Introduction 



The general motion of ocean waters has features wAiich are simi- 

 lar to those of atmospheric circulationo Details of this motion, however, 

 are not known and predictions based on hypothetical models do not have the 

 easy verification possible for a weather forecast. 



The purpose of this report is to assemble a brief description of 

 the mechanisms relating to oceanic turbulence so as to obtain a better 

 picture of conditions to be dealt with experimentally. Ideally, one would 

 wish to measure the random turbulent velocities as distinguished from 

 steady or periodic motions and then determine the cause of the turbulence. 

 The arguments used here suggest, however, that the turbulent motions in 

 the ocean are so slow and weak that it may be impractical to obtain accu- 

 rate direct velocity measurementSo There also seems to be no suitable 

 model of the ocean which can serve as a basis for deriving turbulent 

 velocities from, say, mean flow or transport measurements. Nevertheless, 

 turbulent fields can be specified in terms of velocity correlations 

 (Batchelor, 1953), and measurements of this type are feasible. They 

 could be done, for instance, by measuring the pair correlation separation 

 between free neutrally-buoyant containers. It is hoped that the eddy 

 lengths and time scales derived in this report on the basis of rather primi- 

 tive arguments will be useful in the design of such experiments. 



