Up to about 30 years' ago diving activity was centred primarily on the naval services, who provided a lead in the development of equipment, techniques and procedures. Apart from one or two spectacular salvage undertakings, the main commercial activity up until that time was fairly low-key work in docks and harbours. The concept of saturation diving emerged from subsea habitats of which Captain Cousteau was one of the pioneers. This led the way to commercial development in support of exploration and the production of offshore oil and gas, and I believe that my friend Henri Delauze was one of the first to mount the subsea habitat on deck and provide a sealed bell to convey divers from the habitat to the seabed without change of pressure. A remarkable feature of offshore oil and gas technology in the North Sea has been the willingness of all concerned to exchange information regarding R&D. This has had a major effect on the advance in technology over the last few years. As far as diving is concerned, it is to some extent 'Hobson's Choice'. Legal patents are difficult to achieve in this field, and the casual nature of diver employment to date has meant that ideas and techniques circulate almost as freely as the divers themselves. In addition, the advertis ing of the new technologies which one has to offer almost auto matically means disclosure of what otherwise might be secret."

Shallow Gas determination, prior to drilling, is carried out using 'Engineering Seismic' survey methods. Seismic acquisition data quality is fundamental in achieving this objective as both the data processing methods and interpretation accuracy are subject to the quality of the data obtained. The recent application of workstation based data analysis and interpretation has clearly demonstrated the importance of acquisition data quality on the ability to determine the risks of gas with a high level of confidence. The following pages summarise the 5 primary issues that influence acquisition data QC, suggests future trends and considers their potential impact. The primary issues covered in this paper are: A. Seismic B. Positioning C. QC Data Analysis D. Communications E. Personnel 90 SAFETY IN OFFSHORE DRll.LING FIELD QC ...................... PRIMARY COMPONENTS COMMERCIAL TECHNICAL 1 OPERATIONAL FIGURE 1 HYDROSEARCH The often complex influences of Technical, Commercial and Operational constraints on the acquisition of high quality data require careful management by the QC supervisor in order to achieve a successful seismic survey data set. The following pages only consider the Technical aspects of QC and assume that no Commercial or Operational restrictions are imposed in the achievement of optimum data quality. It is noted however, that such restrictions are frequently responsible for significant compromise in data coverage and quality during routine rig site surveys.

The Geo-Sciences Panel is a synonym for the Special Programme on Global Transport Mechanisms in the Geo-Sciences. This Programme is one of the special programs established by the NATO Science Committee to promote the study of a specific topic using the usual NATO structures, namely, Advanced Research Workshops, Advanced Study Institutes, Conferences, Collaborative Research Grants, Research-Studies and Lecture Visits. The aim of the Programme is to stimulate and facilitate international col laboration among scientists of the member countries in selected areas of global transport mechanisms in the Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and asthenosphere, and the interactions between these global transport processes. Created in 1982, the Geo-Sciences Panel followed the Air Sea Interactions Panel which was very successful in reviewing mechanisms at the air-sea-ice interface. Initially the Geo-Sciences Panel recognized the importance of magma chambers, ore deposits, geochemical cycles, seismic activity and hydrological studies. However, the Panel was rap idly convinced that the climate system is one of the most important sys tems in which to promote research on global transport mechanisms. Consequently, the Panel welcomed the organization of a course on Physically Based Modelling and Simulation of Climate and Climatic Change. This course was launched in Belgium in 1984 during both the Liege colloquium on Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere tlodels and the Louvain-Ia Neuve General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society. Rapidly scientists recognized that this course was timely and would be well received by the climate community, especially by junior researchers in this multi- and inter-disciplinary field.

One of the basic concepts of ocean biogeochemistry is that of an ocean with extremely active boundary zones and separation boundaries of extensive biochemical interactions. The areas of these zones are characterized by a sharp decrease of element migration intensity and consequently the decrease in their concentrations gave the boundaries for the naming of the geochemical barriers (Perelman, 1972). For the purposes of biogeo chemistry the most important ones are the boundaries of separation between river-sea, ocean-atmosphere, and water-ground (Lisitzin, 1983). The most complicated of them is the river-sea boundary, where the biogeochemical processes are the most active and complicated (Monin and Romankevich, 1979, 1984). The necessity of studying organic matter in rivers, mouth regions and adjoining sea aquatories has been repeatedly pointed out by v.I. Vernadsky (1934, 1960) who noted both the importance of registration of solid and liquid run-off of rivers, coming into the sea, and "the quality and the character of those elements, which are washed-down into the sea", emphasizing that "wash-down of organic substances into the sea is of great value". The interest in studying organic matter in natural waters, including river and sea waters, has grown considerably over the last 30 years. During this period essential material was collected on the content and composition of organic matter in various types of river waters of the USSR, and this was published in papers by B.A Scopintzev, AD. Semenov, M.V.

