The continental shelf seas have an importance out of proportion to the relatively small fraction of the area of the global ocean which they occupy. These shallow seas play an important role as the high energy boundary zones of the deep ocean where much of the ocean's tidal and wave energies are dissipated. They are highly productive biologically and are responsible for most of the world's fishery production.

The North Sea is an archetypal representative of such seas: we need to be able to understand its processes and predict them if we are to achieve a degree of rational management in the future as environmental threats increase. This book brings together the principal results from the North Sea Project which were presented at a discussion meeting organized by The Royal Society as well as setting them in the context of other related studies.