THE PROBLEM 



Investigate problems in sea-floor oceanography through suitably devised means, methods 

 and equipments. This report discusses the development, design and use of the NEL Type 

 III Deep-Sea Camera to study micro-relief features of bottom sediments. 



RESULTS 



The development of the camera provides an improved tool for the study of deep ocean- 

 floor environments. At least tv/enty-four bottom pictures can be obtained on a single 

 lowering of the camera to a depth of 20,000 feet from small vessels equipped with light 

 winches and 3/16-inch-diameter wire lowering ropes. The compact, watertight arrange- 

 ment of the camera, illumination unit, electronic flash tube, tripping switch and lowering 

 frame has reduced the total weight to only 125 pounds in sea water. This has resulted 

 in lower costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement. The wide-angle lens, faster 

 film, and electronic illumination employed in the NEL Type III Deep-Sea Camera are 

 producing sea-floor photographs of greater definition and better contrast. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



1. Continue investigation of methods of indicating bottom contact. Complete the 

 development of an electro-mechanical device, to be attached to the dynamometer in the 

 lowering equipment, to give good bottom-contact indications for water depths in excess 

 of 12,000 feet. 



2. Develop and package a camera with a wide-angle lens and larger film size to 

 be used with a 300 watt/ sec flash. 



3. Investigate the use of correcting lenses and filters. 



4. Investigate the availability, cost, and use of some form of plastic rope of neutral 

 buoyancy for lowering the Type III Camera. Such a rope would also help to solve the 

 problem of bottom indication. 



5. Develop a direction control for the NEL Type III Camera to extend its usefulness 

 in the solution of problems dealing with current direction, sources of material supply, 

 and gradients of submarine slopes. 



ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION 



The work was performed under lO 15401, NE 120221-34 (NEL L4-1), from July 1954 

 to November 1955. This report was approved for publication 13 March 1957. 



The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of E. L. Hamilton, R. F. Dill, and G. A. 

 Shumway of the Ocean-Floor Studies Section and the members of the Mechanical 

 Engineering Division who aided in the designing, drafting, and packaging of the NEL 

 Type III Deep-Sea Camera. 



MBL/WHOI 



D D3D1 0040557 7 



