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Deep water studies are being addressed on several fronts. In 1979, DOI 

 began a multi-year program to assess the biological and physical 

 processes operating in North Atlantic canyons and on the slope. That 

 effort, being performed by Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory of 

 Columbia University and the U.S. Geological Survey, is in its final 

 stages and a report is due vd.thin 2 months. In 1980, we began the 

 planning for the FY 1982 Regional Study Plan for the Atlantic. As with 

 Regional Technical Working Groups in other areas, the North Atlantic 

 Regional Technical Working Group (NARTWG) was an active participant in 

 recommending studies for the FY 1982 plan. Deep water studies were 

 considered, and general consensus was reached that, before any field 

 program was initiated in deep water, an environmental information 

 summary should be prepared. The Department contracted for this summary 

 in 1982, and the draft final report was just received from Marine 

 Geoscience Applications, Inc. It will be used in designing a field 

 program that is scheduled to begin in FY 1983. 



Our Scientific Advisory Committee has also examined the issue of deep 

 water studies. It issued a report in 1982 advising the Department to 



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