A coastal sea area usually indicates a sea area between a continental shelf break with a water depth of about 200 m and the land shore. About 70% of global fish resources spend part of their life cycle in the coastal seas, which accounts for 90% of marine biomass yield. Freshwater and nutrients from the land have a great influence on the coastal seas, especially since more than half the human population lives within 100 km of a coast. Chemical reactions occur there rapidly between substances from the land as they encounter substances from the ocean. In terms of physics, a coastal sea acts as a boundary layer and kinetic energy is actively exchanged there. But if coastal oceanography were to be summed up in a single sentence, it would be `the study that quantitatively makes clear the material transport in the coastal sea area'. Because the physical, chemical and biological processes relate to the material transport in the sea, it can be said the coastal oceanography is a genuinely interdisciplinary study. This book clarifies the quantitative material transport processes in the coastal sea area, mainly from a physical viewpoint.

In multidisciplinary efforts to understand and manage our planet, contemporary ocean science plays an essential role. Volumes 13 and 14 of The Sea focus on two of the most important components in the field of ocean science today--the coastal ocean and its interactions with the deep sea, and coupled physical-biogeochemical and ecosystem dynamics.

Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters describes the observation, analysis and prediction of wind-generated waves in the open ocean, in shelf seas, and in coastal regions with islands, channels, tidal flats and inlets, estuaries, fjords and lagoons. Most of this richly illustrated book is devoted to the physical aspects of waves. After introducing observation techniques for waves, both at sea and from space, the book defines the parameters that characterise waves. Using basic statistical and physical concepts, the author discusses the prediction of waves in oceanic and coastal waters, first in terms of generalised observations, and then in terms of the more theoretical framework of the spectral energy balance. He gives the results of established theories and also the direction in which research is developing. The book ends with a description of SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore), the preferred computer model of the engineering community for predicting waves in coastal waters.

This book integrates a wide range of subjects into a coherent purview of the status of coastal marine science. Designed for the professional or specialist in coastal science, oceanography, and related disciplines, this work will appeal to workers in multidisciplinary fields that strive for practical solutions to environmental problems in coastal marine settings around the world. Examples are drawn from many different geographic areas, including the Black Sea region. Subject areas covered include aspects of coastal marine geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and history. These subject areas were selected because they form the basis for integrative investigation of salient environmental problems or perspective solutions or interpretation of historical context.

The second edition of Environmental Oceanography is the first textbook to link the needs of the coastal oceanographer and the environmental practitioner. The ever-increasing human impact on the environment, and particularly on the coastal zone, has led governments to carefully examine the environmental implications of development proposals. This book provides the background needed to undertake coastal oceanographic investigations and sets them in context by incorporating case studies and sample problems based on the author's experience as an environmental consultant.

This book provides a thorough treatment of both theoretical and observational aspects of the interaction between the sea-floor and the near-sea-floor dynamics; the effect this has on the distribution of internal and seabed stress; and the relevance of the associated dynamics to sedimentation processes. The theoretical work described involved both analytical and numerical modelling studies of a wide range of near-shore and shelf processes. These provide a valuable store of information on the interaction between the sea-floor and the dynamics of the overlying water. The book also includes an account of tidal analysis techniques and how these are being applied in the analysis of tidal current measurements. The observational studies relate to measurements of near-sea-floor turbulence and sand-transport in the littoral zone.

In this exciting and innovative textbook, two leading oceanographers bring together the fundamental physics and biology of the coastal ocean in a quantitative but accessible way for undergraduate and graduate students. Shelf sea processes are comprehensively explained from first principles using an integrated approach to oceanography that helps build a clear understanding of how shelf sea physics underpins key biological processes in these environmentally sensitive regions. Using many observational and model examples, worked problems and software tools, the authors explain the range of physical controls on primary biological production and shelf sea ecosystems. Boxes throughout the book present extra detail for each topic and non-mathematical summary points are provided for physics sections, allowing students to develop an intuitive understanding. The book is fully supported by extensive online materials, including worked solutions to end-of-chapter exercises, additional homework/exam problems with solutions and simple MATLAB and FORTRAN models for running simulations.