Oceanographic Investigations Research Articles

Contributions a l'etude du Quaternaire des regions de Palerme et de Milazzo (Sicile)

Abstract Reconstructs the Quaternary history of the Sicilian coastal regions near Palermo and Milazzo, Italy, interpreting the faunal associations and stratigraphy in the light of recent oceanographic investigations.

The Use of Loran for Survey Work in the Pacific

During the course of recent hydrographic and oceanographical investigations in the Pacific, H.M.S. Challenger made considerable use of the extensive Loran coverage now provided by the United States. This marine radio position-fixing aid was particularly useful in the west Pacific in the area between Japan and New Guinea where the coverage of ground-waves is considerable. In this article an attempt is made to describe some of the work for which Loran was used, the principles on which it was used, and the accuracy expected and errors obtained. No attempt has been made to describe the operation of the system, which has been adequately covered in this Journal and in numerous other publications.

昭和24年春―夏季の日本海々況 (I)

By using the results of the simultaneous oceanographical investigations carried out by prefectural research boate in May, July and August. 1949, the following facts were discussed.(1) Along Tsushima Current, warm and cold water masses appear alternatively, their positions are nearly stable with slight fluctuations.(2) The discontineous front between so-called “Proper cold water in Japan Sea” and warm current water shows seasonal variation, and it approaches to the coast in July, especially at San-In districts.

Oceanographical investigations at Point Barrow, Alaska, 1949

Oceanographical investigations at Point Barrow, Alaska, 1949

Blue Dolphin Expedition to Labrador

Commander David C. Nutt, U.S.N.R., of Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, is to lead a scientific expedition to Labrador in June 1949. The following is a description of his vessel, which will sail under the auspices of the Arctic Institute of North America. The Blue Dolphin, designed by W. J. Roue and built by the Shelburne Shipbuilders, Ltd., Nova Scotia in 1926, has lines similar to the famous Bluenose. Heavily lumbered with 9-inch double frames and heavy planks, she has an overall length of 100 feet, a beam of 22 feet, and a draught of 12 feet. Her registered net tonnage is 68, and her gross tonnage 91. It is planned to sheathe the hull with greenheart, a South American hardwood which polishes instead of splintering under ice abrasion. The stem will be strengthened and a heavy iron shoe added. For power, a new 140 hp. Wolverine 4-cylinder, 4-cycle, 83-inch by 104-inch heavy duty diesel engine was installed in 1947. This engine provides a nice compromise between fuel economy and speed, and gives a cruising speed of 7 knots with a maximum of 8 knots. Additional fuel tanks have been added to give the Blue Dolphin a cruising range of over 4000 miles. The present two-masted schooner rig with Marconi main has a sail area of over 4000 feet, but will be reduced about 20% by cutting the bowsprit down to a 4-foot stub and shortening the main boom approximately 7 feet. This will leave an adequate sail area, and maneuvre the vessel under sail alone in the event of damage to the screw, but will eliminate the long projecting bowsprit and main boom, which are undesirable in northern operation. ... Sails are considered a desirable auxiliary which can provide for fuel economy by helping the vessel along in a fair wind and which may save the vessel in the event of damage to rudder or screw, a real possibility in northern navigation. The Blue Dolphin will carry an 18-foot power launch and two or three fisherman dories for boats. It is also planned to add hydrographic and trawl winches, and deep-sea sounding gear, samplers, and other scientific equipment for hydrographic and oceanographic investigations. Space will be provided for small laboratories. When re-fitted, there will be accommodations for about 18 to 20 hands including a crew of six with the remaining space for scientific workers and student assistants. It is planned to take three to five research workers to carry out field studies. The student assistants will assist in both underway operation of the ship and in carrying out the field work. Preliminary plans for operation in 1949 are to make hydrographic and other studies in the Strait of Belle Isle and along the Labrador coast.

Marine Ecology at Hull

INVESTIGATIONS on the ecology of plankton in the North Sea and the relationships between the plankton and the fisheries have been made now for some years at the Department of Zoology and Oceanography at University College, Hull, under the direction of Prof. A. C. Hardy. The results of some of this work have been published elsewhere, but recently Prof. Hardy has started a new periodical for oceanographical investigations undertaken by the Department. This is entitled the Hull Bulletins of Marine Ecology, of which Nos. 1 and 2 of vol. 1 appeared in November 1939 and vol. 1, No. 3 in March 1940. The publications to date are concerned with research with the continuous plankton recorder. No. 1, which is by Prof. Hardy, contains an account of the ingenious recording machine and the method of working it, together with a summary of the plan and scope of the survey made with the instrument. A number of collecting lines have been run across the North Sea at regular intervals of time, and No. 2 of the Hull Bulletins contains a list of records made from 1932 until 1937.

