Circumstances and Consequences of the Early August 1972 Solar Storms

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018SW002024

Between 2 and 4 August 1972 McMath Region 11976 (Figure 1a) produced a
series of brilliant flares, energetic particle enhancements, and Earth-
directed ejecta (note the terminology of the day was plasma cloud). The
first two ejecta generated two impulses in the geomagnetic field and a
magnetic storm shortly after 01 UT on 4 August. More importantly, they
likely cleared the interplanetary (IP) path for the subsequent ultrafast 4
August shock/IP coronal mass ejection (ICME) that reached Earth in record
time—14.6 hr. The ICME has been linked to the H-a, Level-3 Brilliant flare
that peaked at 0621 UT on 4 August (Cliver et al., 1990; Srivastava,
1973). Figure 1b shows the flare at 0648 UT. In concert, a 76,000 sfu
radio burst at 1 GHz peaked at 0636 UT (Bhonsle et al., 1976). At the
other end of the solar spectrum, the SOLRAD-9 satellite X-ray detector
saturated at what would be an X5.1 magnitude in the current National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) solar X-ray
classification (but clearly exceeded that level, see Dere et al., 1973, p
309). Ohshio (1974), using ionospheric radio wave phase propagation
disturbances, estimated the flare class as ~X20. Dayside radio blackouts
at Earth developed within minutes (Odintsova et al., 1973). X-ray
emissions from the long duration flare remained above background for >16
hr. For the first time, a space-based detector observed gamma rays during
this solar flare (Chupp et al., 1973). Dodson and Hedeman (1973) rated the
flare at Comprehensive Flare Index level 17—the highest level, and one
assigned to only the most extreme and broad-spectrum flares.

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Figure 1
Open in figure viewerPowerPoint
(a) Calcium spectroheliogram of McMath Region 11976 on 3 August 1972. (b)
Hydrogen-a solar spectroheliogram of flaring region at 0648 UT on 4 August
1972. Copyright BASS2000, Paris Observatory, PSL (used with permission).
The east limb is at the left of both images. (c) Hourly-average solar wind
plasma data 4–11 August 1972 (Zastenker et al., 1978). (d) Magnetosheath
magnetic measurements for 2120 – 2230 UT from ATS 5 geosynchronous
spacecraft at 15 LT (Cahill & Skillman, 1977); (e) Manila Observatory
magnetic X component variations 4 August 17 UT to 5 August 7 UT (Salcedo,
1973). The vertical jump at 2240 UT represents a 168-nT/min increase.
After the second sudden commencement giant geomagnetic pulsations were
present in the magnetosphere.
The sequence of propagating structures produced one of the largest
galactic cosmic ray dropouts (Forbush decreases) of the space age (Levy et
al., 1976). The ICME-associated shock (Figure 1c) arrived at Earth at 2054
UT (e.g., Intrilligator, 1976). Vaisberg and Zastenker (1976) and Cliver
et al. (1990) estimated the average transit speed as 2,850 km/s. Freed and
Russell (2014) reported the transit time was an outlier, even for the
family of the extreme events they studied. We believe the extraordinary
speed of this event had a direct bearing on the events we discuss below.

1.2 Energetic Particles
The chain of events led to extraordinary effects, including a solar
energetic particle (SEP) event that punished spacecraft solar panels,
satellite detectors, and Earth's atmosphere. The solar particle flux
observed at Earth, attributed to activity in McMath Region 11976, began on
2 August after three brilliant flares in solar latitude-longitude region
N12–N14 and E26–E34. These were a 3N flare at 0316 UT (Hakura, 1976) and
two rare white light flares at 1844 UT and 2058 UT, rated at 1B and 2B,
respectively (Neidig & Cliver, 1983). The 19–80 MeV proton flux on
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Interplanetary
Monitoring Platforms IV and V started to increase at 0515 UT on 2 August
(Van Hollebeke et al., 1974).

