Contributions are invited on innovative observational, theoretical and modelling studies concerning physical processes in coastal and shelf seas. Processes can include hydrodynamics (e.g., waves, tides, currents and Stokes drift, upwelling, eddies, density structures), transport of material (e.g., sediments, contaminants, litter, nutrients), and morphodynamics and sea-bed structure (e.g., evolution of bed forms, banks, Holocene-Antropogene strata or basin shape). Study areas are envisaged between the base of the shelf break and the seaward limit of the surf zone. However, contributions on processes outside these geographical limits will be considered where they significantly influence processes within these limits. Equally, contributions on climate dynamics, biogeochemistry, and man-made structures will be considered where they significantly influence, or are significantly influenced by, the processes aimed at in this session. Special attention will be given to interactions between physics and biology/biogeochemistry and to global to local scaling of processes, their relative importance, and the representation of these transitions in models. A subsession is envisaged on the Baltic Sea, with emphasis on the Baltic Earth programme, focusing on sea-level variability, salinity dynamics and water budget, biogeochemical feedbacks, extreme events and anthropogenically induced changes. Also, a subsession on river plumes and Regions of Freshwater Influence (ROFI's) is included. This subsession will address recent advances in understanding the mechanisms which govern the dynamics and variability of river plumes, based on in situ measurements, satellite observations, and numerical modelling, their impact on stratification and circulation in coastal areas, and potential impacts on climate change, and transport and fate of river-borne suspended and dissolved constituents (nutrients, terrigenous sediments, anthropogenic pollutants, litter), sediment deposition and seabed morphology. In addition to the above, this session welcomes coastal and shelf seas related studies that do not fit into the more specialist sessions.