62 



period. Development of specifications, sensors, 

 and ancillary equipment will be carried out con- 

 currently under the supervision of the Deep 

 Submergence Program. 



NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 



FY 1965-124,700,000 

 FY 1966-$17,900,000 

 FY 1967-$19, 700,000 



DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



FY 1966 -$270,000 

 FY 1967-$270,000 



The purpose of this program is to develop 

 advanced methods of economically harvesting 

 marine resources. This effort will involve develop- 

 ment work in upgrading and improving con- 

 temporary methods and technical assistance in 

 applying new harvesting procedures. Conceptual 

 engineering studies will be conducted in theoret- 

 ical areas to consider means of applying physical 

 and chemical methods to control animal response. 

 New systems de\elopment proposals will be e\al- 

 uated and contracts will be made with agencies 

 of pro\en experience in this field. 



Bureau of Mines 



FY 1965-1134,000 

 FY 1965-1209,000 

 FY 1967 -$21 0,000 



The Bureau of Mines is authorized to determine 

 the industrial value of marine minerals and to 

 develop techniques for their sampling and re- 

 covery. To this end, the Marine Mineral Tech- 

 nology Center has been established at the Tibinon 

 Naval Net Depot, near San Francisco. 



Two ships ha\e been acquired and impro\ ement 

 of the facility initiated. Emphasis in FY 1967 will 

 be on the de\elopment of im])roved mineral 

 sampling devices, and on the acquisition and 

 analysis of marine mineral deposits with respect 

 to their en\ ironmental and physical characteristics. 

 These data are needed tcj determine realistic 

 marine mining system requirements. 



Background 



The Mohole Pioject represents man's first 

 attempt to explore the earth's deep crust and 

 mantle beneath the sea. It will open this vast 

 and little known region of the earth to science 

 and thus will provide important facts about the 

 earth as a planet. 



Much has been inferred about the nature of 

 the earth's crust and the imderlving inantle. 

 Such indirect methods, as seismic reflection and 

 refraction, and scientific theories developed 

 through such methods remain unproved and must 

 be tested through actual experimentation and 

 direct observation. By drilling through the 

 crust and into the earth's mantle as far as possible 

 scientists hope to: 



1. Obtain a better age determination for the 

 earth. 



2. Determine the age and origin of the ocean 

 basins and their waters. 



3. Better understand how the earth-moon sys- 

 tem came into being. 



4. Broaden our understanding of the distribu- 

 tion of the chemical elements in the earth, 

 which in turn bears on the origin of the sun 

 and perhaps the stars. 



5. Advance our understanding of the origin 

 of continents and the extent of continental 

 drift. 



6. Impro\e our knowledge of the mantle's 

 composition and the origin of magnetic and 

 gravity anomalies that have been discovered 

 beneath the sea. 



7. Better understand the origin of life and 

 the carbon cycle with which it is closely 

 connected. 



The Mohole Project is considered to be of very 

 great importance by geophysicists, geochemists, 

 geologists and other earth scientists. It has been 

 endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences 

 and by manv other national scientific bodies. 



The Project has also created great interest 

 internationally. As recently as September 3, 1965, 

 at Ottawa, Canada, an international symposium 