The proton flux on the Interplanetary Monitoring Platforms spacecraft
dramatically increased with the 4 August 2054 UT IP-shock arrival at
Earth; the maximum particle flux was so intense that the particle
detectors were saturated (see Kohl et al., 1973; Van Hollebeke et al.,
1974), resulting in uncertainty as to the actual magnitude of the particle
increase. The flux peak also triggered the event mode data compression
algorithm on the Vela neutron counter that was monitored in real time at
Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC) for nuclear test ban
verification. This situation was swiftly dealt with by AFGWC personnel
monitoring the event (D. Smart, personal experience). These energetic
proton fluxes produced a ground level event (Kodama et al., 1973). Levy et
al. (1976) and Smart and Shea (1992) argued that IP medium-energy (seed)
particles were accelerated between the 2 August IP structure(s) and the 4
August ultrafast shock, thus producing a swarm of SEPs. The SEPs were so
intense that the ongoing Forbush decrease partially abated (see Figure 3
of Pomerantz & Duggal, 1973). Rauschenbach (1980) showed an ~5% drop in
solar cell power generation capability for the INTELSAT IV F-2 solar panel
arrays during the 4 August SEP event, roughly equivalent to 2 years of
magnetospheric trapped-radiation exposure to the panels. Shortly
thereafter a Defense Communications Satellite Program II satellite
suffered a mission-ending on-orbit power failure (Shea & Smart, 1998).

Lockwood and Hapgood (2007) note this as one of only a handful of events
in the space age that would have posed an immediate threat to astronaut
safety, had humans been in transit to the moon at the time. Reanalysis by
Jiggens et al. (2014) suggests that the 10-MeV ion flux reached 70,000 cm-
2 ·s-1 ·sr-1, thus bordering on a NOAA S5 event. The SEPs interacted with
the Defense Meteorological Spacecraft Program satellite optical line
scanner electronics, producing anomalous dots of light in the southern
polar cap imagery (A. Lee Snyder, personal communication, 2018). The
energetic particle bombardment created a Northern Hemisphere polar ozone
cavity—a 46% reduction at 50 km that recovered over several days; while at
~39 km the ozone cavity persisted and circulated as a semirigid structure
for more than 50 days (Reagan et al., 1981).

1.3 Geomagnetic Storm and Its Effects
At 2054 UT on 4 August the Guam observatory (0654 local time) reported an
extraordinary 62-s risetime for the sudden storm commencement consistent
with a 3,080 km/s shock sweeping across the magnetosphere (Araki et al.,
2004). The Boulder, CO, USA magnetometer traces went off scale, and bright
aurora appeared in the northern United States. Another significant
disturbance, a sudden impulse (SI) at 2238 UT, swept across predawn, low-
latitude India with amplitudes from 301 to 486 nT (Bhargava, 1973). The SI
sent the magnetometer traces off scale at the near-noon Honolulu, HI,
observatory (Figure 3, Matsushita, 1976). Within 15 min the first glow of
what would become a spectacular aurora, bright enough to cast shadows,
appeared along the southern coast of the United Kingdom at ~54° MLAT
(Taylor & Howarth, 1972). Within 2 hr commercial airline pilots reported
aurora as far south as Bilboa, Spain, at ~46° MLAT (McKinnon, 1972).

Between 2240 and 2310 UT the postnoon magnetopause compressed to within
5.2 RE (Hoffman et al., 1975). Cahill and Skillman (1977) described
numerous magnetopause crossings by satellites in the noon sector (Figure
1d). Based on measurements from the Prognoz-1 spacecraft located within
the morning-side magnetosheath, D'Uston et al. (1977) suggested that the
solar wind dynamic pressure was 100 times its normal value. Figure 1c
shows the hourly solar wind plasma values reconstructed from Prognoz,
Prognoz-2, and HELIOS data (Vaisberg & Zastenker, 1976; Zastenker et al.,
1978). Lockwood et al. (1975), Simnett (1976), Smith (1976), Venkatesan et
al. (1975), Lanzerotti (1992), and Tsurutani et al. (1992) have offered
data and insights related to the IP structures that likely passed Earth on
4–5 August 1972. All suggest a highly variable north-south interplanetary
magnetic field (IMF) ahead of the main ejecta and a northward IMF at the
ICME leading edge. Tsurutani et al. (1992) reasoned that the Dst intensity
during early 5 August was due to sheath southward IMF, while the
subsequent leading ICME field was northward, resulting in quieting
magnetic conditions in the subsequent interval. Some of these authors note
signals of multiple tangential discontinuities indicative of interacting
IMF structures ahead of the ICME. Medrano et al. (1975) reported an
additional square-wave discontinuity passing Earth between 03 and 05 UT on
5 August.

