" ... as soon as one has traversed the greater part of the wild sea, one comes upon such a huge quantity of ice that nowhere in the whole world has the like been known." "This ice is of a wonderful nature. It lies at times quite still, as one would expect, with openings or large fjords in it; but sometimes its movement is so strong and rapid as to equal that of a ship running before the wind, and it drifts against the wind as often as with it." Kongespeilet - 1250 A.D. ("The Mirror of Kings") Modern societies require increasing amounts influence on the water mass and on the resulting of scientific information about the environment total environment of the region; therefore, cer­ tain of its characteristics will necessarily be in whieh they live and work. For the seas this information must describe the air above the sea, included.

1. Climatology.- General Aspects of the Climatology.- Sources of Information.- Climatology in the Open-Water Areas.- Case Studies at the Ice Edge.- Concluding Remarks.- References.- 2. The ICE Cover.- Landfast Ice.- The Transition Zone.- The Moving Pack Ice.- The Marginal Ice Zone.- References.- 3. The Physical Properties of the Sea Ice Cover.- Ice Types.- Ice Structure and Composition.- Lack of Physical-Property Data.- Conclusions.- References.- 4. Brief Overview of the Physical Oceanography.- Bathymetry and Circulation.- Water Masses.- Deep-Water Formation.- Ocean Fronts.- Ocean Climate.- References.- 5. The Arctic Waters.- Oceanographic Studies.- Hydrographie Conditions in Winter.- Water Masses of the Arctic Domain.- Hydrography of the Arctic Domain.- The Deep Waters.- Discussion.- References.- 6. The Sound-Speed Structure.- Sound Speed in General.- Sound Speed in the Nordic Basin.- Sound Speed in Future Applications.- Appendix: Methods for Computating Sound Speed In Sea Water and Their Validities.- Acknowledgments.- References.- 7. Features of Fjord and Ocean Interaction.- Water Masses and Exchange Processes of Fjords.- The Esturine Circulation of Fjords.- Behavior of the Intermediate Water Masses.- External Forcing of Water Exchanges in Fjords.- Renewal of Basin Water in Fjords.- References.- 8. Tides.- Harmonic Decomposition of Tides.- The Mathematical-Empirical Ocean Tide Model.- Major Features of M2 and K1 Ocean Tides.- Acknowledgment.- References.- 9. Bathymetry.- Data Base.- Previous Work.- Results.- Higher Resolution Bathymetry.- Summarizing Remarks.- References.- 10. Seafloor Topography, Sediments, and Paleoenvironments.- Physiography and Morphology.- Sediments and Paleoclimate.- Appendix: Plate Tectonics.- References.- 11. Geophysical and Geochemical Signatures and Plate Tectonics.- Earthquake Seismology, Seismicity and Stress.- Parameters of Interest.- Overview.- Seismicity and Stress Along the Midocean Ridge Including Iceland.- Intraplate Seismicity in the Eurasian Plate.- Intraplate Seismicity in the North American Plate.- Large Earthquakes.- Earthquake Recurrence Times.- Man-Made Seismic Disturbances.- Historic Volcanism.- Seismic Constraints on the Structure of the Crust and Uppermost Mantle.- Magnetotellurics and Electrical Resistivity.- Gravity, Gravity Anomalies, and the Geoid.- Magnetic Field, Magnetic Anomalies, and Seafloor Spreading.- Heat Flow.- Igneous Geochemistry and Petrology.- Early Tertiary Volcanism and Possible Antecedents.- Plate Motions.- Acknowledgments.- References.- Addendum.- Afterword.- Postface.- Acknowledgments.- Name Index.