At the continental shelf the reflection and transmission of the tidal wave can lead to the generation of internal tides on the pycnocline. The surface (i.e. barotropic) tide generates these internal tides where stratified waters are forced upwards over a sloping bottom topography. The internal tide extracts energy from the surface tide and propagates both in shoreward and seaward direction. The shoreward propagating internal waves shoals when reaching shallower water where the wave energy is dissipated by wave breaking. The shoaling of the internal tide drives mixing across the pycnocline, high levels carbon sequestration and sediment resuspension. Furthermore, through nutrient mixing the shoaling of the internal tide has a fundamental control on the functioning of ecosystems on the continental margin.