A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an "insular shelf."

2017年4月25日 · A continental shelf is the edge of a continent lying beneath the ocean. This shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop off point called the shelf break. The shelf break is where the underwater edge of a continent shelf begins to rapidly slope downwards towards the ocean floor depths.

2023年10月19日 · A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break. From the break, the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental slope. Even though they are underwater, continental shelves are …

The meaning of CONTINENTAL SHELF is a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending in a comparatively steep slope to the deep ocean floor.

2023年6月22日 · A continental shelf is a shallow submarine terrace of continental crust that forms the continent's landmass edge.

continental shelf, a broad, relatively shallow submarine terrace of continental crust forming the edge of a continental landmass. The geology of continental shelves is often similar to that of the adjacent exposed portion of the continent, and most shelves have a gently rolling topography called ridge and swale.

There is both a legal and geographical definition for a continental shelf. The legal definition, which is used by the United Nations, defines the term as submerged land that extends no further than 200 nautical miles from a continent’s coastline.