Marine Science – serie

This volume is based on the proceedings of the COSPAR/SCOR/ IUCRM Symposium "Oceanography From Space" held in May 1980 in Venice, Italy. COSPAR (The Committee for Space Research) suggested holding a joint symposium with SCOR (The Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research) as a major review of space oceanography. Since this meeting fitted well with a series of colloquia organized by the IUCRM (The Inter-Union Commission on Radio Meteorology), these three bodies joined in sponsoring the meeting. The conference was hald 16 years after the first discussions of possible spaceborne observations of the ocean at a meeting organized in 1964 in Woods Hole. Gifford'Ewing was then keen to see oceanography benefit from the new satellite technology being developed, and he begins this volume by noting that most of the suggestions put forward in 1964 have now, at last, been successfully demonstrated in practice. The papers that follow show the variety of measurement techniques available or possible, and many of the types of studies in which they can be used. Papers are arranged in a general section, and in 6 specialized sections each of which starts with a brief introduction summarizing important results.

This volume is based on the proceedings of a conference held at Florida State University in April, 1978. This conference was supported by the Florida State University Graduate Research Council, the Department of Biological Science (F. S. U. ), and the Center for Professional Development and Public Service. Particular recogni­ tion should be made of the efforts of Dr. Anne Thistle in the organization of the conference and the completion of this book. Julia K. White and Sheila Marrero produced the typescript. The principal objective of the conference was to assemble a group of marine scientists from diverse disciplines to discuss the state of marine ecology with particular attention to new research directions based on previous studies. Emphasis was placed on the integration of different research approaches and on the application of established procedures to various environmental problems. An effort was made to eliminate traditional disciplinary boundaries which often hinder our understanding of marine systems. There was generally wide latitude for review and speculation concerning such topics as physico-chemical processes, productivity and trophic interactions, population distribution and community structure, and natural or anthropogenic disturbance phenomena. Throughout, the usual miniaturization of the scope of discussion was subordinate to a frank appraisal of the present status of marine research. Although many introductory ecological texts stress the so­ called ecosystem approach, individual marine research projects seldom encompass this broad course. There is, in fact, a real need for system-wide studies at both the theoretical and applied levels.

The phenomenon of sound transmissions through marine sediments is of extreme interest to both the United States civilian and Navy research communities. Both communities have conducted research within the field of this phenomenon approaching it from different perspectives. The academic research community has approached it as a technique for studying sedimentary and crustal structures of the ocean basins. The Navy research community has approached it as an additional variable in the predictability of sound trans­ mission through oceanic waters. In order to join these diverse talents, with the principal aim of bringing into sharp focus the state-of-the-science in the problems relating to the behavior of sound in marine sediments, the Office of Naval Research organized and sponsored an invited symposium on this subject. The papers published in this volume are the results of this symposium and mark the frontiers in the state-of-the-art. The symposia series were based on five research areas identified by ONR as being particularly suitable for critical review and for the appraisal of future research trends. These areas include: 1. Physics of Sound in Marine Sediments, 2. Physical and Engineering Properties of Deep-Sea Sediments, 3. The Role of Bottom Currents in Sea Floor Geological Processes, 4. Nephelometry and the Optical Properties of the Ocean I'laters, S. Natural Gases in Marine Sediments and Their Mode of Distribution. These five areas also form some of the research priorities of the ONR program in Marine Geology and Geophysics.

The Buccaneer Gas and Oil Field Study has been the most comprehensive research project to date concerned with assessing the ecological effects of offshore production activities. It took nearly five years to complete and involved almost 30 individual research groups. All of the raw data have been archived with NOAA's Environmental Data and Information Services, and detailed technical reports have been deposited with the National Technical Information Service so the interested investigator should be able to gain access to them. However, we felt that it would be desirable to present a distillation of our more significant findings in a form that was more readily available to the scientific and lay community. Thus, we conducted a symposium. on the study during EXPOCHEM '80 at the Astrohall, Houston, Texas during October, 1980. This volume comprises the proceedings of that symposium. All but two of the papers presented are included in this book. Manuscripts were not received from Dr. D. A. Wiesenburg (Texas A&M University: Volatile Hydrocarbons) or Dr. J. Tillery (Southwest Research Institute: Trace Metals), but these topics are adequately covered by other authors. An introductory chapter was added to place the study in its proper perspective and to provide some background material on the Buccaneer Field, a brief chapter on biocides was inserted since this topic generated much dis­ cussion at the symposium, and a bibliography is provided to direct the interested reader to sources of additional published infor­ mation on the Study.

