The northern half of the Adriatic Sea is constituted by the continental shelf with very shallow depths (20 m) in the northernmost extremity. In particular, the new-coastal region adjacent to the Italian coastline forms a shallow strip, with isobaths running parallel to the coast and a topography gently increasing towards the interior of the basin. In the region immediately south of the Po River delta—the major source of fresh water input into the Adriatic—important eutrophication phenomena have recently occurred in summer. The controversial question thus arises whether these eutrophication phenomena are to be ascribed to nutrient inputs from local sources or from the Po River waters carried southward parallel to the Italian coastline in the general cyclonic gyre characterizing the Adriatic yearly average circulation. The dynamically important question is, then, whether and how a localized source of freshwater drives the nearcoastal shelf circulation. To answer this question a multi-level hydrodyn... Abstract The northern half of the Adriatic Sea is constituted by the continental shelf with very shallow depths (20 m) in the northernmost extremity. In particular, the new-coastal region adjacent to the Italian coastline forms a shallow strip, with isobaths running parallel to the coast and a topography gently increasing towards the interior of the basin. In the region immediately south of the Po River delta—the major source of fresh water input into the Adriatic—important eutrophication phenomena have recently occurred in summer. The controversial question thus arises whether these eutrophication phenomena are to be ascribed to nutrient inputs from local sources or from the Po River waters carried southward parallel to the Italian coastline in the general cyclonic gyre characterizing the Adriatic yearly average circulation. The dynamically important question is, then, whether and how a localized source of freshwater drives the nearcoastal shelf circulation. To answer this question a multi-level hydrodyn...