FEC component of staff time on IODP Bering Sea research cruise and compulsory post-cruise meetings.

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This expedition will obtain sedimentary sequences to study the Pliocene-Pleistocene evolution of millennial- to Milankovitch- scale climatic oscillations in the Bering Sea, the marginal sea connecting the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Paleoclimatic indicators will be used to generate complete and detailed records of changes in the biological, chemical, and physical oceanographic conditions in the Bering Sea, as well as of the adjacent continental climate. In addition to being sensitive to regional and potentially global climate change, the Bering Sea is one of the source regions of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). Because the production of the NPIW is thought to be linked to global climate change and to Pacific Ocean circulation and nutrient distributions, investigating the evolution of conditions in regions of NPIW formation is critical for understanding the paleoceanography of the Pacific Ocean. Drilling in the Bering Sea will also document the effect of changes in the Bering Strait gateway region. The Bering Strait is the main gateway through which communication (flux of heat, salt, and nutrients) between the Atlantic and Pacific, via the Arctic Ocean, occurs today. Investigating the evolution of the Bering Strait is critical for understanding transitions in global ocean heat and nutrient budgets.