NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 



FT-62 $1,550,000 

 FY -63 $2,130,000 

 The geological, geochemical and geophysical oceanographlc investigations 

 supported by the Earth Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation 

 are directed toward obtaining a basic understanding of the sea floor and 

 its structure . Among others, research in these areas is supported at 

 the Universities of Miami, California, Washington, Michigan, Southern 

 California, Missouri, and Georgia, as well as Florida State, Columbia, 

 Yale, and Rice University. 



The geological and geochemical research covers a wide range of oroblems 

 requiring both laboratory and field efforts „ Some of the general topics 

 receiving support are: 



(a) the stratigraphy of deep-sea cores in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the 

 Caribbean Sea; 



(b) X-ray diffraction and spectrographic studies 

 of oceanic and coastal marine sediments; 



(c) micropaleontological studies of Atlantic 

 and Pacific Ocean cores; 



(d) paleotemperatures as determined by the oxygen 16-18 

 ratios of the calcium carbonate fractions of 

 deep-sea sediments; 



(e) rates of sedimentation principally by 

 Carbon-llj. analysis; 



(f) the dynamics of sediment transportation; 



(g) the geochemistry of radioactive and stable 

 isotopes; 



(h) the exchange phenomenon between the sediments 

 and the sea; * 



(i) sediment petrology and the development of 

 mineralsj and 



(j) lithofacie and biofacie surveys of marine 

 sediments. 



The principal aim of geophysical investigations at sea is to advance 



our knowledge of the surface and subsurface of the sea floor, Bathymetric, 



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