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The continental shelf is the relatively shallow water area found in proximity to continents; it is the portion of the continental margin that transitions from the shore out towards to ocean. Continental shelves are believed to make up 7% of the sea floor. [3] The width of continental shelves worldwide varies in the range of 0.03–1500 km. [4]
The continental shelf and the slope are part of the continental margin. [6] The shelf area is commonly subdivided into the inner continental shelf, mid continental shelf, and outer continental shelf, [7] each with their specific geomorphology [8] [9] and marine biology. [10]
The continental shelf of the United States is the total of the continental shelves adjacent to the United States. In marine geology, it is the elevated seabed near US coasts; in the political sense, it is the area claimed by the United States as sovereign , according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea .
A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and occasionally having canyon wall heights of up to 5 km (3 mi), from canyon floor to canyon rim, as with the Great Bahama Canyon. [1]
Because the continental rise lies below the continental slope and is formed from sediment deposition, it has a very gentle slope, usually ranging from 1:50 to 1:500. [1] As the continental rise extends seaward, the layers of sediment thin, and the rise merges with the abyssal plain, typically forming a slope of around 1:1000.
The Gulf of Mexico is 41% continental slope, 32% continental shelf, and 24% abyssal plain with the greatest depth of 12,467 feet in the Sigsbee Deep. [33] Seven main areas are given as: [citation needed] Gulf of Mexico basin contains the Sigsbee Deep and can be further divided into the continental rise, the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, and the ...
At this point the canyon is as much as 12 km (7.5 mi) wide (from east rim to west rim) and as much as 1.1 km (3,600 ft) deep from canyon rim to canyon floor across the continental slope. The floor of the canyon is less than 500 m (1,600 ft) wide across the upper part of the slope and broadens to about 900 m (3,000 ft) at the base of the slope.
Bathymetric surveys identified the foot of the continental slope, the outline of the 2,500 m isobath and new marine geomorphology models. [51] In total, LEPLAC's first stage collected 46,966 km of two-dimensional seismic lines and 89,369 km, 97,237 km and 93,604 km of bathymetric, gravimetric and magnetometric profiles.