As part of its continuing program to stimulate superior basic research in the marine environment, the Office of Naval Research, Ocean Science and Technology Division, sponsored a series of closed seminar-workshops in 1972-1973. Each seminar focused upon one re­ search area of marine geology which is relatively new and in need of a critical evaluation and accelerated support. The subjects areas chosen for the seminars were: 1. natural gases in marine sediments and their mode of distribution, 2. nephelometry and the optical properties of ocean waters, 3. physical and engineering properties of deep-sea sediments, and 4. physics of sound in marine sediments. The objectives of each seminar-workshop were to bring into sharper focus the state-of-the-science within each subject area, to effect some degree of coordination among the investigators working within each of these areas and to provide the Ocean Science and Technology Division guidance for national program support. This volume.contains most of the papers presented at the semi­ nar on the physical and engineering properties of deep-sea sediments. The seminar was held at Airlie House, Airlie, Virginia on April 24- 27, 1973 and was organized and chaired by A. Inderbitzen. The at­ tendees were invited from among the leading investigators in this field from both the engineering and scientific disciplines. Each attendee was requested to prepare a paper within his area of spe­ ciality.

In July 1972, the U.S. Office of Naval Research identified several areas that it interpreted as being of interest to the U.S. Navy. Four of these research areas were then selected for their special importance in understanding physical processes on the ocean floor. In some of these, a great wealth of data has accumulated over the past two or three decades, but controversy exists in the interpretation of the results. In others, new techniques have re­ cently been devised that could lead to the collection and synthesis of new information. There was yet a third area in which little study had been undertaken and the results available appeared of great potential importance. The latter subject constitutes the title of this volume. To assess the information available and to facilitate plans for further research in the fields of interest that had been identified, the U.S. Office of Naval Research sponsored four symposia. The first was held in November 1972 at the University of California Con­ ference Center, Lake Arrowhead. The title of the symposium was "Natural Gases in Marine Sediments and Their Mode of Distribution". Twenty lectures were presented over a three-day period. All but two participants at this symposium subsequently submitted papers, which are published in this volume. In addition, Dr. K.O. Emery, who did not attend the symposium, supplied a manuscript on a topic most re­ levant to the subject matter discussed.

The Eighty-Second National Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from August 29 through September 1, 1976, had as one of its themes the topic of transport processes. One of the sessions related to this theme was "Transport Processes in the Oceans" chaired by R. P. Shaw and R. J. Gibbs. This session was devoted to the study of transport processes and their hydrodynamic modeling in large water bodies such as oceans and lakes; transport of both dissolved and solid material was con­ sidered. The interest developed at the session led to the conclu­ sion that the papers presented there should be published as a set rather than dispersed among the various technical journals that rep­ resent the wide variety of technical affiliations of the authors. This variety, in fact, is typical of this particular field with con­ tributors identified as chemical engineers, civil engineers, environ~ mental engineers, mechanical engineers, oceanographers and applied mechanicians to name just a few. Such an interdisciplinary area re­ quires more effort in keeping abreast of developments than do the traditional areas, since new material may be developed and presented in a wide range of technical journals and professional meetings.

Waves critically affect man in coastal regions, including the open coasts and adjacent continental shelves. Preventing beach erosion, designing and building structures, designing and operating ships, providing marine forecasts, and coastal planning are but a few examples of projects for which extensive information about wave conditions is critical. Scientific studies, especially those in­ volving coastal processes and the development of better wave prediction models, also require wave condition information. How­ ever, wave conditions along and off the coasts of the United States have not been adequately determined. The main categories of available wave data are visual estimates of wave conditions made from ships at sea, scientific measurements of waves made for short time periods at specific locations, and a small number of long-term measurements made from piers or offshore platforms. With these considerations in mind, the National Ocean Survey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sponsored the Ocean Wave Climate Symposium at Herndon, Virginia, July 12-14, 1977. This volume contains papers presented at this symposium. A goal of the symposium was to establish the foundations for a com­ prehensive and far-sighted wave measurement and analysis program to fully describe the coastal wave climate of the United States. Emphasis was placed on ocean engineering and scientific uses of wave data, existing wave monitoring programs, and modern measure­ ment techniques which may provide currently needed data.

