50 



Continental Shelf SiuNeys 



The Continental Shelf Snr\ey Program cle- 

 \eloped bv the ICO Sin\e\ Panel will be inte- 

 grated into an overall interagency continental 

 shelf exploration and exploitaticjn effort. This 

 program will pro\ide information on the basic 

 physical, chemical, and biological processes 

 necessar) for the scientist and engineer working 

 on the shelf. Its priinary objecti\es are to delineate 

 the scientific a:id economic potential of the shelf 

 and of the water abo\e it. This is accomplished 

 through systematic surveys of the essential ocean- 

 ographic variables, the biological content of the 

 ocean waters, and the sediments of the ocean 

 floor. Smvey operations on the continental shelf 

 are both of the SEAMAP and of the historical type. 



Of the nine ICO agencies engaged in sur\'ey 

 operation, five have survey missions which are 

 concerned chiefly \\ith the continental shelf. Thus, 

 the work of the Public Health Ser\ice, Federal 

 Water Pollution Control Administration. Geo- 

 logical Survey, and Bineau of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife is devoted to the phenomena of the near- 

 shore and shelf regions. The Army Corps of 

 Engineers also conducts continental shelf sinveys 

 along the Atlantic Coast in search of sand deposits 

 for use in its beach restoration and erosion control 

 work. Army surveys, howe\'er, are fimded under 

 Research and are not listed separatelv in the Sur- 

 vey program. The four remaining agencies — 

 Coast and Geodetic Smvey, Na\y, Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, and Coast Guard — con- 

 tribute to the general pool of shelf information as 

 part of their broader survey missions throughout 

 the world. The combined elTorts of these agencies 

 produce a significant amoimt of basic information 

 on the environments of this scientificallv and 

 economicallv important portion of the ocean. 



dining FY 1967 collecting oceanographic data. 

 Airborne geomagnetic sur\eys and aerial Arctic 

 ice reconnaissance will be continued. Although 

 ship operations are primarily directed toward 

 militarv requirements, a considerable portion of 

 the data collected will be deposited in the National 

 Oceanographic Data Center in support of the 

 Scientific Exploration and Mapping Program 

 (SEAMAP). 



Another significant contribution to the SEA- 

 MAP Program will be made h\ the Na\v's Marine 

 Geophvsical Surve\s. These siu'xeys, conducted bv 

 private U.S. industrial firms under contract to the 

 Navy, are primarily designed to acquire oceano- 

 graphic and geoph\ sical data in strategic areas in 

 both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to enhance 

 Na\\' readiness. As a secondary objecti\e, the data 

 will provide information to the research scientist 

 to further increase his imderstanding of the sea. 

 Sru'vey results are expected to yield scientific 

 information that can be used to soh e a mmiber of 

 important oceanographic and marine geophysical 

 problems. Data colleced will be helpful in studving 

 the problems of niurient cvcles and in sohing 

 many basic fisheries research problems as well as 

 those related to studies of the proclucti\ity of the 

 sea. 



Also of benefit to SEAMAP will be the Navy's 

 Anti-Submarine Warfare — Undersea Warfare 

 (ASW-USW) Oceanographic Sinxey Program 

 ^vhich is designed to pro\ide ocean en\ironmental 

 information on a broad scope over wide ocean 

 areas for support of Navy ASW-USW operations. 

 This multi-purpose sinve) program will also 

 pro\ide scientists with an environmental model of 

 the oceans which will add to the biological, geo- 

 logical, oceanographic and geophysical data 

 needed for future exploration of the natm'al 

 lesources of the ocean and sea-bed beneath. 



DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 



Department of the Navy 



Naval Oceanographic Office 



FY 1965-114,704,000 

 FY 1966-$I5,336,000 

 FY 1967-$22,211.000 



Eleven ships of the Naval Oceanographic Office 

 will operate in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 



Ship Operations 



Atknttic Oceini 



SAN PABLO and SILAS BENT will operate in 

 the North Atlantic carrving out oceancjgraphic and 

 bathymetric operations in support of the ASW- 

 USW Oceanographic Surxey Program. SHEL- 

 DRAKE and KEI.LAR will opcr.ile in the North 