1.1. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE OPHIOLITE CONCEPT. Ophiolite, Greek for 'the snake stone', appears to have received its first written definition by Brongniart (1813) as a serpentine matrix containing various minerals. Later in 1821 and 1827, Brongniart determined that volcanic and gabbroic rocks were also present, associated with cherts, and he ascribed an igneous origin to the ophiolite. Amstutz (1980) gives an excellent exegesis of these early contributions and traces the further use of the term and concept of ophiolite. This concept had been forged in the western Alps and Apennines where, thanks to talented Italian geologists, in particular A. Sismonda, B. Gastaldi, V. Novarese and S. Franchi, the study on metamorphic ophiolites (the 'pietre verdi') has rapidly progressed. At the tum of the century the association of radiolarite, diabase, gabbro (euphotide), and serpentinite-peridotite was clearly identified, even through their metamorphic transformations. In 1902, Franchi developed the hypothesis introduced earlier by Lotti (1886), of a submarine outflow to explain the 'pietre verdi' association, on the basis of the attribution of the variolites and metamorphic prasinites to an hypabyssal volcanism, also responsible for the formation of radiolarites. Thus, before the popular work of Steinmann in 1927, the various components constituting an ophiolite had been identified and its hypabyssal origin proposed. As recalled by Amstutz (1980), the so-called 'Steinmann trinity', which consists of the association of radiolarites, diabases and serpentinites, was more completely and better defined in these earlier works.

The support of subsea oil and gas production operations involves the use of many underwater work systems. Divers can be used for support tasks in water depths to 300 m, but at more extreme depths operations become restrictively expensive and the efficiency of task performance is reduced. Remote controlled unmanned vehicles can replace the diver to a limited extent, performing inspection and maintenance tasks and supporting drilling opera tions. Operations in deepwaters performed by remote controlled vehicles and one man submersible vehicles, such as JIM and WASP, are more cost effective than the use of divers. The areas of operation of the more complex multi-manned submersibles and bells are today generally restricted to their use for diver lock-out operations, manned intervention to subsea enclosures and the deployment of other underwater work systems. Oil and gas exploration activity is being undertaken in progres sively deeper waters. In the North Sea, Shell have discovered a large gas accumulation off the Norwegian coast in 323 m water depth and B. P. have made oil finds West of the Shetlands in 500 m and West of Eire in 450 m. Exploration drilling is today being carried out in many areas of the world in water depths greater than 1000 m, i. e. Western Mediterranean, Offshore Argentina, Offshore Western Australia and in the Niger Basin, West Africa. The existing discoveries of Shell and B. P."

"Dredged Material and Mine Tailings" are two of the same thing once they are deposited on land: they must be safe-guarded, wash-out must be prevented, and they must be protected by a plantcover. This comprehensive two-volume treatise covers both important aspects of their management: "Environmental " "Management of Solid Waste" turns to the practical applications, such as prediction, restoration and management, while in "Chemistry and Biology of Solid Waste" the principles and assessment are scientifically studied and discussed. Previously, dredged material was a commodity, it could be sold as soil, e. g. to gardeners. In the meantime, dredged material from the North Sea (e.g. the Rotterdam or Amsterdam harbor) must be treated as hazardous waste. Many environmentalists, managers and companies do not know how to solve the inherent problems. This new work deals with the chemical, physical and biological principles; the biological and geochemical assessment; the prediction of effects and treatment; and finally, with restoration and revegetation. It is written by many leading scientists in the various fields, and will prove invaluable for managers and politicians who are concerned with the present environmental situation.

Diffusion of contaminants in the ocean is a major factor forming fields of both natural and man-mad substances introduced into the water medium. Without proper understanding of the laws of contaminant diffusion in the ocean it is impossible to choose the correct methods of calculating the transport of biogenic elements, dissolved gases and pollutants. Diffusion processes in the ocean are very com plicated because of the larger number of factors influencing the distribution of a substance. In this regard, progress in studying the regularities of contami nant diffusion in the ocean can only be reached when combining theoretical and experimental methods. Both theoretical and experimental studies on the diffusion of contaminants in the ocean have been devoted much attention in many countries of the world. The results are being published in a larger number of journals and collected works; however, until now there have been no comprehensive publications on the diffu sion of contaminants in the ocean. This monograph summarizes the results obtained on the problem by the author and other researchers. The presentation of theoretical results is combined with the data obtained in diffusion experiments with artificial tracers. Also given are practical recommendations on how to compute the behavior of contaminants in various hydrometeorological conditions. Several parts of the monograph are based on the studies I have made in colla boration with A.N. Gerentsway, V.1. Zats, G.S. Karabashev, S.S. Muravyev, A."