The IP disturbances created geomagnetically induced current effects in
North American power and communications lines. Albertson and Thorson
(1974) listed numerous United States and Canadian power companies that
reported minor to strong power issues on 4–5 August 1972. They show strong
induced current disturbances as far south as the US states of Maryland and
Ohio. According to Odenwald (2015) significant voltage swings and power
disruptions were reported in northern tier U.S. states. In Newfoundland,
Canada, geomagnetically induced currents activated protective relays many
times on 4–5 August. The Manitoba Hydro Company recorded 120 MW drops in
power supplied to Minnesota in only a few minutes. Anderson et al. (1974)
reported an outage on the L4 American Telephone and Telegraph cable
connecting the U.S. states of Illinois and Iowa. The induced electric
field of 7.0 V/km, which exceeded shutdown threshold for high current,
accompanied magnetic field variations (dB/dt) of ~ 800 nT/min at 2240–2242
UT (the time of the L4 outage). In central and western Canada, Boteler and
Jansen van Beek (1999) estimated that dB/dt exceeded ~2,000 nT/min
coincident with the SI.

On the other side of the world, coincident with the initial magnetopause
compression at ~ 2240 UT, and roughly at dawn local time, there was >160
nT/min positive magnetic perturbation (Figure 1e) reported from the near-
equatorial observatory at Manila, Philippines (Salcedo, 1973, p. 762).
Simultaneously, a similar dB/dt perturbation was reported at Sao Jose dos
Campos, Brazil (~12.6°S magnetic latitude) by Sahai and Sales (1973).
Online images of the 4 August Kakioka, Japan, magnetogram also show a
midlatitude pulse (http://www.kakioka-jma.go.jp). After 22 UT the AE index
spiked to >3,000 nT (Figure 1, Tsurutani et al., 1992) as the storm
asymmetry index underwent severe variations (Kawasaki et al., 1973;
Akasofu, 1974; J. Love, personal communication, 2018). Giant magnetic
pulsations rocked the magnetosphere. Odintsova et al. (1973) reported
development of a nighttime midlatitude E layer on 4–5 August. Jachiaa and
Slowey (1973) showed multi-altitude neutral density perturbations
continuing into 5 August that equaled or exceeded those from the great
storm of May 1967, during which half of the North American Aerospace
Defense Command satellite-tracking catalog had been reacquired (Knipp et
al., 2016).

Hoffman et al. (1975) speculated that the sequence of strong cross-tail
electric field and magnetopause compression allowed ring current particles
that could have produced a more substantial Dst storm to drift out the
compressed/eroded dayside magnetopause. Lanzerotti (1992) argued that with
the arrival of driver ejecta on 5 August, the IMF turned northward, thus
cutting short the ring current development. Brace et al. (1974) reported
the plasmapause to be at/inside 2 RE. Grafe et al. (1979) indicated that
the energetic electrons invaded the radiation belt slot region, while
Spjeldvik and Fritz (1981) reported orders of magnitude increases in the
trapped energetic heavy ion population (Z = 4) within the radiation belts
and slot region (L ~ 2.5–5) between 4 and 5 August. Auroral disturbances
continued into 5 August with reports of intense midday red aurora in the
dark Southern Hemisphere (Akasofu, 1974).

1.4 Naval Effects
Tucked away in the history of the Vietnam War is a likely associated
effect of the extraordinary 4 August IP disturbance: The sudden detonation
of a large number of U.S. Navy magnetic-influence sea mines (designated as
Destructors, DSTs) dropped into the coastal waters of North Vietnam only 3
months earlier (Greer, 1997). See Appendix for additional context. Tucker
(2006, Chap. 15, p. 177) wrote that “… on 4 August (1972) TF-77 aircraft
reported some two dozen explosions in a minefield near Hon La over a
thirty-second time span...Ultimately the Navy concluded that the
explosions had been caused by the magnetic perturbations of solar storms,
the most intense in more than two decades.”

