Until now debates about alternative uses of the bank have been hampered by the fact that much of the basic research has been available only to specialists and has been scattered among many publications. In bringing the available information on this complex region together for the first time, Georges Bank provides a basic and indispensable reference tool for anyone involved in studying the bank or in making decisions about its use.Moreover, the depth and clarity of the book's 57 articles and 8 nontechnical introductions will make it useful for anyone involved in oceanographic or ocean policy studies.Sections cover all aspects of this huge marine ecosystem - geology, weather and climate, physical oceanography, chemistry, phytoplankton, primary production, zoology and secondary production, the fisheries, and conflicting uses. Georges Bank is the first major project of the Coastal Research Center of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The editor-in-chief, Richard H. Backus, is chairman of the Institutions's biology department.Includes 176 six-color maps, 54 four-color illustrations - 392 charts, graphs, and drawings.