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Bremen, Germany, October 10-14, 1988

The Arctic and its surrounding marginal seas are considered some of the most sensitive elements of the global environment, which may respond rapidly to climate change. However, due to various reasons, our knowledge of the processes which drive the Arctic system today and in the past is still relatively sparse. Based on a multidisciplinary approach, German and Russian scientists describe in this book the natural paleorecords and modern data which were collected over the past 6 years. These marine and terrestrial datasets provide important new insights into the causes, impacts, and feedback mechanisms of this extreme Arctic environment.

Submarine mass movements represent major offshore geohazards due to their destructive and tsunami-generation potential. This potential poses a threat to human life as well as to coastal, nearshore and offshore engineering structures. Recent examples of catastrophic submarine landslide events that affected human populations (including tsunamis) are numerous; e.g., Nice airport in 1979, Papua-New Guinea in 1998, Stromboli in 2002, Finneidfjord in 1996, and the 2006 and 2009 failures in the submarine cable network around Taiwan. The Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 also generated submarine landslides that may have amplified effects of the devastating tsunami. Given that 30% of the World 's population live within 60 km of the coast, the hazard posed by submarine landslides is expected to grow as global sea level rises. This elevated awareness of the need for better understanding of underwater landslides is coupled with great advances in underwater mapping, sampling and monitoring technologies, laboratory analogue and numerical modeling capabilities developed over the past two decades. Multibeam sonar, 3D seismic reflection, and remote and autonomous underwater vehicle technologies provide hitherto unparalleled imagery of the geology beneath the oceans, permitting investigation of submarine landslide deposits in great detail. Increased and new access to drilling, coring, in situ measurements and monitoring devices allows for ground-thruthing geophysical data, provides access to samples for geotechnical laboratory experiments and unprecedented in situ information on strength and effective stress conditions of underwater slopes susceptible to fail. Great advances in numerical simulation of submarine landslide kinematics and tsunami propagation, particularly since the 2004 Sumatra tsunami, have also lead to increased understanding and predictability of submarine landslide consequences.
This volume consists of the latest scientific research by international experts in geological, geophysical, engineering and environmental aspects of submarine mass failure, focused on understanding the full spectrum of challenges presented by submarine mass movements and their consequences.

The Advanced Study Institute Ice Physics in the Natural and Endangered Environ ment was held at Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy, from September 7 to 19, 1997. The ASI was designed to study the broad range of ice science and technology, and it brought together an appropriately interdisciplinary group of lecturers and students to study the many facets of the subject. The talks and poster presentations explored how basic molecular physics of ice have important environmental consequences, and, con versely, how natural phenomena present new questions for fundamental study. The of lectures discusses these linkages, in order that overall unity of following sunimary the subject and this volume can be perceived. Not all of the lecturers and participants were able to contribute a written piece, but their active involvement was crucial to the success of the Institute and thereby influenced the content of the volume. We began the Institute by retracing the history of the search for a microscopic un derstanding of melting. Our motivation was straightforward. Nearly every phenome non involving ice in the environment is influenced by the change of phase from solid to liquid or vice-versa. Hence, a sufficiently deep physical picture of the melting tran sition enriches our appreciation of a vast array of geophysical and technical problems.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Vilamoura, Portugal, April 24-30, 1985

This book is a collection of the most recent and significant research on algorithms for the analysis of polar sea-ice SAR data. All algorithms are implemented and tested. One chapter is from the Alaskan SAR Facility, the major NASA archive of polar SAR data and a source of many SAR analysis algorithms, including high-level results of such analyses. One chapter has been written jointly by the US and Canadian Ice Centers, which provide e.g., operational sea-ice products to the shipping and oil-drilling industries and to polar explorations. This book will be useful to all researchers in the polar sciences community.

An editorial by Wanless (1982), entitled "Sea level is rising - so what?", tells the case of an executive editor of a major city newspaper, who, when confronted with evi dence for a recent sea-level rise, replied: "That just means the ocean is six inches deeper, doesn't it?". Whether his "so what?" attitude was real or put on to dike a threat of sensation, there is at present a wide and deepening interest in ongoing and future global sea-level change. This interest has grown along with the concern over global warming due to increasing levels of C02 and trace gases. A stage has been reached where investigators of climat- sea-level relationships call for long-term measurement programmes for ice-volume changes (using satellite altimetry) and changes in temperature and salinity of the oceans (ther mal expansion). This manual, however, is primarily concerned with sea level changes in the past, mainly since the end of the last glaciation. Its major objective is to help answer the ques tion: "how?", which, of course, is little else but to assist in the gathering of fuel for the burning question: "why?" Good fuel, hopefully, for the less smoke and ashes, and the more heat and light produced by that fire, the better scientists are enabled to develop a quantitative under standing of past, and hence of future, sea-level changes on different spatial and temporal scales.

