Whether in the context of off-shore oil exploration or pure research, the oceans of the geological past have never been of more compelling interest. The recent expansion in oceanographic studies has produced a burgeoning of data on ancient ocean circulation, climate, bathymetry, chemistry, biology, and temperature data that now should be considered in a more general geological and paleontological framework. "Paleoceanography" will serve as an important resource for paleontologists and for a much broader audience of earth and ocean scientists, petroleum geologists, and stratigraphers.