Seismic exploration vessels are used to search for indications of oil and gas cooperation and support of other agencies, has intensified studies and mapping of earthquake belts and other geologic hazards that must be considered throughout large regions in which promising oil and gas structures are expected to exist. Results of these studies supply information that is critical to the determination of pipeline rights-of-way, the planning of offshore installations for power plants, and for other utilization of continental shelf areas, as well as the development of promising oil and gas areas. Basic and applied research supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Navy, NOAA, the Smithsonian Institution, and others supplies large amounts of information that aids industry in its search for petroleum and contributes to related Federal efforts. The NSF's Deep Sea Drilling Program, and the research programs of its International Decade of Oceanography relating to studies of continental margins and the deep ocean floor, have produced a steady flow of data and concepts that help identify areas of resource potential on and beneath the sea floor. Chapter IV DESCRIBING AND PREDICTING THE OCEAN ENVIRONMENT Our knowledge of the ocean environment and its inhabitants has been greatly enriched by the research and exploration of the past decade. The ability to describe, monitor, and predict the flow of energy and matter within the ocean, and the migrations of oceanic life, continues to be a central theme in this national effort. The products of much of this activity are maps and charts, and analyses and forecasts, of conditions in the atmosphere above and in the ocean beneath the air-sea interface, and of the interactions between them. The tools are new platforms, sensors, and other advances in technology applied to observation of the atmosphere and of the oceans and its life, and the mountain of marine environmental data that constant observation must produce. Whatever our use of the marine environment or its resources-whether as a medium of transportation, battlefield, game preserve, source of food or minerals, or playground- the products, and thus the tools, are an absolute condition of success. Mapping and Charting Cartographic representations of the ocean basins and their boundaries have long been the traditional way of depicting the sea, and one which has lost none of its importance. But the uses of these products, and the products themselves, have changed. In addition to navigation charts, Federal cartographers are constructing bathymetric and geophysical maps of the sea floor, maps showing inundation levels for low-lying coastal areas, and various types of limited-edition maps for living and non-living resource investigations. These maps and charts must be updated or corrected from time to time, as what they depict is changed by man and nature, or as new data reveals deficiencies. And, as in many other operations, advances in map and chart production lead toward automation-automation from shipboard data acquisition to the finished product. NOAA's National Ocean Survey Ship Researcher-a participant in the Mid- 520-810 O-73-4 The Department of Defense produces charts to meet the needs of national defense and provides nautical charts and marine navigational data of overseas areas for the vessels of this and other nations. Last year, in a move to streamline Defense mapping activities, the Defense Mapping Agency was established, and the Navy's responsibilities for preparing marine charting and geodetic products were transferred to the new agency. The Navy still retains the mission and resources for the collection of data and for related basic and applied research for marine charting and geodetics of ocean areas. The major marine charting and geodesy effort of the Department of Defense is in surveys of the deep ocean. In 1972, 242,000 track miles of data were collected by bathymetric survey ships, and 134,200 track miles by oceanographic survey ships. The level of survey effort is expected to remain the same in 1973 and 1974. The year saw 94 new charts produced for general navigation, 542 corrected charts published, and 40 new charts reproduced from foreign charts under bilateral agreements. To date there are 26 ratified chart agreements with foreign hydrographic offices. In addition, more than 6,000 maritime safety messages were broadcast. The Defense Department's nautical chart library loaned more than 6,000 charts and received more than 2,500 new ones from domestic and foreign producers. The Department of Defense in 1972 surveyed the coasts of several foreign countries, under bilateral agreement, and the Harbor Survey Assistance Program provided equipment and technical expertise to eight Central and South American nations. With respect to the technology of chart production, the Navy continued its efforts last year to determine the potential of using methods of data analysis for depth sounding and sub-bottom profiling along non-linear tracks, and completed development of a technique for semi-automatic plotting of shallow-water bottom topography from remote-sensor data. The Defense Mapping Agency is also supporting major development efforts in the use of automated cartography techniques. NOAA's National Ocean Survey, which charts the waters of the United States and possessions, continued to provide a varied family of cartographic products. Substantial progress was made in 1972 to provide a new data base for nautical charts, bathymetric maps, Coast Guard and Navy requirements, marine environmental quality assessment, ocean engineering, and other studies associated with the development of our continental shelf and adjacent areas. Last year NOAA's hydrographic survey ships worked off the coasts of Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, the Virgin Islands, and Washington. Wire drag operations were conducted in Chesapeake Bay, off the Texas coast, and in Rosario Strait, Washington. In 1973, NOAA plans hydrographic operations in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North and South Carolina, the Virgin Islands, and Washington. Wire-drag surveys will continue in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast Alaska, and around major east coast ports. During 1972, 9,700 lineal miles of panchromatic, infrared, and color aerial-mapping photography were flown by NOAA aircraft. A total of 217 charts and basic map drawings were corrected using the photographs, which aided compilation of topography for small-craft charts as well as location and verification of 502 navigation aids and 538 landmarks. At year's end, the Southeastern Coastal Plains Expedition (SCOPE) was begun by the National Ocean Survey. SCOPE is a concentrated two-year environmental study of a 105,000-squaremile area of coastal waters extending from Cape Hatteras, N.C., to the vicinity of Cape Kennedy, Florida, and out to sea as much as 300 miles. The water depths being surveyed range from the surf zone area to 16,000 feet. The study, which combines the resources of NOAA and academic, regional, and State organizations, is designed to provide coastal zone planners with data which should assist in predicting the consequences of both nature's and man's activities in these areas. SCOPE will involve aerial photography of the coastline, surveys of the seabottom topography, charting of coastal waters, tidal current and range surveys, and studies of the sea's physical properties, such as salt content and temperature of the water, and delineation of the Gulf Stream. Work continues to automate the nautical charting operations of NOAA. Completion of the automation program is projected for the late 1970's, when it is expected that all nautical chart production will be automated, cutting the time from completion of data acquisition to nautical chart dissemination from two years to six months. As an aid to storm evacuation, NOAA has begun a series of maps showing potential inundation levels along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where hurricanes may cause flooding. Maps for Galveston and Corpus Christi, Texas, were completed in 1972. Areas to be completed in 1973 include Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Norfolk, Virginia. Geophysical surveys, which describe gravity, geomagnetic, and some geological properties of the ocean bottom and substructure, continued last year in the Departments of Defense, Interior, and Commerce. However, 1972 was the last year of NOAA's marine geophysics program. Related data collection activities of Navy ships produced 55,000 miles of seismic profile data, 13,000 miles of gravity data, and 342,000 miles of magnetic data. Another 125,000 miles of magnetic data were collected by the new Project MAGNET aircraft using airborne geomagnetic survey equipment. Most of the geophysical data, in addition to its military use, was submitted to NOAA's |