Deep-sea manganese nodules, once an obscure scientific curios­ ity, have, in the brief span of two decades, become a potential mineral resource of major importance. Nodules that cover the sea floor of the tropical North Pacific may represent a vast ore de­ posit of manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper. Modern technology has apparently surmounted the incredible problem of recovering nodules in water depths of 5000 meters and the extraction of metals from the complex chemical nodule matrix is a reality. Both the recovery and the extraction appear to be economically feasible. Exploitation of this resource is, however, hindered more by the lack of an international legal structure allowing for recognition of mining sites and exploitation rights, than by any other factor. Often, when a mineral deposit becomes identified as an ex­ ploitable resource, scientific study burgeons. Interest in the nature and genesis of the deposit increases and much is learned from large scale exploration. The case is self evident for petrol­ eum and ore deposits on land. The study of manganese nodules is just now entering this phase. What was the esoteric field of a few scientists has become the subject of active exploration and research by most of the industrialized nations. Unfortunately for our general understanding of manganese nodules, exploration results remain largely proprietary. However, scientific study has greatly increased and the results are becoming widely available.

In recent years there has been an increased realization that the casual disposal of wastes can lead to a deterioration in environmen­ tal quality with substantial impacts on society. The management of waste disposal practices must consider the various alternatives of discharging and decomposing wastes on land, in the atmosphere, and in the marine environment. Up until 1972 ocean dumping was used increasingly to dispose of sewage sludge, industrial wastes, and dredged material. In subsequent years regulations were developed to reduce and minimize ocean dumping. These regulations were prompted often by ignorance of the possible effects of waste disposal in the ocean rather than by knowledge that such ocean dumping was detrimen­ tal to the marine environment or to man. The relationship between waste disposal and the oceans can be viewed in either of two ways. One may want to assure that waste disposal procedures do not alter adversely the marine environment, or one may choose to utilize the ocean as a waste depository to reduce the burden placed on the con­ tinental ecosystem and on the atmosphere. From either perspective it is essential that there be an adequate base of technical information to assess the fate and effects of wastes introduced to the ocean. A series of original technical papers has been compiled in this book to present some of the recent results of research on industrial waste disposal in the ocean.

This book represents a compilation of papers presented at a symposium on the subject "Suspended Solids in Hater." held in Santa Barbara. California. U.S.A .• on March 20. 2] and 22, 1973. The symposium was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and was designed to bring together a group that represented the domi­ nant cross section of international research in this area. The idea for the conference originated as ONR recognized a potentially interesting area that, to date. had not had the benefit of a co­ ordinating symposium and/or a book published on the specific sub­ ject. In addition to the formal presentation of papers - informal open discussions followed - the symposium included two stimulating workshops. An abundance of impromptu exchange filled unscheduled periods. Many of the contributors have incorporated in their pa­ pers the ideas and points raised in discussions following formal presentation and at other times. The reader thus actually profits from the various discussions throughout the meeting. The two half-day workshops were directed toward the subjects of sampling and concentrating suspended materials and in situ in­ strumentation. I have summarized the discussions from the two workshops for the reader and have correlated the material wherever possible in an introductory chapter. I have also included intro­ ductory material to acquaint the newcomer with the general field.

Estuaries and Wetlands are important coastal resources which are subject to a great deal of environmental stress. Dredging, construction, creation of intertidal wetlands, regulation of fresh­ water flow, and pollution are just a few of the activities which affect these coastal systems. The need to predict the effects of these perturbations upon ecosystem dynamics, particularly estuarine fisheries, as well as on physical effects, such as sedimentation and salt intrusion, is of paramount importance. Prediction requires the use of models, but no model is likely to be satisfactory unless fundamental physical, chemical, sedimentological, and biological processes are quantitatively understood, and the appropriate time and space scales known. With these considerations in mind, the Environmental Laboratory, U. S. Army Engineer Haterways Experiment Station,* Vicksburg, Mississippi, sponsored a workshop on "Estuarine and Wetland Processes and Water Quality Modeling" held in New Orleans, June 1979. The contents of this volume have been selected from the workshop papers. The resulting book, perhaps more than any other symposium proceed­ ings on estuaries and wetlands, attempts to review important pro­ cesses and place them in a modeling context. There is also a distinct applied tinge to a number of the contributions since some of the research studies were motivated by environmental assessments. The difference in title between this volume and the workshop re­ flects more accurately the contents of the published papers.