Walter Munk shows French dignitaries the recording system used in deep-ocean studies of internal waves in 1972 .
Walter and Judith Munk in October 1962 . After Judith ' s passing in 2006 , Munk married Mary Coakley in 2011 .
SCIENCE HEARD ’ ROUND THE WORLD
In 1991 , near Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean , Walter Munk and colleagues launched a 10-year research program in which sounding instruments were positioned 500 feet beneath the sea , so scientists would be able to deduce the temperature of the water from the speed the signals traveled . The experiment not only proved that sound could travel to remote corners of the world , it also pioneered the use of long-range acoustic signals for measuring global oceanic climate change .
Asked whether his love of scientific adventure factored heavily into his career choices , he smiles broadly . “ I think so . Yes , I think so .” In 1953 , Munk married Judith Horton , who would travel with him to the most remote corners of the world . She became a vital member of UC San Diego community at Scripps , where she lent her considerable talents and made contributions to architecture , campus planning and the renovation of historic buildings .
The couple also hosted frequent social gatherings during which students mingled with professors , artists with academics , and where casual conversations would turn into the next great adventure .
THE IDEA FOR MUNK ’ S most groundbreaking endeavor arose in one such conversation during the late ’ 50s , over drinks with Revelle . “ What if ,” he asked , “ we were to drill a hole to the mantle of the earth ?” Remarkably , they were able to secure funding for Project Mohole ( the name derived from the Mohorovičić discontinuity , the boundary surface between the crust and the mantle ).
Before Munk , deep-sea drilling was considered impossible . Without GPS or any other way to determine position , there was no way to keep a drilling ship stationary . Munk got around this problem by developing a system using sound for triangulation . The ship sent and received sound impulses from the ocean floor , offering an exact location . This method proved highly successful .
Project Mohole intrigued the world . Even writer John Steinbeck accompanied Munk and his crew on the drilling ship to document the expedition for Time magazine . “ He was wonderful ,” recalls Munk . “ He really worked for us , instead of being a distant reporter .”
In one sense , Project Mohole failed . Munk and his crew were forced to call it quits before boring through the Earth ’ s crust . But the ability to fix a drilling ship in place was a game changer .
“ It was extremely important for the deep-sea drilling of oil ,” says Munk . As a result , oil companies continue to invest considerably in ocean research . For scientists , Munk ’ s methods unlocked access to the deep-sea floor , which 50 years later continues to be a major source of geologic research .
Failure , says Munk , should not be avoided . “ I ’ ve failed so many times ,” he says . “ People are so afraid of doing something that doesn ’ t work . We ought to encourage students to experiment and make mistakes . We ought to give degrees for experiments done very well that have failed .”
Yet for all his scientific and historic achievements ( and failures ), Munk ’ s true legacy lives in those who ’ ve received his generous mentorship and instruction . “ He doesn ’ t have any students now , but he ’ s had a steady stream during his career ,” says Peter Worcester , PhD ’ 77 , research oceanographer emeritus at Scripps and Munk ’ s doctoral student in the ’ 70s . “ He gives his students great latitude and
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TRITON | FALL 2017