Summary of the oceanographic investigations of Bering Sea and Bering Strait

The present paper is a summary of the oceanographic investigations conducted in Bering Sea during the summer of 1934 in a cooperative program of study between the United States Coast Guard and the Oceanographic Laboratories of the University of Washington.Description of region—Bering Sea, second only to the Mediterranean Sea in size, covers an area of 878,000 square miles. It extends from a latitude of 52° north to the Arctic Circle and from 160° west to 160° east longitude and is bounded on the south by the Alaskan Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, on the east by Alaskan coast‐lines, and on the west by the Siberian Coast. On the north, it is connected with the Arctic Ocean by means of Bering Strait, a narrow channel of water about 40 miles in width and having a depth of from 20 to 30 fathoms.

Echo Sounding in Fishery Research

THE vessel used for the annual oceanographical investigations in the Lofoten area (the Johan Hjort) had a Hughes echo sounding gear (magnetostriction system, frequency 16,000 cycles per second) installed before leaving Bergen last February. The gear worked smoothly all along the coast and besides furnishing a great number of interesting sections, revealed many features hitherto unsuspected; among others, that the clay flooring of deep fjords is invariably about 10 m. thick and generally very flat.

Report on oceanography in British Columbia for the Year 1932

As appropriations for oceanographic work in British Columbia were reduced in 1932 as compared with the immediately preceding years, the re was little opportunity to launch out in new projects. Fortunately though, there was not any necessity to drop entirely any of the important problems that have been in progress for a period of years.The Biological Station at Nanaimo in the work centered at Nanaimo progress was made in the oceanographic investigation of the Strait of Georgia. From the data previously obtained, it was considered advisable to make extensive collections of water‐samples three times in the year, namely, in the spring, in the early summer (when the effect of the fresh‐water of the Fraser and other large rivers is the greatest), and in the fall. These samples are examined for nitrates, etc., as formerly. The concurrent quantitative examination of the phytoplankton by making counts of the planktonts in a liter of sea‐water, provides a basis for correlation.

Marine Biology of the University of Sydney

DURING the past three years a scheme of oceano-graphic investigation has been initiated and conducted from the Department of Zoology of the University of Sydney, under the direction of Prof. William J. Dakin. The work commenced with an examination of the plankton and hydrographical conditions prevailing in the ocean waters off the entrance to Sydney Harbour. This is the first long-continued investigation of the plankton, that is, a study of the seasonal changes over a period greater than a year, to be made in Australian waters. In fact, little or nothing has been published regarding the seasonal changes in the plankton at any one station in the temperate waters of the southern hemisphere. The work has been greatly facilitated during the past year and a half by the acquirement of a small auxiliary yacht of about 12 tons (which has proved more suitable than a launch for ocean waters), and by the erection of a Marine Biological Station at the entrance to Port Jackson, both being the property of the University. This biological station is at present the only one permanently equipped and in continuous use on the Australian coast.

Oceanographic work at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, during the past year

In these notes on oceanographic investigations at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, only those in the fields of physical oceanography, marine meteorology, the chemistry of sea‐water end marine bottom‐deposits will be mentioned.The Scripps Institution, as aids in its investigations in physical oceanography and related subjects, has continued to receive water‐samples and records of sea‐surface temperatures and meteorological data, partly through the cooperation of the Bureau of Lighthouses, from the pier of the Scripps Institution at La Jolla and the pier at Balboa, from Pacific Grove, Hueneme, Farallon Islands, Blunts Reefs Light Ship, and lighthouse‐tenders Lupine and Sequoia. Information has also been received from the United States Naval transports, the vessels Guide and Discoverer of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, from the Escuela Naval at Callao, Peru, and the Grace Line ships between Valparaiso and Central American ports. The Institution has a water‐thermograph installed on its own pier, on the Los Angeles Steamship Company's S.S. Calawaii, which makes fortnightly trips from Los Angeles to Hawaii, and on the United States lighthouse‐tender Lupine. During the year 3,123 salinity‐determinations were made at the Institution and 10,453 records of temperature, 9,766 records of wind, and 2,860 records of air‐temperature were received.

Oceanographic Investigations in the Inshore Waters of the Gulf of Maine

Oceanographic Investigations in the Inshore Waters of the Gulf of Maine

Water Movements in the Straits of Gibraltar

PROF. RAPHAEL DE BUEN publishes an account of the oceanographical investigations which have been carried out by Spain in the Atlantic and Straits of Gibraltar, in the Journal du Conseil International pour l'exploration de la mer, vol. 2, No. 3, December 1927.

