Foreword 



We are presently in an era when new scientific information flows in at a 

 rate that threatens to overwhelm the student in what, for lack of 

 constructive processing, is degraded to useless noise. It is important to 

 assure ourselves from time to time that oceanography retains its rightful 

 place in the forefront of earth science because the ocean is the only readily 

 accessible sample for study of the behavior of an extensive liquid on a 

 whirling globe. To retain its unique place among the welter of spectacular 

 competing discoveries which relate to assemblages of a range of scale from 

 the smallest particles to the immense galaxies of outer space and to their 

 degree of sophistication from mundane to exotic, it will be necessary to 

 provide and nourish a literature that has sufficient substance to stimulate 

 the imagination of the keenest scientific minds. 



Perusal of this collection of papers will reassure the thoughtful reader 

 that, at this milestone, oceanography, far from slipping into humdrum 

 obsolescence, remains vital and is still at the cutting edge of scientific 

 revelation of the cosmos around us. By way of examples, one can single 

 out the application of ocean acoustic tomography that realizes a new 

 three-dimensional representation of the deep sea, and remote sensing that 

 effects the synchronous charting of extensive areas of the superficial layers 

 of the ocean from the vantage point of space satellites. This latter ability 

 frees the perception of the student from the constriction inherent in 

 anecdotal point-to-point sampling that in the past has been forged by the 

 narrow field of view available from traditional shipboard observation. 

 Many descriptions in earlier oceanographic texts, because they are derived 

 from observations widely differing in times and methods, result in 

 incongruities. As a result of today's enlarged and refined facilities, small- 

 scale and evanescent events, as well as the interrelations of patterns 

 separated in space and time now emerge so that, little by little, the 

 complexity of the world seas is unfolding. Many areas that until recently 

 belonged to the "mare incognita" are now part of the immediate coherent 

 cognizance of oceanographers. Thanks in part to this integration of 

 perception, the progress of the science is assured. The outlook is indeed 

 promising. 



Gifford C. Ewing 



