The German oceanographer, Griesseier (12) lists two hundred bibliographic 

 items (books, articles, papers, and others) published in U.S.S.R. between 

 1946 and 1958, dealing with coastal phenomena and their scientific in- 

 vestigations. The lack of knowledge of the Russian language, together 

 with difficulties encountered in obtaining the publications, accounts for 

 a very limited knowledge in the West of this Soviet progress. 



In 1952, upon initiative of the Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R. and 

 the leadership of V. P. Zenkovich (90-116) the Soviets established at the 

 Presidium of Soviet Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R. a central organization 

 with an overall planning and coordinating authority in the field of coastal 

 research under the name, The Shore Section of the Oceanographic Commission. 

 The execution of the scientific coastal research is entrusted to a great 

 variety of institutions throughout the U.S.S.R. which are divided into four 

 groups. The largest group is made up of institutions under the guidance of 

 The Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R., such as Institute of Oceanoidgy, Insti- 

 tute of Marine Hydrophysics, and others. The second largest group is 

 composed of government institutions, subordinated to the State Ministries 

 or All-Union central governmental agencies such as Central Scientific 

 Research Institute of the Maritime Fleet, subordinated to the Ministry of 

 the Maritime Fleet; State Oceanographic Institute, subordinated to the 

 Chief Directorate of the Hydroraeteorological Service. The third group 

 comprises institutions of higher learning, universities, colleges, graduate 

 schools with advanced curricula in geophysics, geography, and hydrodynamics, 

 such as M. V. Lomonozov Moscow State University. The fourth group includes 

 regional institutions, associated with individual Soviet Republics such as 

 Institute of Hydrology and Hydrotechnics of the Academy of Sciences, 

 Ukranian S. S. R. A great number of the institutions mentioned have ex- 

 perimental laboratories associated with them. The majority of them publish 

 regularly a record of their studies and investigations in the form of 

 transactions (Trudy), bulletin (Izvestiya), paper (Doklady); books and 

 periodicals. Outstanding among these are bulletin (Izvestiya) of the Aca- 

 demy of Sciences, U.S.S.R., the Geophysics and Geographic Series, "Trudy" 

 of Oceanologic Institute, "Trudy" of Sea Hydrophysical Institute, or 

 "Trudy" of Geographic Institute, U.S.S.R., "Okeanologia" , and many others. 

 They indicate the existence of a broad movement for organization of coastal 

 research, equipped with facilities, served by an extensive staff of pro- 

 fessionals. 



SOVIET COASTAL INVESTIGATIONS 



The problems involved in the Soviet coastal investigations reflect the 

 influence of Russia's basic geography, namely her limited access to the 

 ice-free oceans through Black and Baltic Seas toward the Atlantic, her long 

 shore lines on the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans which are influenced by 

 perma-frost conditions and the closed-in Caspian and Aral Seas with limited 

 tidal conditions, all of which have no analogy elsewhere in the world. In 

 addition, the large inland reservoirs sometimes called "seas", constructed 

 in the last 40 years in connection with the hydrotechnical program of the 

 U.S.S.R. present a coastal problem of specific nature, due to their areal 

 extent. 



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