A new life-style for marine science: The international decade of ocean exploration

Single-ship oceanographic cruises give way more and more to synoptic studies of the oceans. This new style of exploration is made possible by the appearance of the digital computer and its application in marine science in the last decade. High speed digital computers are not only utilized for faster processing of conventionally acquired data, but particularly in building descriptive and predictive models of the oceans and the atmosphere. It is hoped that the next decade will see a greater exploitation of the opportunities provided by computers by teams of scientists from different nations, to approach the major scientific questions of the environment on a global scale. These programs will require state-of-the-art technology, and will require adoption of organization and management methods developed for industry and somewhat more autocratic than is traditional in the scientific community. A focal point for such a new approach to marine science and for meeting the challenge of the Seventies is the NSF's Office for the International Decade of Ocean Exploration in which the United States and other participating nations will apply their combined resources to expand their knowledge of the earth's marine environment for their mutual benefit. Three major elements of the Office's program are described here. They are: the MidOcean Dynamics Experiment, the Coastal Upwelling Experiment, and the Paleo-oceanographic Project. Scientific and technical program details are highlighted in this paper and an outlook for future operations is provided.