There has lately been a growth in the number and level of studiesof contourite deposits. Most recent studies of contourites havetwo major lines of interest. One, propelled by the oil industry'scontinuous move into increasingly deep waters, concerns theireconomic significance. The other involves the stratigraphic/palaeoceanographic record of ocean circulation changes imprintedon contourite deposits that can be a key to understanding betterthe climate-ocean connection. The application of many differenttheoretical, experimental and empirical resources provided bygeophysics, sedimentology, geochemistry, petrology, scale modelingand field geology are used in the 16 papers of this volume,proposing answers to those two main aspects. The papers aresubdivided into two major categories (economic interest andstratigraphic/palaeoceanographic significance), with case studiesranging from well-documented drifts to new examples of modernand fossil series, involving a large diversity of geographicand physiographic scenarios worldwide.
