Lorsqu'il n'est pas en notre pouvoir de discerner les plus vraies opinions, nous devons suivre les plus pro babies.-Rene Descartes When, in the early 1960's I undertook to covered, due to limitations imposed by a single study Arctic Ocean deep-sea cores, I did not volume. anticipate that 10 years later the climatic history Although not comprehensive, it is hoped that of the north polar basin would be still a matter of this book will provide an insight into the current debate. Although much new data have accumu status of Arctic research and will also serve as a lated in various fields of Arct.

The Arctic region has long held a fascination for explorers and scientists of many countries. Despite the numerous voyages of exploration, the na ture of the central Arctic was unknown only 90 years ago; it was believed to be a shallow sea dotted with islands. During Nansen's historic voyage on the polarship Fram, which commenced in 1893, the great depth of the central basin was discovered. In the Soviet Union, investigation of the Arctic Ocean became national policy after 1917. Today research at several scientific institutions there is devoted primarily to the study of the North Polar Ocean and seas. The systematic exploration of the Arctic by the United States com menced in 1951. Research has been conducted year-round from drifting ice islands, which are tabular fragments of glacier ice that break away from ice shelves. Most frequently, ice islands originate off the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. These research platforms are occupied as weather sta tions, as well as for oceanographic and geophysical studies. Several inter national projects, conducted by Canadian, European, and U. S. groups, have been underway during the last three decades. Although much new data have accumulated since the publication of the Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Arctic Seas volume in 1974 (Yvonne Herman, ed. ), in various fields of polar research-including present-day ice cover, hydrogra phy, fauna, flora, and geology-many questions remain to be answered.

The Arctic region has long held a fascination for explorers and scientists of many countries. Despite the numerous voyages of exploration, the na ture of the central Arctic was unknown only 90 years ago; it was believed to be a shallow sea dotted with islands. During Nansen's historic voyage on the polarship Fram, which commenced in 1893, the great depth of the central basin was discovered. In the Soviet Union, investigation of the Arctic Ocean became national policy after 1917. Today research at several scientific institutions there is devoted primarily to the study of the North Polar Ocean and seas. The systematic exploration of the Arctic by the United States com menced in 1951. Research has been conducted year-round from drifting ice islands, which are tabular fragments of glacier ice that break away from ice shelves. Most frequently, ice islands originate off the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. These research platforms are occupied as weather sta tions, as well as for oceanographic and geophysical studies. Several inter national projects, conducted by Canadian, European, and U. S. groups, have been underway during the last three decades. Although much new data have accumulated since the publication of the Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Arctic Seas volume in 1974 (Yvonne Herman, ed. ), in various fields of polar research-including present-day ice cover, hydrogra phy, fauna, flora, and geology-many questions remain to be answered.

Although it is generally accepted that the Arctic Ocean is a very sensitive and important region for changes in the global climate, this region is the last major physiographic province of the earth whose short-and long-term geological history is much less known in comparison to other ocean regions. This lack of knowledge is mainly caused by the major technological/logistic problems in reaching this harsh, ice-covered region with normal research vessels and in retrieving long and undisturbed sediment cores. During the the last about 20 years, however, several international and multidisciplinary ship expeditions, including the first scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge in 2004, a break-through in Arctic research, were carried out into the central Artic and its surrounding shelf seas. Results from these expeditions have greatly advanced our knowledge on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironments. Published syntheses about the knowledge on Arctic Ocean geology, on the other hand, are based on data available prior to 1990. A comprehensive compilation of data on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironment and its short-and long-term variability based on the huge amount of new data including the ACEX drilling data, has not been available yet. With this book, presenting (1) detailed information on glacio-marine sedimentary processes and geological proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and (2) detailed geological data on modern environments, Quaternary variability on different time scales as well as the long-term climate history during Mesozoic-Tertiary times, this gap in knowledge will be filled.*Aimed at specialists and graduates *Presents background research, recent developments, and future trends*Written by a leading scholar and industry expert

Sea ice, which covers up to 7% of the planet’s surface, is a major component of the world’s oceans, partly driving ocean circulation and global climate patterns. It provides a habitat for a rich diversity of marine organisms, and is an extremely valuable source of information in studies of global climate change and the evolution of present day life forms. Increasingly sea ice is being used as a proxy for extraterrestrial ice covered systems. Sea Ice provides a comprehensive review of our current available knowledge of polar pack ice, the study of which is severely constrained by the logistic difficulties of working in such harsh and remote regions of the earth. The book’s editors, Drs Thomas and Dieckmann have drawn together an impressive group of international contributing authors, providing a well-edited and integrated volume, which will stand for many years as the standard work on the subject. Contents of the book include details of the growth, microstructure and properties of sea ice, large-scale variations in thickness and characteristics, its primary production, micro-and macrobiology, sea ice as a habitat for birds and mammals, sea ice biogeochemistry, particulate flux, and the distribution and significance of palaeo sea ice. Sea Ice is an essential purchase for oceanographers and marine scientists, environmental scientists, biologists, geochemists and geologists. All those involved in the study of global climate change will find this book to contain a wealth of important information. All libraries in universities and research establishments where these subjects are studied and taught will need multiple copies on their shelves. David Thomas is at the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, UK. Gerhard Dieckmann is at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

The book reflects the results of the study of sedimentation history, paleoclimatology, and paleoceanography of the Arctic and Subarctic during the last 130 ka. The main objects under consideration are marine basins of the West Subarctic (Iceland, Norwegian, and Greenland Seas), the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Pechora, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi Seas and deep-sea Arctic Ocean proper), East Subarctic (Bering and Okhotsk Seas). The modern environment and geological history of water- (ice-) sheds and marine basins have been studied for each region, using different sedimentological and geochemical proxies. Mainly results of the authors' own studies are represented, with special emphasis on glacial/interglacial variability and land-ocean interaction. The book is aimed at sedimentologists, quaternary and marine geologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoceanographers, as well as being of great interest to students in the related fields.

Polar Oceanography is an integrated synthesis of the biological, physical, geological, and chemical processes that occur in the polar oceans. The book represents the first modern interdisciplinary synthesis in this field.