36 



COMMERCIAL FISHEEIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 11 



The studies will determine the topography 

 of continental shelf and slope in this area and 

 the nature of the ocean's subbottom. Meas- 

 urements of the earth's magnetic and gravi- 

 tational forces will be conducted as an aid to 

 understanding earth's crust. Bottom samples 

 will be taken to study the nature of the sea 

 floor. 



The Oceanographer was scheduled to reach 

 Buenos Aires on November 6 and prepare 

 for the solar eclipse. It will be stationed 

 directly in the path of the total eclipse, about 

 200 miles east of Buenos Aires and 150 miles 

 off the Argentine coast. During the 2 -minute 

 total eclipse, an effort will be made to de- 

 termine whether the ocean's deep scattering 

 layer can be detected. 



Joint Coral Sec Survey Under Way 



The Royal Australian Naval Experimen- 

 tal Laboratory and the U. S. Naval Oceano- 

 graphic Office are participating in a year- 

 long oceanographic survey operation in the 

 Coral Sea. 



^-^ 



Study Earth's Magnetic Field 



The U .S. Naval Oceanographic Office (NOO) 

 is conducting an airborne geomagnetic sur- 

 vey- -called Project Magnet- -of all accessi- 

 ble ocean areas of the world. Geophysicists 

 have long sought greater knowledge of the 

 earth's magnetic field. A NOO plane left in 

 early October on a 44 -day round-the-world 

 trip. 



Mariners Warned of Dangers in 

 Commercial Fishing Techniques 



The expansion of the world's fishing fleets 

 and the development of complex harvesting 

 techniques pose new dangers to ship and boat 

 owners, warns the October 1966 Pilot Chart 

 of the U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office. 



A danger facing a maritime watch officer 

 or pleasure boat owner is the offshore fish- 

 ing" line that runs up to 15 miles or more. 

 Although glass -buoyed float lines and mark- 

 er pennants are generally used, an unwary 

 mariner might foul his propeller in the ex- 

 tensive gear. 



In coastal waters, natural estuaries, in- 

 lets and rivers, watch officers should be 

 alert to dangers presented by weirs, pound 

 nets, and fish traps, the publication advises. 



SEDIMENTATION MAY TRANSFORM GULF OF MEXICO INTO A CONTINENT 



"Some of the world's small ocean basins (such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Bering 

 Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the western Mediterranean Sea) may eventually become 

 so filled with sediment that they become continents," said H. W. Menard, Office of 

 Science and Technology, Executive Office of the President, of the annual meeting of 

 the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D. C. 



These basins have only small areas, but they contain nearly as much sediment 

 as the enormous basins of the world and a far greater volume of sediment than the 

 deep-sea trenches. Thick layers of sediment and sedimentary rock accumulate on 

 the oceanic crustal bottom to depths of more than six miles. If sedimentation con- 

 tinues, these basins will fill up eventually and become part of the continents. (Re- 

 printed, with permission from Science News , weekly summary of current science, 

 c 1966 by Science Service, Inc.) 



