PACIFIC OCEAN

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12819, 14 August 1939, Page 3

PACIFIC OCEAN

SCIENTIFIC SURVEY An extensive scientific survey of the Central and South Pacific Ocean is planned by American authorities, according to a letter written by Dr. Wilbur A. Nelson, of the School of Geology of the University of Virginia, in a letter to Mr 'N Modriniak, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, (says a Wellington message). The, expedition will be conducted by the National Geographic Society and the University of Virginia, with the co-operation of the United States Coast Guard. It is expected to leave San Francisco next month, and will remain in the field for a year,. At intervals it will put in at Honolulu and Auckland for supplies and mail. The expedition will be headed by Professor Nelson, and the personnel will include geophysicists, a geographer, a cartographer and a photographer, provided by the National Geographic Society; experts on gravity from the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey; specialists in magnetism from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution, and a naturalist from the Smithsonian Institution, who will specialise in marine biology. 1 The trip is to be made on one of the newest and largest Coast Guard cutters. It will be fitted with the latest type of sonic depth-finders and will carry a two-seat scout observation seaplane for use in making aerial photographs and maps. The magnetic observations will be of great and immediate practical % value in a part of the world where navigation, both by water and air, is of rapidly increasing importance. Stations will be set up on various islands. Major bases will be established on 20 or more. From each major base from 10 to 50 other islands will be examined. The expedition will make one of its early stops at Canton Island, potential stopping place for the Pacific air service.