The gaps in current understanding of the erosion, transport and deposition of sediment in estuaries are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that future work should give priority to (1) the formation, movement and entrainment of high concentration near bed layers; (2) particle interactions, including flocculation, cycling processes, and chemical and biological interactions; (3) intertidal mudflat processes, sediment exchanges in shallow water and wave induced mud transport; (4) development of improved parameterization of exchange processes for inclusion in 3D mathematical models. (5) development and use of new instrumentation for field measurements, especially of intermittent events, and over the long term. This work should be carried out within interdisciplinary studies involving physicists, sediment dynamicists, biologists, and chemists. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989