Some effects of shear wave processes in a multilayered ocean bottom are examined. Normal mode theory is used to calculate the stress and displacement components at receivers in and on the bottom. The effects of the seafloor on normal modes are contained in a bottom boundary condition involving the impedance derived from the plane‐wave reflection coefficient. Shear wave processes are included when the reflectivity is calculated using a solid description of the bottom. Comparisons of the range dependence of stresses and displacements calculated using fluid and solid descriptions of the seafloor indicate that shear wave processes significantly affect the phase of all acoustic field components, both on and in the bottom. Within the bottom, all acoustic component amplitudes may be 10 dB greater if the solid, instead of the fluid, seafloor description is used. On the seafloor, the only acoustic component amplitude substantially affected by shear wave processes is the vertical displacement, which may be 10 dB smaller for a solid bottom than for a fluid one.