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Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

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constituent of the planet Earth > continental shelf

Preferred term

continental shelf  

Definition

  • A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf. The continental margin, between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, comprises a steep continental slope, surrounded by the flatter continental rise, in which sediment from the continent above cascades down the slope and accumulates as a pile of sediment at the base of the slope. Extending as far as 500 km (310 mi) from the slope, it consists of thick sediments deposited by turbidity currents from the shelf and slope. The continental rise's gradient is intermediate between the gradients of the slope and the shelf. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelf)

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http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-5C1XBVQD-L

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