The Antarctic represents the last of the world's still unexplored continents. Since 1985, Italy has sent 10 expeditions to this region, three of those have been exclusively devoted to research on the marine ecology of the Ross Sea region. This volume presents a global picture of this research. It includes contributions on water mass characteristics, particulate organic matter and nutrient utilization, and physiological aspects of primary production. Further topics are zooplankton, krill and top predator interactions in relation to physical and biological parameters, ecological features of coastal fish communities and the spatio-temporal variability of benthic biocenoses.

Preface This book is the culmination of a workshop jointly organized by NATO and CEC on Climate-Ocean Interaction which was held at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University during 26-30 September 1988. The objective of the ARW was to assess the current status of research on climate-ocean interaction, with a major focus on the development of coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice models and their application in the study of past, present and possible future climates. This book contains 16 chapters divided into four parts: Introduction; Observations of the Climate of the Ocean; Modelling the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Sea Ice Components of the Climatic System; and Simulating the Variability of Climate on Short, Medium and Long Time Scales. A fifth part contains the reports of the five Working Groups on: Climate Observations, Modelling, ENSO Modelling and Prediction, Climate-Ocean Interaction on TIme Scales of Decades to Centuries, and Impact of Paleoclimatic Proxy Data on Climate Modelling. Preface ix Acknowledgements I thank Howard Cattle and Neil Wells for their guidance and assistance as members of the Workshop Organizing Committee. I particularly thank Michael Davey for all his efforts as Local Organizer to make the ARW a success. I also thank the staff of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, for their help with the arrangements for the ARW.

In December 1994 Professor Enok Palm celebrated his 70th birthday and retired after more than forty years of service at the University of Oslo. In view of his outstanding achievements as teacher and scientist a symposium entitled "Waves and Nonlinear Processes in Hydrodynamics" was held in his honour from the 17th to the 19th November 1994 in the locations of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo. The topics of the symposium were chosen to cover Enok's broad range of scientific work, interests and accomplishments: Marine hydrodynamics, nonlinear wave theory, nonlinear stability, thermal convection and geophys ical fluid dynamics, starting with Enok's present activity, ending with the field where he began his career. This order was followed in the symposium program. The symposium had two opening lectures. The first looked back on the history of hydrodynamic research at the University of Oslo. The second focused on applications of hydrodynamics in the offshore industry today.

The study of the ocean is almost as old as the history of mankind itself. When the first seafarers set out in their primitive ships they had to understand, as best they could, tides and currents, eddies and vortices, for lack of understanding often led to loss of live. These primitive oceanographers were, of course, primarily statisticians. They collected what empirical data they could, and passed it down, ini tially by word of mouth, to their descendants. Data collection continued throughout the millenia, and although data bases became larger, more re liable, and better codified, it was not really until surprisingly recently that mankind began to try to understand the physics behind these data, and, shortly afterwards, to attempt to model it. The basic modelling tool of physical oceanography is, today, the partial differential equation. Somehow, we all 'know" that if only we could find the right set of equations, with the right initial and boundary conditions, then we could solve the mysteries of ocean dynamics once and for all.

Prospecting and exploration for manganese nodules has, as its ultimate objective, the discovery and delineation of an area of the ocean floor with reserves of sufficient quantity and quality to support a mining operation under existing economic, technical and political conditions. While prospecting concentrates primari lyon the collection of geological information, an exploration programme includes other activities that relate to the develop ment of technology, financial analysis of the prospect and environmental protection. Such work on a deposit in turn leads to the development of a mine-site. The mine-site concept brings together information in a way that recognizes the interplay among a number of dynamic factors which must satisfy a set of technical and economic conditions. Defining a mine-site, therefore, is a process of accounting for those factors. Throughout the years of meetings of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, many questions arose about ocean mine-sites. Two related topics in particular received attention: the total number of available mine-sites, and the amount of area necessary for a mining operation. Both of these topics have been subject to a great deal of speculation, and even with the best available information, there remains a degree of uncertainty that arises from both incomplete knowledge and natural variability in the seabed and the resource, and different technology and production objectives. For example, estimates of the size of the area necessary for an ocean mine-site vary even when made by the same company."

