continental shelves
Submerged coastal extensions
Continental shelves is the plural of continental shelf—the submerged edge of a continent extending from the shoreline to where the ocean floor drops steeply into deeper water.
These relatively shallow underwater plains, typically less than 200 meters deep, support rich marine ecosystems and contain significant oil and gas reserves.
Nations compete for rights to exploit their continental shelves.
- territorial watersSovereign coastal sea zone
- planktonDrifting marine microlife
- seamountsUnderwater volcanic elevations
- bathymetrySubaqueous topographical measurement
- tectonic platesMobile crustal sections
coral reefs · hydrothermal vents · ocean floors · submerged · natural resources · oil drilling · salinity · tides · marine life · seabed · coastal waters · kelp forests · shallow · shallow waters · sand bars · coastline · coastal erosion · sediment
- fertile watersestuaries, river deltas, coastal waters, fishing grounds, spawning grounds
- ocean geologyseafloor, seabed, ocean basins, ocean floor, ocean basin
- regionsregion, regions, area, areas, zone
- landformsmountain, cliff, valley, volcano, mountain ridge
- territoriesprovince, state, region, country, colony
- oceanographyoceanography, oceanographer, sonar, marine science, ocean circulation
continental shelvesdeep ocean
Sea's lowest regions
ocean trenches · oceanic trenches · ocean depths · deep sea · abyssal depths
continent, continents, continental, transcontinental, intercontinental, subcontinental, continental shelf