The Bering Sea and paleoceanography

This paper serves as an introduction to the Bering Sea, preceding the 14 contributed papers contained in this volume. Several parts of the paper are allocated for current reviews of the Bering Sea. Included in the review topics are geomorphology, surface water circulation, and the importance of the formation of intermediate waters. Representative results of previous paleoceanographic studies are also presented, in particular focusing on spatial and temporal distributions of biosiliceous microfossils as well as isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen concerning changes in productivity and nutrients. Motivations behind the scientific expeditions conducted, which resulted in the many papers included here, are briefly discussed in order to illustrate the recent trend in paleoceanography in the Bering Sea and the adjacent regions. Brief summaries or highlights of each of the contributed papers are given in order to provide an overview of the volume.