This book is a product of the joint JGOFS (Joint Global Ocean Flux Study)/LOICZ (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) Continental Margins Task Team which was established to facilitate continental margins research in the two projects. It contains signi cant information on the physical, biogeochemical, and ecosystems of continental margins nationally and regionally and provides a very valuable synthesis of this information and the physical, biogeochemical and ecosystem processes which occur on continental margins. The publication of this book is timely as it provides a very strong foundation for the development of the joint IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems Research)/LOICZ Science Plan and Implemen- tion Strategy for biogeochemical and ecosystems research in the continental margins and the impacts of global change on these systems. This initiative will move forward integrated biogeochemical and ecosystems research in the continental margins. We thank all the contributors to this volume and especially Kon-Kee Liu who has dedicated a great deal of time to ensuring a high-quality book is published. IMBER Scienti c Steering Committee Julie Hall LOICZ Scienti c Steering Committee Jozef Pacyna v 1 Preface In general, interfaces between the Earth's larger material reservoirs (i. e., the land, atmosphere, ocean, and sediments) are important in the control of the biogeoche- cal dynamics and cycling of the major bio-essential elements, including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), and silicon (Si), found in organic matter and the inorganic skeletons, shells, and tests of benthic and marine organisms.
About the Author:

KK Liu is the director of the Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University in Taiwan, and a member of the IGBP Scientific Committee. Having conducted extensive observations in the East and South China Seas, he now also explores biogeochemical cycles in continental margins using modeling approaches.

Larry Atkinson is the Samuel and Fay Slover Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Old Dominion University. He is a pioneer working on nutrient supplies and hydrographic variability in the southeastern United States continental shelf waters and other western boundary current systems.

Renato Quiñones is a Professor of biological oceanography in the Department of Oceanography and COPAS Center at the University of Concepción. As a core member of the GLOBEC Focus 4 Working Group under IGBP, he is recognized for work on aerobic and anaerobic metabolism of marine communities and fisheries oceanography, especially in eastern boundary currents.

Liana Talaue-McManus is a Scientist at the Division of Marine Affairs and Policy, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. She served as the chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of LOICZ Project of IGBP from 2004-2005. She is currently involved in examining human-environment interactions in island systems in the Caribbean.