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Where is the continental shelf in North America?
The U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) includes the area between state jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles (nm) from shore. State jurisdiction over the seafloor extends from the shoreline out to 3 nm, except for Texas and the Florida Gulf Coast, which extend out to 9 nm.
Where is the continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean?
In the Atlantic Ocean, continental margins have a shelf that is broad and flat and reaches a depth of 100 m. The slope is the steep transitional area between the shelf and rise, and it lies between depths of 100 and 2,500 m.
Can you walk on the continental shelf?
Back on the continental shelf, you could barely step without crushing a living thing. After a while, the steep slope lessens; this is called the continental rise. The ocean is still getting deeper, but at a much slower rate.
Where does the continental shelf end?
the shelf breakStructure. A continental shelf typically extends from the coast to depths of 100–200 metres (330–660 feet). It is gently inclined seaward at an average slope of about 0.1°. In nearly all instances, it ends at its seaward edge with an abrupt drop called the shelf break.
What is the deepest spot in all the oceans?
the Mariana TrenchThe deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep.
Where is the continental shelf closest to the shore?
Nearest shore is the continental shelf, which ranges in width from less than 1 kilometer off Florida to more than 420 kilometers off Maine; it averages about 135 kilometers. The total area is 420,000 square kilometers, of which one-fourth is within the Gulf of Maine north of Georges Bank.
What is under the sea floor?
1:052:21Our mysterious ocean floor - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipUntil then the majority of the Earth's surface remains mysterious there's a thrilling landscapeMoreUntil then the majority of the Earth's surface remains mysterious there's a thrilling landscape underwater from deep trenches through long fractures to huge underwater mountains known as sea mounts.
What is the bottom of the sea called?
seabedThe seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean.
What is under the continental shelf?
The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. Below the slope is the continental rise, which finally merges into the deep ocean floor, the abyssal plain. The continental shelf and the slope are part of the continental margin.
What lives in the continental shelf?
Lobster, Dungeness crab, tuna, cod, halibut, sole and mackerel can be found. Permanent rock fixtures are home to anemones, sponges, clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and coral. Larger animals such as whales and sea turtles can be seen in continental shelf areas as they follow migration routes.
Why continental shelf is the richest?
Continental shelves contain valuable resources, such as oil and gas and minerals. Oil and gas are formed from organic material that accumulates on the continental shelf.
Why is the continental shelf so important?
The significance of the continental shelf is that it may contain valuable minerals and shellfish. UNCLOS addresses the issue of jurisdiction over these resources by allocating sovereign rights to the coastal State for exploration and exploitation.
Overview
- Most continental shelves are broad, gently sloping plains covered by relatively shallow water. Water depth over the continental shelves averages about 60 meters (200 feet). Sunlight penetrates the shallow waters, and many kinds of organisms flourishfrom microscopic shrimp t…
Topography
Geographical distribution
Sediments
Shelf seas
Biota
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.
The continental margin, between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, co…
Economic significance
The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. Below the slope is the continental rise, which finally merges into the deep ocean floor, the abyssal plain. The continental shelf and the slope are part of the continental margin.
The shelf area is commonly subdivided into the inner continental shelf, mid co…
See also
Continental shelves cover an area of about 27 million km , equal to about 7% of the surface area of the oceans. The width of the continental shelf varies considerably – it is not uncommon for an area to have virtually no shelf at all, particularly where the forward edge of an advancing oceanic plate dives beneath continental crust in an offshore subduction zone such as off the coast of Chile o…
What Is A Continental Shelf?
The continental shelves are covered by terrigenous sediments; that is, those derived from erosion of the continents. However, little of the sediment is from current rivers; some 60–70% of the sediment on the world's shelves is relict sediment, deposited during the last ice age, when sea level was 100–120 m lower than it is now.
Sediments usually become increasingly fine with distance from the coast; sand is limited to shal…
Continental Shelf Definition
Shelf seas refer to the ocean waters on the continental shelf. Their motion is controlled by the combined influences of the tides, wind-forcing and brackish water formed from river inflows (Regions of Freshwater Influence). These regions can often be biologically highly productive due to mixing caused by the shallower waters and the enhanced current speeds. Despite covering only about 8% of Earth's ocean surface area, shelf seas support 15-20% of global primary productivity.
America’s Continental Shelf
Continental shelves teem with life because of the sunlight available in shallow waters, in contrast to the biotic desert of the oceans' abyssal plain. The pelagic (water column) environment of the continental shelf constitutes the neritic zone, and the benthic (sea floor) province of the shelf is the sublittoral zone. The shelves make up less than ten percent of the ocean, and a rough estimate suggest that only about 30% of the continental shelf sea floor receives enough sunlight to allow …
Continental Shelf Map and Diagrams
The relatively accessible continental shelf is the best understood part of the ocean floor. Most commercial exploitation from the sea, such as metallic ore, non-metallic ore, and hydrocarbon extraction, takes place on the continental shelf.
Sovereign rights over their continental shelves down to a depth of 100 m (330 ft) or to a distance where the depth of waters admitted of resource exploitation were claimed by the marine nations …
The Immense Importance of Continental Shelves
• Baseline
• Continental island
• Continental shelf of Russia
• Continental shelf pump
• Exclusive economic zone