The Chief of Naval Operations, Mine Warfare Project Office (CNO-MWPO,
1975) report notes that the Navy investigated all aspects of this event.
After widespread inquiry and discussions with personnel from the National
Academy of Science, the NOAA-Boulder (B. Fraser, personal experience),
various U.S. Naval laboratories, and the Naval Post Graduate School, the
Navy determined that “anomalous signals from the solar system activity
would be of sufficient length and intensity to have fired the DSTs … (and)
… that a significant portion of all of the sensitive-setting DSTs could
have been fired by the solar activity.” DST magnetically sensitive-
influence mines would detonate when magnetic variations exceeded preset
thresholds for one or more magnetic factors (e.g., amplitude, polarity,
rate of change, and/or gradient). The Navy was clear that the detonations
observed by aircrews were on 4 August and that magnetic field variations
were the cause. Although neither the exact time of the sea-mine
detonations on 4 August nor the threshold for magnetic mine detonation is
known to us, we suggest that one or more of the dB/dt spikes recorded
after 2230 UT (Figure 1e) caused the magnetic-influence-mine explosions
reported at Hon La, North Vietnam (~9° magnetic latitude). This is
consistent with triggering information above. Figure 1e shows the
horizontal component of dB/dt at Manila, Philippines. The sharp change,
above the second triangle at ~2240 UT, is 168 nT/min. A similar range of
dB/dt was recorded for an additional hour as giant magnetic pulsations
permeated the magnetosphere (Salcedo, 1973).

Aerial inspections revealed additional evidence of detonations elsewhere
along the coast. The wartime memoirs of a U.S. Navy Mineman-Sailor, Chief
Petty Officer Michael Gonzales, state that “During the first few weeks of
August, a series of extremely strong solar flares caused a fluctuation of
the magnetic fields, in and around, South East Asia. The resulting chain
of events caused the premature detonation of over 4,000 magnetically
sensitive DSTs (Destructor mines) … ” (Gonzales (2015),
https://www.angelo.edu/content/files/21974-a). For the U.S. Navy, dealing
with the event was of utmost priority (see Appendix). Hartman and Truver
(1991) note that “… the HaiPhong Destructor Field was actually swept by a
solar magnetic storm in August of 1972.”

The storm spurred immediate and long-term actions. As noted in the CNO-
MWPO report (1975), the U.S. Navy fast-tracked replacement of the
magnetic-influence-only mines with magneto/seismic mines. By 1 November
1972, AFGWC introduced a “fully automated, Vela satellite, proton event
detection and warning system,” (Markus et al., 1987; D. Smart, personal
experience). The Defense Meteorological Spacecraft Program and data were
declassified in December 1972, in part to encourage scientists to
investigate storm time auroral imagery. In late October 1972, prior to the
last Apollo moon landing, NASA held a workshop on space radiation (see
footnote in Parsons & Townsend, 2000). No doubt this effort was to review
NASA's Radiation Plan for Apollo Missions, (see Lopez et al., 1969).
American Telephone and Telegraph reengineered its communications lines for
more robust worldwide communication. In subsequent years satellites have
been hardened against radiation. Power grids have been fortified and
refortified. Satellite drag continues to receive attention. Volumes of
material have been published about the August 1972 storm(s), including a
NOAA multivolume review for the August storms (Coffey, 1973; Lincoln &
Leighton, 1972) and a 1976 Special Collection in Space Science Reviews
(Dryer, 1976).

Since 1972 there has been significant progress in understanding of coronal
mass ejections (CMEs) and their role in geomagnetic storms. Tousey (1973)
reported the first CME observed in late 1971 by NASA's Orbiting Solar
Observatory. Although not mentioned in the collected summaries of the
August 1972 event, by the time of the Space Science Review Special
Collection, Dryer et al. (1976) were estimating CME masses for this event.
In the mid-1980s CME-shock associations were established. By the mid-1990s
there was a general understanding of ICMEs as a prime agent for
geomagnetic storms. The ideas of interacting and/or path clearing IP
structures, seed particles for SEPs, and fast ICMEs as agents for extreme
geomagnetic storms developed subsequently. Shock-sheath structures are now
understood as potential sources of enhanced geospace disturbances. Howard
(2006) provides a historical view of CME science.

