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nearly $9.0 million in 1976, with an additional $2.0 million for building programs.

The acquisition of the 1,400-ton oceanic research ship Bannock, a gift from the United States, and the 830-ton, 180-foot research ship L.F. Marsili, equipped with two modern laboratories and purchased by the CNR in 1970, has increased Italian capability for oceanographic data collection and in the training of oceanographers. The 85-ton research ship U. D'Ancona, operated by the Marine Biological Institute in Venice, is used for biological research in coastal regions. Italy has purchased a second two-man general purpose research submarine, which is scheduled for delivery in 1972. Italy also has made significant advances in the use of free diving techniques for marine research.

Research conducted at the Antisubmarine Warfare Research center in La Spezia, established by NATO in 1959, has helped the Italian oceanographic effort. Studies in physical oceanography and other oceanographic aspects of concern to antisubmarine warfare are carried out by the center. The Laboratory for the Study of Radioactive Contamination of the Sea, also at La Spezia, is developing new sampling techniques. An Institute of Marine Biology near Trieste and operated by the University of Trieste has been completed. It will concentrate on the study of marine fauna and flora of the Adriatic Sea. Other Italian facilities conducting marine biological and oceanographic research are the Institute of Experimental Thalassography and the Geophysical Observatory in Trieste, Italian Center for Thalassographic Studies in Venice, the Zoological Station and the Navy Hydrographic Institute in Naples, and the Laboratory for Marine Geology in Bologna.

Italy's interest in international oceanographic activities has increased during the last several years. The country is a member of the more prominent international oceanographic organizations such as the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean Sea (ICSEMS), International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). Italy participated in a six-nation survey of the eastern Mediterranean Sea during August-September 1967. During the survey, they collected bathythermograms, marine organisms, bottom samples and cores, as well as data on internal waves, physical properties, and meteorology. Italy is participating in a cooperative oceanographic program in the Icelandic region along with the other NATO countries. The various phases of the program involve sea ice observation, environmental training, ocean thermal structure, geophysical surveys, and hydrographic surveys. Italy hosted a United Nations FAO Conference and Seminar on Marine Pollution that was held in Rome during December 1970.

Coastal research is concerned primarily with sea level changes in the Tyrrhenian, Ligurian, and Adriatic Seas and on methods of arresting breach erosion by artificial accretion. Other research projects are concerned with coastal improvement and protection methods, sea waves, sedimentation, sciches, seismic refractions, and currents. A large part of the research is performed at ELC-electroconsult, a research company in Milan, the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydraulic Engineering, Torino, and the Hydraulic and Hydraulic Structures Institute, Genoa.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080002-5