MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 



Three recent reports have provided excellent reviews of the 

 achievements that have taken place in the field of oceanography 

 within the last few years.* The Navy Ocean Science Program 

 played a major role in supporting the research from which many 

 of these achievements resulted; therefore, it is not the intent 

 of this report to present a similar detailed review. Rather, only 

 some of the accomplishments which have been of particular 

 significance to the Navy have been selected for discussion. 



The accomplishments within the Navy Ocean Science Program 

 fall into two broad categories. One concerns the improvement 

 of our knowledge and understanding of the ocean environment 

 itself. The other involves the improved technology that has 

 resulted which permits man to obtain information more effi- 

 ciently about the oceans and work either on, within, or over it. 

 The following sections describe accomplishments from both these 

 aspects of the Navy Ocean Science Program. 



OCEANIC CIRCULATION 



The movements of the waters in the oceans are extremely 

 complex. The accumulation of knowledge about these movements 

 by ocean scientists, particularly during the last decade, has 

 resulted in an overall understanding of oceanic circulation 

 which is a major achievement. The gross circulation patterns 

 in the world oceans have been described, the sources of major 

 water masses identified, and the trajectories deduced and resi- 

 dence time estimated for deep-ocean waters. 



The major surface currents have been studied, and their 

 extent, breadth, volume transport, and water velocity have 



*These reports are cited in the next section, "Support of. Other National 

 Objectives." 



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