Oceanographic investigations of the International Ice Patrol

A paper presented before the section of oceanography of the Geophysical Union at its meeting last year gave a brief description of the International Ice Patrol, a humanitarian service that is supported financially by the principal maritime nations of the world in order that life and property on the North Atlantic may be properly safe‐guarded. Some phases of the scientific work that is being carried on by the Ice Patrol were described, especially certain investigations in physical oceanography of the ice regions south of Newfoundland where Arctic and Tropical waters meet. The Patrol, in the course of its fourteen years of ocean service, has come to recognize the great value inherent to scientific observations from which practical, useful information may be drawn.

Work carried on in the past year by the Bureau of Standards in the development of instruments for use in oceanographic investigations

An informal talk on a few items of interest in the work of the Bureau of Standards, and a few suggestions as to possibilities for the future in the development of oceanographic instruments.

Oceanographic investigations in the United States west of Mississippi River, in Illinois, and in the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands

As soon as practicable after the meeting of the Section of Oceanography in April, 1925, I sent to all institutions and individuals whom I knew or supposed to be interested in oceanography, within the area indicated by the above title, copies of the questionnaires prepared by the Section of Oceanography of the International Geophysical Union and a statement as follows:Biologists.—The names of those biologists who are studying organisms in their relations to the sea should be included, for instance, students of marine ecology, students of the physiology of marine organisms when the investigations are of the relation of the organisms to the medium in which they live, and students of geographical distribution. The names of those conducting purely morphological or systematic investigations of organisms without reference to marine conditions should not be included.

Co-operation in Oceanography

UNDER the title “L'Oceanographie dans la Vie International,“ Prof. Odon de Buen writes an interesting account of the various organisations which are materially assisting the co-operation of adjacent countries in oceanographical investigations (Scientia, February 1, 1926). The international movement is particularly active both in physical and biological oceanography, where the problems encountered by each country extend far beyond its own coasts, and the natural difficulties and expense of collecting data at frequent intervals over a wide area of the ocean necessitate such collaboration.

Oceanographic Investigations of the Scripps Institution for Biological Research of the University of California

Oceanographic Investigations of the Scripps Institution for Biological Research of the University of California

The Expedition of the R. R. S. Discovery

THE Royal Research Ship Discovery, which is J. leaving England at the end of the present month, will be engaged for the next two years in oceanographical investigations in the South Atlantic and Antarctic. The ship, which is barque-rigged with auxiliary steam, was built in 1901 for the late Captain Sir Robert Falcon Scott, and was acquired on behalf of the Falkland Islands Government for the purpose of the present in vestigations in 1923. During the last eighteen months she has undergone extensive repairs, and changes have been made in her masting and sail-plan in accordance with experience obtained by Capt. Scott. She has been refitted throughout, and is now completely equipped for the investigations for which she is intended.

Current Topics and Events

AT the invitation of Mr. L. S. Amery, Secretary of State for the Colonies, a number of scientific men and others interested in scientific exploration visited H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth, on Saturday last to inspect the Royal Research Ship Discovery, on the occasion of the commissioning of the ship for employ ment in scientific research in south polar regions. The visitors were taken from London by special train direct to the South Railway Jetty in the Dockyard, where the Discovery is berthed. Much interest was shown in the scientific equipment of the ship and in the laboratory and other accommodation. Shortly after noon, Mrs. Amery hoisted the blue ensign of the Falkland Islands, to show that the Discovery had been commissioned, and simultaneously the expedi tion flag was run up. After the ceremony, the party adjourned to Portsmouth Town Hall, where luncheon was provided. Mr. Amery, who presided, in propos ing the toast of “The Discovery Expedition,” referred to the steps taken by the Colonial Office to mark off a zone in the Antarctic as definitely under British control, in order to preserve whales in those waters. New Zealand has also established control over a corresponding section in the Ross Sea. The work to be carried out during the expedition is outlined in an article which appears elsewhere in this issue. Every arrangement seems to have been made to ensure the comfort of the members of the expedition and facilitate scientific investigation in many fields. We believe that this is the first time that a vessel has been described as a “Royal Research Ship,” and we hope that it may be followed in due course by other vessels similarly equipped for oceanographic investigations. We cannot be otherwise than grate ful that the conditions under which work will be carried on in the Discovery are so different from those afforded to Huxley when he went to Australian waters in the Rattlesnake nearly eighty years ago.