Introduction

This book concerns the properties and functioning of the Patagonian shelf-break front (PSBF), a narrow boundary separating waters occupying a wide continental shelf from those of the neighboring western boundary current, the Malvinas Current (MC). The PSBF front is part of the structural complexity of the Southwestern Atlantic, and it is featured by high primary production, biodiversity, and important fisheries. The book compiles scientific papers on the Patagonian shelf-break front, an integral reanalysis of this information under modern paradigms to produce new insights into its functioning, and an assessment of the risks to which it is subjected by human pressures.