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 Arctic geology and reference for investigators studying the Arctic and oceanography during the past decade, many ques- subarctic seas. tions remain to be answered. The paleo-oceanog- It is with pleasure that I acknowledge the raphy and the past atmospheric circulatory pat- following people for helping in various ways terns are still open to controversy, as are the during the preparation of this book: Philip E. structure and evolution of the crust beneath this Rosenberg, David M. Hopkins, C. Hans Nelson, ocean; furthermore, the origin and mode of dis- Horace G. Richards, Richard C. Allison, Peter persal of sediments is still not fully understood. Barnes, Edwin C. Buffington, Joe S. Creager, The current status of many of these problems is D. A. McManus, Joseph H. Kravitz, G. Vilks, discussed in the present volume. Thomas D. Hamilton, Ronald J. Echols, G. D.