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    Continental

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    Lekshmi Shunnma
    Continental shelves are shallow submarine terraces that extend from coastlines to depths of around 100-200 meters. They are gently sloped areas that make up around 8% of ocean areas. Continental shelves typically end in an abrupt drop called the shelf break where the steeper continental slope begins. Shelves were formed by sediment deposition from rivers and the submergence of former dry land during rising sea levels after the Ice Age. They provide rich ecosystems and are a major source of the world's fish and fossil fuels from offshore drilling.

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    Continental

    Uploaded by

    Lekshmi Shunnma
    29 views4 pages
    Continental shelves are shallow submarine terraces that extend from coastlines to depths of around 100-200 meters. They are gently sloped areas that make up around 8% of ocean areas. Continental shelves typically end in an abrupt drop called the shelf break where the steeper continental slope begins. Shelves were formed by sediment deposition from rivers and the submergence of former dry land during rising sea levels after the Ice Age. They provide rich ecosystems and are a major source of the world's fish and fossil fuels from offshore drilling.

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    Brief description About the continental shelves

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    Continental shelves are shallow submarine terraces that extend from coastlines to depths of around 100-200 meters. They are gently sloped areas that make up around 8% of ocean areas. Continental shelves typically end in an abrupt drop called the shelf break where the steeper continental slope begins. Shelves were formed by sediment deposition from rivers and the submergence of former dry land during rising sea levels after the Ice Age. They provide rich ecosystems and are a major source of the world's fish and fossil fuels from offshore drilling.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    29 views4 pages

    Continental

    Uploaded by

    Lekshmi Shunnma
    Continental shelves are shallow submarine terraces that extend from coastlines to depths of around 100-200 meters. They are gently sloped areas that make up around 8% of ocean areas. Continental shelves typically end in an abrupt drop called the shelf break where the steeper continental slope begins. Shelves were formed by sediment deposition from rivers and the submergence of former dry land during rising sea levels after the Ice Age. They provide rich ecosystems and are a major source of the world's fish and fossil fuels from offshore drilling.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    CONTINENTAL SHELF

    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
    continent, and most
    shelves have a gently rolling topography called ridge and swale. Continental shelves
    make up about 8 percent of the entire area covered by oceans.

    Structure :

    A continental shelf typically extends from the coast to depths of 100 100–200 metres
    (330–660
    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. Below this lies the continental
    ontinental slope,
    slope, a much steeper zone that usually merges
    with a section of the ocean floor called the continental rise at a depth of roughly
    4,000 to 5,000 metres (13,000 to 16,500 feet). A few continental margins
    margins—such as
    those off the Mediterranean coast of France and at Porcupine Bank, off the western
    coast of Ireland—dodo not have a sharply defined break in slope but rather maintain a
    generally convex shape to the seafloor.
    The average width of continental shelves is about 65 km (40 miles). Almost
    everywhere the shelves represent simply a continuation of the continental landmass
    beneath the ocean margins. Accordingly, they are narrow, rough, and steep off
    mountainous coasts but broad and comparatively level offshore from plains. The
    shelf along the mountainous western coast of the United States, for examp example, is
    narrow, measuring only about 32 km (20 miles) wide, whereas that fringing the
    eastern coast extends more than 120 km (75 miles) in width. Exceptionally broad
    shelves occur off northern Australia and Argentina. The world’s largest continental
    shelf extends
    xtends 1,500 km (about 930 miles) from the coast of Siberia into the Arctic
    Ocean.
    Continental shelves are usually covered with a layer of sand, silts
    silts, and silty muds.
    Their surfaces exhibit some relief, featuring small hills and ridges that alternate with
    shallow depressions and valleylike troughs. In a few cases, steep steep-walled V-
    shaped submarine canyons cut deeply into both the shelf and the slope below.

    Global Continental Shelf Locations- Source https://www.whatarethe7continents.com/what--is-a-continental-shelf/:


    Formation :
    Continental shelves
    lves were formed in several ways. As rivers flow into the ocean, they
    deposit both inorganic and organic material. This includes sediment, as well as
    animal and plant remains. This deposition builds up over time to create continental
    shelves. Many continental tal shelves were created by the most recent Ice Age and were
    originally dry land. As the ice began to melt, and the sea level began to rise, parts of
    continents were submerged rged underwater, creating continental shelves.
    The Ice Age also created many of the fjords and channels found on continental
    shelves. As glaciers began to melt and slide down slopes, they created valleys in the
    land. Once that land was submerged, the valleys
    valleys filled with seawater, creating fjords
    and channels. Ships use channels to navigate safely through shallow water.
    Because the average depth of water over a continental shelf is around 200 feet, these
    shallow waters are well-litlit and warm, creating the perfect
    perfect environment for plant life
    to flourish. In fact, all of the ocean’s plants are found on these shelves, as well as
    copious amounts of algae. This rich plant life attracts all types of sea creatures, and
    while only 10 percent of the ocean is found on continentalcontinental shelves, these warm
    waters house most of the ecosystems.
    Continental shelves are also home to some of the least-explored
    least explored parts of continents.
    Often, the mouths of rivers cut deep submarine canyons into these shelves. Very little
    light reaches the depths of these canyons. In Africa,, the Congo River has cut a
    canyon that is almost 500 miles long and over 3000 feet deep, known as the Congo
    Canyon. Many of these canyons go largely untouched, leaving much to explore and
    discover.

    Global Continental Shelf Locations- Source https://www.whatarethe7continents.com/what--is-a-continental-shelf/:


    Benefits of a Continental Shelf
    Continental shelves see many of their fossil fuel reserves offshore drilled to meet the
    energy needs of the world. According to NGE, 30 percent of oil, and 20 percent of
    natural gas, produced in the U.S are sourced from offshore drilling. These offshore
    sites are on the North American continental shelf, including those off of the Mexican
    Gulf and Alaskan coasts. Continental shelves make up less than 10 percent of the
    total area of the oceans. However, most of the ocean’s aquatic plants, animals, and
    algae live in them due to their abundance of sunlight, shallow waters, and nutrient-
    rich sediment flowing into them from river outflows. As a result, microscopic shrimp
    and such important fish species as tuna, menhaden, cod, mackerel, and others thrive
    in and around continental shelves, according to Marine Bio. Kelp, a giant seaweed,
    algae, and aquatic plants grow to be food sources at the base of aquatic creatures'
    food chains. As a result, continental shelf areas provide 90 percent of the fish
    produced in the world according to various studies.

    Laws Governing Continental Shelves


    To avoid disputes among coastal nations, the United Nations (UN) in 1982 drafted
    laws and orders to govern continental shelves. These laws gave coastal states the
    sovereign rights to areas along their coastlines, within which to explore and exploit
    the shoreline for at least 200 nautical miles from their shores. Beyond that, any
    revenues gained from one nation’s exploits are to be shared with the international
    community. In terms of research, the UN stipulated that any marine research
    conducted in the exclusive economic zone (the 200 nautical mile extension) along
    the continental shelf to be subject to the consent of the coastal state, even if it’s
    conducted for peaceful purposes.

    Reference:

    https://www.bluehabitats.org/?page_id=1660
    https://www.britannica.com/science/continental-shelf
    https://www.whatarethe7continents.com/what-is-a-continental-shelf/
    https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-continental-shelf.html

    LEKSHMI SHUNNMA M

    2017802011

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