NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM—1965 
The addition of taxonomists in FY 1965 to the 
marine sciences staff will increase the quantity of 
systematic research. The Smithsonian Institution 
will participate in expeditions of other govern- 
mental and private vessels, to gather information 
on the kinds and distribution of organisms in the 
sea. 
The Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center 
will expand its capabilities to embrace the areas 
of algology, sedimentology, and planktonology. 
Improved methods of sorting and the introduction 
of mechanical devices will be exploited to speed up 
sorting. The volume of collections processed is 
expected to increase tremendously. 
* 
* * 
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, 
EDUCATION AND WELFARE 
Public Health Service: $75,000 
PHS is concerned with water quality for all 
legitimate uses, purity of foods delivered from the 
sea, and the effects of marine organisms on the 
human body. 
Another PHS objective is to determine the iden- 
tity of medically or pharmacologically important 
substances which may be produced by marine or- 
ganisms. 
Earlier studies on marine organisms which pro- 
duce toxins (such as paralytic shellfish poison) will 
be continued. Emphasis will be placed on the 
ecology of marine organisms producing neurotoxins 
which are endangering public health. PHS will 
also continue studies of marine substances which 
appear to inhibit the growth of certain human 
disease-producing viruses and bacteria. A research 
program will be undertaken in cooperation with 
the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries on the ecology 
and growth characteristics of the bacteria respon- 
sible for Type E botulism toxin in fishery products. 
* ba * 
4. STRUCTURE AND HISTORY 
OF THE OCEAN FLOOR: $19,235,000 
Very rapid strides have been made in the last 
decade in observing and understanding the struc- 
ture of the 70% of the earth’s crust which is covered 
by the sea and in reading the history of the earth 
as revealed in ocean sediments. New instruments 
and instrumental techniques of great precision and 
great power have been applied to these problems: 
precision depth recorders, acoustic refraction tech- 
24 
595 
niques, gravity meters, sensitive magnetometers, 
deep coring facilities, and ocean bottom photog- 
raphy. Understanding of the structure of the ocean 
floor and of the sediments will contribute very 
greatly to the larger understanding of the earth’s 
structure and history, and it may have economic 
benefits in ocean mining of minerals and drilling 
for oil. 
* * * 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
UNITED STATES NAVY 
Office of Naval Research: $9,572,000 
Using new seismic instruments and observational 
techniques, Lamont Geological Observatory, 
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Texas A&M 
University, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic 
Institution will continue comprehensive seismic 
investigation of the bottom structure of the Atlan- 
tic and Pacific basins and the Indian Ocean. In the 
same oceans, Woods Hole and Texas A&M will 
make geomagnetic measurements. Lamont, UCLA, 
Oregon State, and the University of Hawaii will 
take gravity measurements. Continued effort will 
be applied in FY 65 to developing still better 
techniques for measuring the thickness of sediment. 
In addition, a modest but comprehensive pro- 
gram will be undertaken to determine from 
manned ice islands the structure of the Arctic 
Ocean basin. 
* * * 
Naval Oceanographic Office: $261,000 
To improve the accuracy of gravity measure- 
ments from ships, gravity ranges are being estab- 
lished off the United States, in both the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans. A mathematical formulation 
to reduce the gravity field to different altitudes 
above sea level is being programmed for a com- 
puter. 
Observations of variation in telluric currents and 
the relation of telluric currents to the geomagnetic 
field will be continued in FY 1965. Recently initi- 
ated studies of temporal variations and small-scale 
spatial variations in the geomagnetic field will con- 
tinue. Improvements in automatic processing of 
marine geophysical data (gravity, geomagnetism, 
telluric currents) will also be made in FY 1965. 
* 
Bureau of Ships: $1,125,000 
Geological-geophysical research will be supported 
at the Navy Electronics Laboratory and at the La- 
