What Is Continental Shelf Theory

Steep undersea gradients separate the.

What is continental shelf theory.

Published on oct 26 2014 the continental shelf is an underwater landmass which extends from a continent resulting in an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Much of the shelves. Continental shelf the relatively shallow up to 200 meters seabed surrounding a continent. A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea.

Continental shelf a broad relatively shallow submarine terrace of continental crust forming the edge of a continental landmass. America s continental shelf since 2003 the united states extended continental shelf project has been working to determine the geographical end of america s continental shelf past the 200 nautical miles outlined in the legal boundary. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf. Geologically the sunda shelf ˈsʊndə is a southeast extension of the continental shelf of southeast asia.

It covers an area of approximately 1 85 million km2. Geographically speaking however a continental shelf is simply the parts of continents that extend underwater to the shelf break. While wegener was alive scientists did not believe that the continents could move find a map of the continents and cut each one out. Sea depths over the shelf rarely exceed 50 metres and extensive areas are less than 20 metres resulting in strong bottom friction and strong tidal friction.

A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop off point called the shelf break. Most of the platform is covered by shallow seas including the southern south china sea the gulf of thailand and the java sea with depths averaging less than 330 feet 100 metres. A continental shelf is the edge of a continent that lies under the ocean. From the break the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental slope.

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. Major landmasses on the shelf include the malay peninsula sumatra borneo java madura bali and their surrounding smaller islands. Continents are the seven main divisions of land on earth. Much of these shelves has been exposed during glacial periods and interglacial periods.

Sunda shelf stable continental shelf or platform a southward extension of mainland southeast asia.