320 



area you have found thus far, which means, then, that this area 

 will probably be considered for subseabed deposits. 



Is that true? 



Dr. HoLLiSTER. Yes. 



What we are looking for is midplate, and by that I mean in the 

 middle of a lithospheric plate. It is not along the old Hawaiian 

 Emperor Seamounts chain, and it is not along the trenches, where 

 there is a lot of volcanic activity and it is not along the spreading 

 centers where the crust is breaking open. 



We are looking for geologic predictability in the centers of the 

 big gyrs. We have about a half-dozen countries, and at least that 

 many ships right now taking samples and looking in certain Atlan- 

 tic areas that may satisfy our site-selection criteria. 



Our criteria are, quite simply, the demonstration beyond a doubt 

 that the areas are geologically stable and have been so for very 

 long periods. 



So, as this plate moves westward a hot spot continues to form the 

 islands of Hawaii. And so it would be absolutely ridiculous to 

 assume that someone would put waste "upstream" of where the 

 Hawaiian Islands are forming now. 



Mr. Akaka. You talk about this being predictive. I read that it is 

 predicted that Diamond Head might erupt. 



So it is true that Hawaii is still alive volcanically. 



Dr. HoLLiSTER. Absolutely. 



This is something we all know; there is not a single student of 

 marine geology who would argue with that. 



Mr. Akaka. I also learned that you have been doing studies 

 north of Guam. 



Is this the same area you are talking about? 



Dr. HoLLiSTER. Depending on how you mean, "real close," then 

 1,000 kilometers is close. It is up in a large area of the northwest- 

 ern Pacific that we are studying. The sediments are much thicker 

 there than they are 1,000 kilometers north of Hawaii. 



My feeling is that the siting effort identifing really large — mil- 

 lion square kilometer regions — where we can take a few samples to 

 see if our predictions, or our hypotheses are correct, that is, that 

 nothing has happened there for tens of millions of years. 



We are a very long way from choosing a site. 



Mr. Akaka. Right now, this area you are talking about as being 

 a very stable area between Hawaii and the Aleutians; can you give 

 me a longitude and latitude reading on that area? 



Dr. HoLLiSTER. It is about 30 degrees north and 158 degrees west. 

 It is 5,000 meters deep. The water is about 2° C. It is pitch black. It 

 has 500 atmosphers pressure, say, 20,000 PSI. The mud is about 200 

 or 300 feet thick. It is very flat. The mud itself is rusty-colored clay 

 with a consistency of Crest toothpaste on the surface. 



Basically, it is one of the most boring pieces of marine geological 

 real estate there is. 



Mr. Studds. He wants to know which congressional district. 



Mr. Akaka. I am sure that it is mine. 



Dr. Anderson. Mr. Chairman, I think there is a point missed 

 that I really wanted to dwell upon very strongly. 



That point is that the program is, in effect, looking for reasons 

 why this option is infeasible rather than feasible. Ocean scientists, 



