A major limitation for Arctic paleoceanography is the lack of calcareous microfossils in pre-late Quaternary sediments. We review foraminiferal biostratigraphy from cores from the Lomonosov, Alpha, Northwind and Mendeleyev Ridges with emphasis on the Quaternary from IODP Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) Leg 302, core 4C (87°52.1 N, 136°11.4’E, 1287.9 m water depth). Calcareous benthic and planktonic foraminifers and ostracodes occur intermittently in interglacial sediments deposited during marine isotope stages (MIS) 1-9. A distinctive Arctic-wide transition from intermittent calcareous foraminifers to agglutinated benthic foraminiferal (ABF) assemblages occurs at depths of 2 to 6 m below sea floor about 200-450 ka (MIS 7-11) depending on the site. Sediment bulk density (SBD) and mineral magnetic sediment properties and ABFs were used for cyclostratigraphy of Quaternary orbital cycles and sea-ice reconstruction. ABF maxima correspond to low or decreasing SBD (interglacials) between MIS 55-13. Sediments deposited during large glacials (MIS 24-22, 16, 12) during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) are nearly barren. Results suggest seasonally ice-free interglacial periods in the central Arctic Ocean prior the onset of high-amplitude cycles during the MPT.