The zone where land and sea meet is composed of a variety of complex environments. The coastal areas of the world contain a large percentage of its population and are therefore of extreme economic importance. Industrial, residential, and recreational developments, as well as large urban complexes, occupy much of the coastal margin of most highly developed countries. Undoubtedly future expansion in many undeveloped maritime countries will also be concentrated on coastal areas. Accompanying our occupation of coasts in this age of technology is a dependence on coastal environments for transportation, food, water, defense, and recreation. In order to utilize the coastal zone to its capacity, and yet not plunder its resources, we must have extensive knowledge of the complex environments contained along the coasts. The many environments within the coastal zone include bays, estuaries, deltas, marshes, dunes, and beaches. A tremendously broad range of conditions is represented by these environments. Salinity may range from essentially fresh water in estuaries, such as along the east coast of the United States, to extreme hypersaline lagoons, such as Laguna Madre in Texas. Coastal environments may be in excess of a hundred meters deep (fjords) or may extend several meters above sea level in the form of dunes. Some coastal environments are well protected and are not subjected to high physical energy except for occasional storms, whereas beaches and tidal inlets are continuously modified by waves and currents.

The International Symposium on Marine Positioning (INSMAP) was conceived by the Marine Geodesy Committee at OCEANS 84, Washington, DC. It became clear at that time, that timing is appropriate to focus attention on individual specific problem areas under the broad umbrella of Marine Geodesy. After scheduling INSMAP 86 by the Marine Technology Society, we were fortunate to generate strong support from our co-sponsor s. All their assis tance and support are gra tefully acknowledged. Our special thanks are expressed to the U.S. Geological Survey; Charting and Geodetic Services, NOS/NOAA; Office of Naval Research, and Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity for their support through financial grants (ONR No. N00014-86-G-0107, NOS/NOAA No. 40AANC601637, and USGS No. 14-08-0001-G1207) as par tial funding to the INS MAP 86. We are al so gra teful to the U.S. Geological Survey for providing the auditorium and other logistic support in making the symposium a success. A total of 165 persons attended INSMAP 86, of which 20 percent were from outside the United States. Nine technical sessions and five special workshops were held wi thin a four-day forma t. Invited speakers included Dr. Alan Berman, Dean, Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences; RADM J. R. Seeshol tz, Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy; RADM John D. Bossler, Director of Charting and Geodetic Services, NOS/NOAA; Mr. Chris von Al t, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; and RADM L. H. van Opstal, Hydrographer of the Royal Dutch Navy.

The need for a volume dealing with the concept of indicator organisms became evident during a symposium on the subject, organized by the present editors for the Southern California Academy of Sciences. Ques tions were posed about the appropriate uses of indicator organisms and the "rules" governing the application of the indicator concept to particular problems. For example, how does one distinguish true indicators from biological anomalies? What kinds of organisms can appropriately be associated with conditions and events at various scales in time and space? To what extent does one species represent other species in the same environmental setting? Can the indicator concept be applied to the context of modern sampling and analytical technology? How can anthropogenic perturbations be distinguished from natural phenomena? How can unlike matrices from differing data bases with differing scales best be matched? Such questions are especially pertinent in today's research environment. The use of indicator organisms, while certainly not new, is the corner stone for much scientific research. In the past two decades, indicator organisms have played increasingly important roles in the development and implementation of public policy. In particular, indicator organisms are being used to describe local environments and natural or anthropogenic perturbations to them, although there are pitfalls and problems associated with those usages. A growing number of nonbiologists, including physical oceanographers, find indicator organisms helpful, and sometimes essential, to their re search."

Over 60% of the Earth's surface is covered with deep marine sediments, however, until the early 1980s, no comprehensive text books appeared to support the rapid expansion in the study of these sediments. While the whole field of marine geology has expanded enormously and entirely new disciplines, such as paleoceanography, have been developed, there remains a lack of reference texts on study techniques that investigators in the marine community can turn to. Minerals and Mineraloids in Marine Sediments is an optical identifica tion guide that I believe will become a standard reference text for use in the microscope analysis of marine sediment& and sedimentary rocks. The systematic collection of sediment cores from the deep ocean floor began in earnest with the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition, 1947-1948. Much of the microscopic examination of the sediments collected in these piston cores (10 m+ long) was conducted on separated grain mounts or thin sections of impregnated sediments. By the late 1960s a simpler technique of examining a mounted smear of the cored silt and clay size sediment on a microscope slide had become standard practice in American oceanographic institutions. This semi quantitative technique became the standard tool used in core description aboard Glomar Challenger through the 15 years of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), 1968-1983. Visual percentage estimates of biogenic and mineral components were made using petrologic micro scopes."