OCEANOGRAPHIC AND METEOROLOGICAL SURVEY 



The world oceans, including adjacent seas, encompass over 361 million square kilom- 

 eters (139 million square miles) of surface area with a tremendous diversity of environmen- 

 tal conditions (Ref. 19). Because of the need in this preliminary study to limit the site 

 survey area to a manageable size, the eastern Pacific Ocean from 50°N to 10°S latitude and 

 from the west coast of the Americas to Hawaii (160°W longitude) was chosen (Fig. 1). This 



area encompasses approximately 36 miUion square kilometers (14 X 10 mi ) or 10 percent 

 of the world ocean (20 percent of the Pacific Ocean). This area, particularly the northeast- 

 ern Pacific, is highly appropriate to study for potential ocean farm sites for several reasons, 

 some of which are listed below. 



1 . Much of the area is within operating range of scientific and support facilities of 

 personnel who have been involved in Macrocystis research and other aspects of the Ocean 

 Farm Project. 



2. The northern distribution of the genus Macrocystis , the proposed ocean farm 

 organism, falls within this area (Fig. 2). Therefore, at least in the nearshore environment, 

 the ecological requirements for the growth of Macrocystis are met. 



3. The general oceanographic/meteorological climate in much of the survey area 

 appears to be moderate enough to allow large open ocean farms. 



The survey area was initially divided into eleven natural oceanic regions, (Ref. 20, 

 Fig. 1 , A-K) which are based on the properties of surface waters, their biology, currents, and 

 current boundaries, rather than classical oceanic water masses which are based primarily on 

 deep water characteristics (Ref. 19). Within these natural oceanic regions, 20 geographic 

 areas were picked as representative portions of the whole region. These areas were then 

 analyzed using National Oceanographic Data Center data tapes on the Naval Ocean Systems 

 Center (NOSC) Univac 1 1 10 computer. Temperature, salinity, density, and nutrient profiles 

 for the representative areas were produced. 



In addition, these areas were surveyed for meteorological data by the Naval Weather 

 Service Detacliment at the Environmental Data Service, National Climatic Center, Asheville, 

 North Carolina. Other environmental parameters and informational sources were utilized to 

 characterize the regions, to eliminate areas which were significantly beyond the defined 

 criteria, and finally to select optimal sites. 



OCEANOGRAPHY 



Currents 



The general current regimes (direction and mean velocities) are given for summer and 

 winter for the north Pacific Ocean in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. The principal current in 

 the area of the survey is the California Current. This current has a rather poorly defined 

 and variable southerly flow which is easily influenced by prevailing winds. The California 

 Current starts its southerly movement at 45° to 48° N at a position where the North Pacific 

 and Aleutian (Subarctic) Currents impact the coast. The current varies in width from about 



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