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Title: Ocean drilling program for Georges Bank, Eastern Pacific Rise, Mid American Trench, and Antarctica (Weddell sea)

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5999931

The draft form of an environmental impact statement (EPA No. 850262D) on a proposed 10-year international ocean drilling program describes plans for drilling in the Georges Bank, Eastern Pacific Rise, Mid-American Trench, and Weddell Sea areas. Core samples from the ocean floor in the four study areas will examine oceanic crust, active and passive margins, and ocean paleoenvironment. The program would generate information on sea floor spreading, plate tectonics, the structure of the earth's interior, evolution of ocean life, climatic changes through time, and the structure of the planet. Negative impacts would be damage to the sea floor, drilling muds, possible gas or brine blowouts, and a possible effect on the sonar or hearing of marine mammals. Legal mandates for the impact statement are laws addressing water pollution, international conventions of the sea, and protection for marine life.

Research Organization:
National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (USA). Div. of Ocean Sciences
OSTI ID:
5999931
Report Number(s):
EIS-85-0312(Draft)
Resource Relation:
Other Information: EPA No. 850262D; NSF
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English