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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. [35]
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]
Due to the fact that "The coastal State exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights," [1] the continental shelf serves as the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone of the United States, and as such, is claimed by the United States. [1] [2] The United States also claims an extended continental shelf which follows a distinct ...
An island can be considered to be associated with a given continent by either lying on the continent's adjacent continental shelf (e.g. Singapore, the British Isles) or being a part of a microcontinent on the same principal tectonic plate (e.g. Madagascar and Seychelles).
About 28.5% of submarine canyons cut back into the edge of the continental shelf, whereas the majority (about 68.5%) of submarine canyons have not managed at all to cut significantly across their continental shelves, having their upstream beginnings or "heads" on the continental slope, below the edge of continental shelves. [3]
In the case of the scientific or extended continental shelf, the coastal state to which it has been granted is the only one entitled to exploit the natural resources found in the seabed and subsoil, whether mineral resources or other non-living resources, as well as living organisms.
Continental coastlines usually have a continental shelf, a shelf of relatively shallow water, less than 200 metres deep, which extends 68 km on average beyond the coast. Worldwide, continental shelves occupy a total area of about 24 million km 2 (9 million sq mi), 8% of the ocean's total area and nearly 5% of the world's total area.
[3] [4] In the field of geology, a landmass is a defined section of continental crust extending above sea level. [5] Continents are often thought of as distinct landmasses and may include any islands that are part of the associated continental shelf. When multiple continents form a single contiguous land connection, the connected continents may ...