166
Joseph L. Reid
transport, western intensification, and Sverdrup transport—followed from the results
of measurements.
We have learned more about the manner of formation of the waters in the various
basins, and their flow from basin to basin, the circulation of the large gyres, the flow
along the boundaries, the penetration of the waters from the circumpolar flow into the
various oceans, the equatorial circulation, and the transports of the major currents.
We have learned much of this from examining the patterns of the various tracers
and from the density fields, which reflect the geostrophic flow.
We have also found that some of our early views of the circulation were wrong,
and it is interesting to ponder why they were wrong and whether the earlier data could
have given better answers.
DATA COLLECTION
Although a few large-scale expeditions had been carried out in the Atlantic Ocean
(Fuglister, 1960) and in the Indian Ocean (Wyrtki, 1971), most work was proposed
by individual investigators. One of these was the Scorpio expedition in March–July
1967 by Stommel, Reid, and Warren. It had two zonal lines from Australia to Chile.
All three investigators were aboard on the first leg, along 43
◦ S. It occurred to us that
these were perhaps the longest such lines ever taken by a single ship with the same
investigators, and the same equipment and reagents. This kept to the Aristotelian
unities of place, time, and personnel, and our measurements should be internally
consistent. At that time the geochemists were beginning to think about what could be
learned if we were to measure the patterns of some of the isotopes such as carbon-14
and helium-3. Wally Broecker had one or two measurements of carbon-14 in the
Atlantic and George Bien one or two in the Pacific. But more were certainly needed
to make the data useful.
We thought it would be useful to equip a vessel to measure these and other
isotopes along a line from the Aleutian Islands to Antarctica. Such a line would be
a great help to the geochemists. We decided to suggest such an expedition for the
consideration of the geochemists and the funding agencies, and that when Stommel
got back after this cruise he should talk to them.
The funding agencies liked it and a program was proposed to measure carbon14 and other substances in all three oceans. It was called GEOSECS (for geochemical
sections) and was carried out from 1972 through 1978. More expeditions to assess
the tracer fields were carried out in the 1980s in the Atlantic, the Transient Tracers in
the Ocean (TTO), the North Atlantic Study (NAS), and the South Atlantic Ventilation
Experiment (SAVE). Further contributions to the database continued and expanded
up through the WOCE expeditions. Expeditions by various countries began to fill in
the blanks in the ocean coverage. Recently there have been crossings of the Arctic
Ocean.
Joseph L. Reid
transport, western intensification, and Sverdrup transport—followed from the results
of measurements.
We have learned more about the manner of formation of the waters in the various
basins, and their flow from basin to basin, the circulation of the large gyres, the flow
along the boundaries, the penetration of the waters from the circumpolar flow into the
various oceans, the equatorial circulation, and the transports of the major currents.
We have learned much of this from examining the patterns of the various tracers
and from the density fields, which reflect the geostrophic flow.
We have also found that some of our early views of the circulation were wrong,
and it is interesting to ponder why they were wrong and whether the earlier data could
have given better answers.
DATA COLLECTION
Although a few large-scale expeditions had been carried out in the Atlantic Ocean
(Fuglister, 1960) and in the Indian Ocean (Wyrtki, 1971), most work was proposed
by individual investigators. One of these was the Scorpio expedition in March–July
1967 by Stommel, Reid, and Warren. It had two zonal lines from Australia to Chile.
All three investigators were aboard on the first leg, along 43
◦ S. It occurred to us that
these were perhaps the longest such lines ever taken by a single ship with the same
investigators, and the same equipment and reagents. This kept to the Aristotelian
unities of place, time, and personnel, and our measurements should be internally
consistent. At that time the geochemists were beginning to think about what could be
learned if we were to measure the patterns of some of the isotopes such as carbon-14
and helium-3. Wally Broecker had one or two measurements of carbon-14 in the
Atlantic and George Bien one or two in the Pacific. But more were certainly needed
to make the data useful.
We thought it would be useful to equip a vessel to measure these and other
isotopes along a line from the Aleutian Islands to Antarctica. Such a line would be
a great help to the geochemists. We decided to suggest such an expedition for the
consideration of the geochemists and the funding agencies, and that when Stommel
got back after this cruise he should talk to them.
The funding agencies liked it and a program was proposed to measure carbon14 and other substances in all three oceans. It was called GEOSECS (for geochemical
sections) and was carried out from 1972 through 1978. More expeditions to assess
the tracer fields were carried out in the 1980s in the Atlantic, the Transient Tracers in
the Ocean (TTO), the North Atlantic Study (NAS), and the South Atlantic Ventilation
Experiment (SAVE). Further contributions to the database continued and expanded
up through the WOCE expeditions. Expeditions by various countries began to fill in
the blanks in the ocean coverage. Recently there have been crossings of the Arctic
Ocean.