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
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Other factors that impact how serious a tsunami is include the shape of the coastline and the shape and size of a continental shelf, Simmers said.
—
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 30 July 2025
What To Know At her morning news conference, Sheinbaum said that Trump's decree only applies to the U.S. continental shelf and does not affect Mexico's sovereignty over the rest of the Gulf.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
Similar to above-ground canyons, they are carved into the seafloor and continental shelf through centuries of erosion.
—Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 22 July 2025
Another step is to enlarge U.S. Arctic territory—not by trying to buy Greenland or incorporate Canada, but by extending the U.S. outer continental shelf in the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
—Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
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Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 30 July 2025
What To Know At her morning news conference, Sheinbaum said that Trump's decree only applies to the U.S. continental shelf and does not affect Mexico's sovereignty over the rest of the Gulf.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
Similar to above-ground canyons, they are carved into the seafloor and continental shelf through centuries of erosion.
—Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 22 July 2025
Another step is to enlarge U.S. Arctic territory—not by trying to buy Greenland or incorporate Canada, but by extending the U.S. outer continental shelf in the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
—Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for continental shelf
Cite this Entry
“Continental shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continental%20shelf. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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