Shelf and Coastal Oceanography Version 1.0  October 1998 Contents

• 1. Introduction. Why are shelf regions and estuaries different from the deep ocean?

• 2. Review of deep ocean dynamics: geostrophy, Ekman layer transports, the Sverdrup balance. Definition of shelf oceanography
• 3. Ekman layer dynamics for shallow seas with stratification.
• 4. Sea level set-up and buoyancy-driven flows.
• 5. Tides in shallow seas.
• 6. Upwelling dynamics in deep and shallow water.
• 7. Island wakes in deep and shallow water.
• 8. Coastal trapped waves and other oscillations.
• 9. Fronts in shallow seas and estuaries.
• 10. Water masses in shallow seas.

• 11. Definition of estuaries. Empirical estuary classification.
• 12.Estuary classifications based on fluid dynamics principles.
• 13. Examples of estuaries and their classifications.
• 14. The salt balance.
• 15. The flushing time.
• 16. Pollutant dispersal in estuaries.
• 17. Sediment transport in estuaries.
• 18. Regional classification of estuaries; a survey of Australian estuaries.

Links to other oceanography pages

• An Introduction to Physical Oceanography
  
• Exercises in Physical Oceanography
  
• Regional Oceanography
  
• Oceanographic utilities.