PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE 91 



and a rather refined forecasting technique is available. Vigorous 

 research programs studying the fundamentals of the energy 

 exchange and interactions are aimed at removing some of the 

 remaining empiricism. On the other hand, the exchange of 

 thermal energy is poorly understood. Little advance has been 

 made, mainly because the refined observations required to 

 present the basis for better theoretical models have not been 

 available. It is in the exchange of thermal energy that answers 

 to many problems lie. Included among such problems are the 

 alteration of thermal structure in the upper layers of the ocean, 

 the generation of ocean weather, the maintenance of the global 

 atmospheric circulation, and the propagation of perturbations 

 in climate. Proper instrumentation is being developed slowly and 

 could be greatly accelerated, thus allowing a renewed assault 

 on these problems. The exchange of materials, such as atmo- 

 spheric gases, across the interface is also very poorly under- 

 stood. It is clear, for example, that the simple model of continuous 

 equilibration across the interface is not valid. The Navy has a 

 clear concern with air-sea interactions, since they bear on proper 

 understanding of the environment in and near the surface of 

 the ocean, where major defense activities £ire concentrated. 



CHEMISTRY OF THE OCEAN 



The complexity of the ocean as a chemical system makes it 

 difficult to find solutions to a number of important practical 

 problems. The electrolytic corrosion of materials in seawater, 

 and their susceptibility to biological attack by marine organisms, 

 are intimately related to the nature of their chemical environ- 

 ment. The transmission of acoustic energy through seawater 

 varies in a complex manner which is dependent, among other 

 things, on the chemical composition of seawater. The chemical 

 nutrients found in the sea determine the extent of biological 

 productivity, upon which rests man's hope of obtaining an 

 increased amount of food from the oceans. The mutual exchange 

 of energy and materials between ocean and atmosphere at the 

 air-sea interface, which is so important in determining our 



