Rear Admiral Leo Otis ColbertSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 58, No. 6 (Jun., 1944), p. 443Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/18182 .

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GEOPHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS 443

ing salt domes and other structures associ- ated wsrith petroleum. Accordingly, gravity surveyvs have been used, for some two decades, alone or along with seismic or other methodls, ill the search for new oil deposits. The type of instrument now in general use is the grav-imeter, which furnishes surpris- inigly aceeurate results over restricted areas when the instrument can be frequently tested at pendulum gravity stations.

Because the gravity anomaly may also represent laek of isostatic compensation, im- portance is attached to the collection of such data in regions known to be subject to in- tense earthquLake activity, such as the west- ern slope of the Andean Cordillera. Already large gravity anomalies have been found through the observations in Colombia and Peru (Fig. 8). The few base stations deter- mained by these recent measurements provide ref erelce points for whatever additional work may be (lone in the future in those countries for any of the purposes mentioned. Additionlla observatiolns in these and other countries in South America, particularly those bordering the Pacific coast, would be

most enlightenirng to geophysicists who are studyirng these mnatters. Much interest has been taken in the work of the Bureau so far accomplished and in the possible resumption of the work which was suspended because of the war.

The successful accomplishment of these geophysical ineasurements by the Coast and Geodetic Survey was possible only through effective cooperation of the governiment in each of the Am-erican republics. Further- mnore, it is well recognlize(l that there is special need for coordination and mainte- nance of standards among all the countries on this hemisphere in other scientific work such as triangulation, precise leveling, astro- nomic observations, andl seismnology. Many of the countries have been carrying on excel- lent work in these subject;s.

There has beeni nothing one-sided about the bernefits received through cooperative effort. The results will be utilized for the mnutual advantage of all through a better knowledge of these geophysical features which affect all countries to a greater or less degree.

REAR ADMIRAL LEO OTIS COLBERT

ADMIRAL COLBERT, C.E., SeD. is Director of the

'U. S Coast and Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. He was born in Cambridge, Massachu- setts, in 1883 and was graduated from Tufts College in 1907 as a civil eniginieer. He theni entered the Coast and Geodetic Survey to which he has devoted his entire prof essionial career. In 1938 he became its Direc-

tor anid in 1939 hiis Alma Mater recogniized his :achievements by bestowing upon himn the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Admiral Colbert does n-ot tell us how lie became a sailor, but f romi the start -we flind him aboard ship; from 1907 to 1910 on wire- drag work oni the Atlanitic Coast anid Alaska, and -fromn 1911 to 1917 as executive officer and later as ceommanding officer of Survey vessels in the Philip- pines, on the Pacific Coast, and in Alaska. In Sep- -ember 191.7, he was transferred by Executive Order

to the Navy and served as Lieutenant and Lieuten- ant Commander on the U.S.S. Northern Pacific, a troop transport ship. After the wvar he spent nine years of shore duty in the Washington office of the Survey, followed by t:hree years in Manila as Director of Coast Surveys of the Philippine Islands. Upon his return to the States in 1931 he became command- ing officer of the Survey steamer Oceanographer, which was engaged i.n the use of acoustic methods for making soundings of Georges 13ank off the coast of Maine. According to R. A. Daly in The Floor of the Ocean this survey resulted in "the first maps to illustra-te well the associatio:n ofC canyon, furrow, and ridge. . . . I From 1933 until he became Direc- tor, Admiral Colbert was in charge of chart produe- ti-on and correction. His interest in maps also ex- tends to aeronautical charts, for his daughter is a first-class WASP in the Air Transport Command of the Army Air Forces. He is a member of the Mis- sissippi River Commission and trustee, director, or member of several organizations having a bearing on his work. In spite of his preoccupation with war duties Admiral Colbert has taken a great interest in promoting in the American Republics geophysical measurements which are of benefit to all but which are to be accomplished only through cooperation.

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