and algae 

 ice cream. Those who ate these algae foods f omid them palatable — 

 even delicious. 



Slide No. 34. Mmerals : The sea is also rich in minerals — in fact, 

 oceanic waters contain more minerals than have been mined by man 

 in all history. Each cubic mile of sea water contains 18 million tons 

 of dissolved salts of sodium, potassium, calcium, bromine, and phos- 

 phorus. 



There is enough gold in the sea to make every inhabitant of the 

 world a millionaire. 



In addition, on the floor of the deep seas— in the form of nodules — 

 lie deposits of cobalt, copper, nickel, iron, and manganese. 



Slide No. 35. Oil wells : As each day passes, our world requires 

 more fuel to produce energy. 



Offshore — under the sea on the Continental Shelves — lies 40 percent 

 of the world's known petroleum — 20 billion barrels of it. 



As commercial atomic power becomes a practical reality, the world's 

 oceans offer a promising fuel source. Sea water is a source of both 

 uranium for fission-produced power and deuterium or heavy hydrogen 

 for thermonuclear power. 



