$- aA. HI. ~~ SESSION IV 173 I did not include here the Amchitka area in the Aleutians, where, as many of you are aware, there have been some atomic detonations; they are preparing for one at the present time. This presents a very big order in itself. It includes about 50 percent of the earth's surface and some very unusual environments, 1 think it would be well if we could include sume information from the British tests of 1952 and subsequent years, particularly one off the Great Barrier Reef, which is germane to our discussion here, and possibly a word or two about the Russiantests, The Chinese tests were mentioned yesterday. For some reason—I don't know it's policy or not~—the French tests inthe Pacific and in the were not included in any of the conversations nor was there ment, I guess this may be omission by purpose but it's not decide in this case, FREMONT-SMITH: whether Sahara any comfor me to There's no known policy behind that omission. RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF PACIFIC REGION DONALDSON. [think it's importantthat we consider the French tests in the overall problem of environmertal contaniination, particularly as far as the Pacific Ocean is concerned. To be a bit more definitive as to locale and orders of magnitude, Figure 23, for the sake of contrast, superimposes the scale map of the United States over the area we will concentrate on, showing the Pacific testing center, which includes Johnston Island, Christmas Island and the Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls. (See Reference 36), Specifically again, if we may review our natural history for a moment, atolls are most unusual structures. I like the statement found in "The Voyage of the Beagle'' and others of Darwin's writings, that no biologist can really be considered a qualified biologi.t unless he has lived and worked in a coral atoll, These masses of coral are unigue biological entities, and, I'm sure, those of you who have worked at Bikini and Eniwetok, or at other atolls, have cussed them or enjoyed them as your temperaments dictated. There are dead atolls, such as Christmas Island, where the growth rate is not quite equal to the sloughing of the atoll, There is a great deal of <. entific discussion as to howthe atolls were formed. was an There nost complete lack of understanding of the formation of