Textbook Simpson, J. H., and J. Sharples. An Introduction to the Physical and Biological Oceanography of Shelf Seas. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

This textbook describes the physical processes that operate in shelf seas, and the effects that the physics has on shelf sea biology. It is aimed at final year undergraduates and postgraduate students. The book website provides additional resources, including numerical models and samples of observational data. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction to the shelf seas 2. Physical forcing of the shelf seas: what drives the motion of ocean? 3. Response to forcing: the governing equations and some basic solutions 4. Waves, turbulent motions and mixing 5. Life in the shelf seas 6. Seasonal stratification and the spring bloom 7. Interior mixing and phytoplankton survival in stratified environments 8. Tidal mixing fronts: their location, dynamics and biological significance 9. Regions of freshwater influence (ROFIs) 10. The shelf edge system 11. Future challenges in shelf seas References Index Additional resources: • Matlab modules demonstrating key shelf sea physical processes. • A 1-D (vertical) numerical model of shelf sea physics and the response of the phytoplankton (Windows application). • All figures from the book. • Observational datasets and suggested student exercises.