2 Commentary: Benchmarking and a Grand Challenge
2.1 Benchmarking
Recent efforts at benchmarking space weather have placed a new emphasis on
extreme events. As a magnetic storm, 4 August 1972 has been an enigma for
such efforts. The event presented itself as a great solar storm with an
extraordinary shock, but without a great geomagnetic storm (Schmieder,
2017; Tsurutani et al., 2003), as signaled by the Dst index and low-
latitude aurora. The Dst index on 5 August reached the intense category: -
125 nT—a level attained on average 3 times per year (Loewe & Prölss,
1997). Along those lines, Gonzalez et al. (2011) called the 4–5 August
1972 event a failed Carrington-type storm. The United Kingdom's Royal
Academy of Engineering (2013) report listed the storm as similar to the
Carrington event, but a near miss.

Based on the evidence presented in section 1, we submit that the 4 August
1972 event was a Carrington-class storm. The transit time for this event
was shorter than the Carrington event. Lin and Hudson (1976) estimated the
August 1972 flare energy as commensurate with the Carrington flare.
Kawasaki et al. (1973) showed an extraordinary Asymmetry range of ~ 450 nT
for the storm. They called it “one of the most complex ever recorded.”
(Affirmed by J. Love, personal communication, 2018). Bell et al. (1997)
characterized the interval as a superstorm. Using data from Pioneer 10,
Tsurutani et al. (2003) suggested a magnetic field strength at 1 AU
ranging from 73 to 103 nT and an IP electric field >200 mV/m. Li et al.
(2006) estimated that a southward (rather than northward) IMF in the
postsheath magnetic cloud on 4–5 August 1972 would have produced a Dst
approaching -1,600 nT in the presence of a large density enhancement.
Kozyra et al. (2013) noted that the fast and exceptional storm of 21
January 2005 shared some of the unusual solar wind features and
magnetospheric behavior of the 4–5 August 1972 event. They suggested that
solar filament material striking Earth's magnetosphere played a role in
the severity of both storms.

2.2 Grand Challenge
In agreement with Lakhina et al. (2013), we see the August 1972 storm as
part of a grand challenge to understand the scope, frequency, and impacts
of Carrington-class events (see references in Cliver, 2013; Ebihara et
al., 2017, Kataoka & Iwahashi, 2017, and Hayakawa et al., 2018 for
possible additional events). Silverman and Cliver (2001) suggest the 14–15
May 1921 storm as a Carrington-class storm in the twentieth century. Baker
et al. (2013) held a similar opinion of the 23 July 2012 shock/ICME that
hit Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead (STEREO A) (but missed
Earth) and the 4 August 1972 event. They stated that “… the event of 1859
joins the annals of modern powerful geomagnetic storms such as 4 August
1972 that have had severe impacts on power grids, satellites and
communications systems ….”

We now know that the 4 August 1972 event had significant civilian and
military impacts. The event was likely associated with an ultrafast IP
structure that produced an extraordinary flux of SEPS and plowed into
remnants of a previous ICME already in the vicinity of Earth. The complex
interaction of the ultrafast IP sheath shock (and possibly solar filament
material) with Earth's magnetic field appears as the primary suspect for
the violent response at Earth's surface. Recently, Saiz et al. (2016) and
Cid et al. (2015) argued that high solar wind pressure and abrupt
reversals of the IMF appear as the IP trigger of sharp geomagnetic field
perturbations in extreme storms. There is strong reason to believe these
factors were present in the near-Earth IP medium after 2050 UT on 4 August
1972.

There would be much value in exercising current-epoch models to understand
the sheath/shock aspects of 4–5 August 1972 storm. In particular, how did
the following contribute to the effects observed in geospace?: (1)
sequential, multiple flares/shocks/ICMEs, and path-clearing behaviors for
subsequent ultrafast events; (2) interaction of ultrafast shocks, solar
filament material, and ICMEs that lead to extreme SEP events and severe
magnetopause compression; (3) preconditioning in the geospace system,
especially in terms of ring current creation and neutral atmosphere
heating; (4) the influence of compression and erosion of the magnetopause
in regulating ring current formation; and (5) the relative role of
magnetopause and field-aligned currents in producing low-latitude magnetic
perturbations and extreme geomagnetic pulsations in the magnetosphere, and
calculations of dB/dt at Earth's surface, particularly in the equatorial
region. The space weather community would also benefit from (1) estimating
the influence this type of storm might have on Global Navigation Satellite
System services; (2) determining if current upstream monitors would be
able to produce and telemeter data through such a storm; and (3) doing an
in-depth comparison between this storm, which hit Earth, and the July 2012
event, which was well measured by space-based instruments, but missed
Earth.

