@@The omnipresent shelf-break front has intrigued oceanographers for many years, but there is still no consensus on the physical processes responsible for its genesis and maintenance. It is possible that different mechanisms are operative at different times and locations. However, because of the persistent frontal location, any reasonable mechanism should have something to do with the sharp change of bottom topography near the shelf-break. Here we discuss a couple of recently proposed mechanisms for the shelf-break frontogenesis as documented in a recent review paper (Chen, 2008). One of them invokes a flow convergence produced by local air-sea interaction over sloping topography (Chen et al. 2003), whereas the other relies on the depth dependence of wind-induced shear dispersion (Ou and Chen, 2007). These novel ideas are based on new observational evidences and previous theoretical studies, and they are demonstrated here using an idealized ocean-atmosphere coupled model and a standalone coastal ocean model. The air-sea interaction mechanism seems to be responsible for the spring sharpening of the shelf-break front in the East China Sea, and the shear dispersion mechanism is likely to be applicable to the shelf-break front off the northeastern United States.