This first IAS Special Publication contains the oral presentations from a special symposium on pelagic sediments held in Zurich in 1973. The aim of the symposium was to bring together sea-borne researchers involved with the Deep Sea Drilling Project and land-locked researchers studying ancient sediments. If you are a member of the International Association of Sedimentologists, for purchasing details, please see: http: //www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=SP1About the Author: Kenneth Jinghwa Hsu Ph.D, M.A., born 28 June 1929, is a Chinese scientist, geologist, paleoclimatologist, oceanographer, government advisor, author, inventor and entrepreneur who was born in Nanjing, China. Hugh C. Jenkyns is the editor of Pelagic Sediments: On Land and Under the Sea, published by Wiley.