The International Association for Sediment Water Science sponsors a symposium triennially, during which the latest developments in the study of interactions between sediments and their overlying waters are presented. These proceedings are a collection of papers submitted following the 7th Symposium held in Baveno, Italy, during 22nd - 25th September, 1996. The study of sediment/water interactions crosses disciplinary and ecosystem boundaries. The work presented in this volume demonstrates the importance of multidisciplinarity to the field with papers included in the general subject areas of sediment/water dynamics, sediment/contaminant interactions, the role of sediments in element cycles, the use of sediments as historical indicators, sediment/organism interactions, and studies of sedimentary environments in remote areas.