As an important end note, this commentary is possible only because of the
extraordinary data and report archiving developed during the International
Geophysical Year and carried on by a host of dedicated scientists at the
World Data Centers, especially World Data Center A, Boulder, CO. It is
likely that many of the records needed to reconstruct this event are not
yet in accessible digital form. Therefore, as another aspect of the grand
challenge, we encourage an all-out effort to make all relevant data part
of a freely available archive.

Acknowledgments
No new data were created for this manuscript. DJK was partially supported
by AFOSR grant FA9550-17-1-0258. We are grateful to A. Lee Snyder who
provided insight into the August 1972 storm effect on DMSP operations,
David Boteler who assisted with GIC information, Bruce Tsurutani and
Jeffrey Love who provided insight on solar wind and indices, and Hisashi
Hayakawa who provided insight into data availability. We thank the Paris
Observatory for providing the solar images in Figures 1a and 1b and the
Kakioka Magnetic Observatory of the Japan Meteorological Agency for
providing online images of historic magnetograms. The wartime memoirs of a
U.S. Navy Mineman-Sailor Michael Gonzales are part of the War Stories
Project: West Texans and the Experience of War, World War I to the
Present, West Texas Collection of Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX
76909. Texas Tech University provided a copy of CNO MWPO report (1975)
https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/repositories/2/digital_objects/83295. The
Upper Atmosphere Geophysics Reports # 21 and #28 at
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/space-weather/online-publications/stp_uag/,
NOAA technical memorandum ERL SEL-22 at
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008333101, the 1974 Journal of the
Radio Research Laboratories Special Collection at
https://www.nict.go.jp/publication/journal/21/106/Journal_Vol21_No106_inde
x.pdf, and 1976 Space Science Review Special Collection, Volume 19, Issue
4-5 at https://link.springer.com/journal/11214/19/4/page/1 provide
important historical information about this event. The Hathi Trust Digital
Library and the Defense Technical Information Center have also provided
important archival information.

Appendix A: Historical Context
By 1972, U.S. troops had been involved in the Vietnam War for 7 years. The
intense fighting had taken deep tolls on all sides. The U.S. President
Nixon was finally convinced by naval advisors in the spring of 1972 that
sea mining of North Vietnam ports was a strategic necessity for reducing
supply routes to North Vietnam and ending the conflict (Tucker, 2006, Chap
15 p. 171). An intense mine-laying operation, Operation Pocket Money,
began on 9 May 1972, Vietnam time, in Hai Phong harbor. Over the
subsequent 8 months more than 11,000 mines were dropped into the waters
outside principal North Vietnamese ports (Campbell, 2015 p. 110). Such
mines typically were timed to disarm (sterilize) themselves in about 6
months. They were actuated by pressure, acoustic, and/or magnetic
signatures of passing ships (Hartman & Truver, 1991). Magnetic-influence
mines would detonate when magnetic variations exceeded preset thresholds
for one or more magnetic factors (e.g., amplitude, polarity, rate of
change, and/or gradient).

In a 1997 Institute for Defense Analysis report, Vice Admiral (Ret.) Greer
discussed the need for reseeding and/or replacement of the self-
sterilizing mines and noted that “Also, a serious electromagnetic anomaly
from a sunspot detonated a large number of mines.” The wartime memoirs of
a U.S. Navy Mineman-Sailor Chief Petty Officer Michael Gonzales address
the efforts of replacing the detonated mines: “Consequently, the task of
re-seeding the depleted fields was an enormous evolution, which demanded
immediate execution and was of the utmost priority. … I cannot emphasize
the tremendous strain that it imposed on the Pacific fleet Minemen, aside
from the vast war commitments that were already delegated to the U.S.
Mines divisions at that time.” (Gonzales,
https://www.angelo.edu/content/files/21974-a).

There should be no doubt of the importance the U.S. government attached to
maintaining the mine fields. Numerous post-Vietnam War reports note that
the interruption of goods and war materials into the ports eventually
brought all sides to the Paris Peace Talks. A signed accord in late
January 1973 contained a stipulation that the United States would sweep
the mines and (in return) North Vietnam would free prisoners of war.
Operation End Sweep involved considerable resources applied by the United
States minesweeping operations (Hartman & Truver, 1991).


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