Desarrollo de la Antártica

INTERNATIONAL SOUTHERN OCEAN STUDIES Víctor T. Neal Internation.al Coordinator, International Southern Ocean Studies Programo [NTRODUC110N Backgrownd Interest in the lSouthern Ocean has cOIltínued to íncrease in the United States since the beginning of lhe multidisdplinary circum– polar oceanographic survey began in 1962. The survey contínued using the research shíp USNS ELTANIN until 1972. The ship now has a new name, ARA ISLAS ORCADAS, and is operated by the Argentine Navy. The circumpolar survey is being completed on board lSLAS ORGA'OAS under the terms of an agreement between Argentina and the U.S. (National Science Foundation). The Southern Ocean has unique features that have aroused the interest of dhe scientific community. For example, it is the site of the only circumpolar current and it is the principal regíon where wa– ters from the major ocean basins may be míxed and/or interchanged. It is also the f{)tmation regíon of Aruarctic Bottom Water that penetrates far northward in the major ocean basins. In 1972, when it appeared that me circumpolar survey of the physical oceanography of the regíon could be completed within a few years, planning for future studics was considered. The Office of ¡Polar iPitograms of the U.S. National Sdence Foundation requested the Committee on Polar Researdh of the National Academy of Sciences to ¡prepare a 10-year plan for work in physical oceanography in the Antarctic. An ad hoc group produced the repart "Southern Ocean Dynamics: A Strategy for Scientific Exploration, 1973-1983". (1This report is available from the Committee on :Polar Research, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 204181, USA). In 1973 a graup of physical oceanographers, using this report as a base, prepared a proposal for a long-term research program in physical oceanograp:hy of the Southern Ocean. This program, Inter– national Southem Otean Studies (tso!:), was officially approved in 1974 and is being funded by the Office for the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (mOE) , of the National Science Foundation. The program consists of ficld measurements, theoretical studies, and