INTRODUCTION 



As Dr. Stewart states in the Preface of this 

 book, many people are only now beginning to "dis- 

 cover" the oceans of the world. These are people 

 of diversified background, academic training, and 

 professional interest - businessmen, engineers, 

 technicians, lawyers, teachers, sportsmen and medi- 

 cal men - to name only a few. However, because of 

 their growing interest in the oceans, each is now 

 a potential contributor to that fund of knowledge 

 which will be required to successfully exploit, for 

 every man's benefit, the resources of the oceans of 

 the world. 



It appears that this potential would be enhanced 

 by the existence of an appropriate glossary which 

 would help to establish a common plane of under- 

 standing for the many varied terms which are used 

 in connection with oceanography, ocean engineering 

 and the marine sciences. 



It was with this basic consideration in mind that 

 this glossary was conceived. However, it must be 

 clearly recognized that an effort such as this repre- 

 sents only the nucleus of more comprehensive efforts 

 which will be required - indeed is required now - 

 in order to satisfy the objective of this publication. 

 While the editors particularly desire that their work 

 be viewed and assessed in this light, they also feel 

 their efforts have produced the first relatively 

 complete and publicly available oceanic glossary. 



Department of Defense weapon systems and project 

 names have purposely been omitted in spite of the 

 fact that much work in these endeavors have had and 

 will continue to have a direct effect upon the pro- 

 gress of ocean science and undersea technology. 



The mode of operation adopted in compiling the 

 Information contained in this glossary has been to 

 describe the most important terms in the following 

 basic areas: 



Oceanography . Including Physical, Biological, 

 Chemical, Geological, and Meteorological; 



Oceanographic Instrumentation ; 



Underwater Sound ; 



Ocean Engineering ; 



Diving Physiology ; and 



General Terms . including abbreviations and 

 acronyms . 



In providing the greatest comprehensive coverage 

 within the limits of time and space available, defini- 

 tions and terms were researched from the most authori- 

 tative sources of information (both published and 

 unpublished) - Including texts, technical reports, 

 scientific papers, and other such documents. In the 

 majority of cases definitions have been quoted ver- 

 batim from these references. However, in the area 

 of oceanographic instrumentation many of the published 

 descriptions have been edited. Terms in this classi- 

 fication have been predicated upon furnishing the 

 reader with broad, generic descriptions representative 

 of the classes of instruments and devices in use, 

 since many of the specific Instruments used in ocean 

 science and engineering are constantly changing. 

 Improving and expanding in scope. 



The extent of detailed description devoted to 

 every term, and the number of Important terms to be 

 covered for each of the areas mentioned. Involved 

 judgment equated to a definite predetermined amount 

 of space available for the book. Such judgments can 

 certainly be fallible. Hence, it is recognized that 

 some errors of omission and commission may have been 

 made. These will, hopefully, be rectified by the 

 more comprehensive work in compiling a revised and 

 expanded follow-on glossary which is scheduled for 

 future publication. 



The number in parenthesis following a term indi- 

 cates the source of the definition and is the same 

 as the reference number listed on pages 171 and 172. 



VI 



