139736eo.pdf (20MB) - Japan Oceanographic Data Center

PREFACEThc purpose of thc Intcrgovcrnmcntal Oceanographic Commission is "toprornotc scicntific invcstigation with a view to learning more about the nature andresources of the oceans through the concerted action of its members" (Article 1,paragraph 2, of the Statutes).To achieve this purpose, the Commission has developed, alone or jointlywith other organizations of the UN system, scientific programmes in five mainfields: Ocean Dynamics and Climate; Ocean Science in Relation to Living Resources;Ocean Science in Relation to Non-Living Resources; Ocean Mapping; and MarinePollution Research and Monitoring.To support these programmes, the Commission also co-ordinates fourocean services: the Integrated Global Ocean Services System; InternationalOceanographic Data and Information Exchange; the Global Sea-level ObservingSystem; and the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific.The main mechanisms for planning, promoting and co-ordinating theimplementation of these programmes and the related services are Scientific/TechnicalCommittees, which deal with the global aspects, and Regional Sub-Commissions orCommittees, which deal with the implementation of specific regional projects and ofregional aspects of IOC's major global programmes.Two such Regional Committees are concerned specifically with the IndianOcean region: the Regional Committee for the Co-operative Investigation in theNorth and Central Western Indian Ocean (IOCINCWIO), and the Regional Committeefor the Central Indian Ocean (IOCINDIO).The Regional Committee (originally Programme Group) for the CentralIndian Ocean was created by the 1OC Assembly at its Twelfth Session (November1982) through Resolution XII-14 which was sponsored by Bangladesh, India, Pakistanand Sri Lanka. The Assembly recognized that a better understanding of the majoroceanographic processes, particularly as they relate to climate and living resourcesin the region, was needed. It recalled the active co-operation that had existedamongst the Member States of this region and other interested Member States fromoutside the region, during the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE), and theimportance of relating the major ocean processes in this part of the Indian Oceanwith those in the western part, covered by IOCINCWIO, and with the RegionalCommittee for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC).With a view to generating a preliminary basis for a future programme ofwork for IOCINDIO, an IOC-Unesco Workshop on Regional Co-operation in MarineScience in the Central Indian Ocean and Adjacent Seas and Gulfs was convened inColombo, Sri Lanka, at the kind invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka, from 8to 13 July 1985. Thirty-one scientists from 15 Member States participated andproduced some fourteen proposals for regional co-operative marine scientificresearch, many in the form of fairly detailed project outlines. They were: (i) CoastalWater Dynamics; (ii) Water-mass Movements; (iii) Storm-surge Prediction for thrMarginal Seas of the Northern Indian Ocean; (iv) Distribution of Oceanic PelagicResources (with Particular Reference to Tuna) in Relation to the Environment in theIndian Ocean Region; (v) Oceanic Environment, Pelagic Bioproductivity and LivingResources of the Northern Arabian Sea; (vi) Investigations of Exploitable DemersalLiving Resources of the Deep Shelf and Bathyal Zones; (vii) Survey of CoralResources and Strengthening of Regional Co-operation in Training and DataExchange; (viii) Red Tides in the Central Indian Ocean and Adjacent Seas and Gulfs;(ix) Taxonomic Research on Marine Fauna and Flora of the Indian Ocean; (x) Surveyof Continental Shelves; (xi) Coastal Processes; (xi;) Effects of Damming Rivers; (xiii)Deep-water Sediments; (xiv) Studies of Crustal Structure, Tectonics and GeologicalEvolution. The Workshop also recommended the promotion of a regional component