Illustration of continental shelf
- 1 seashore
- 2 continental shelf
- 3 continental slope
- 4 abyssal plain
- 5 seamount
continental shelf
noun
: a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending in a comparatively steep slope to the deep ocean floor
Examples of continental shelf in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The cruise covered an area more than 600 miles long and crisscrossed waters above the 125-mile wide continental shelf, documenting widespread ocean heating.
—
Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 14 Feb. 2023
Most of them tend to hang out away from the beaches in the continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for continental shelf 
Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 14 Feb. 2023
Most of them tend to hang out away from the beaches in the continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for continental shelf
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'continental shelf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Continental shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continental%20shelf. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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