continental shelf

noun

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of continental shelf

: 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

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Recent Examples of continental shelf from the Web

The sediment either settles in deeper water or is swept along the continental shelf toward Texas.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Like the Louisiana coast, the Gulf seafloor is rapidly eroding, research finds," 5 Apr. 2018
Zinke stopped short of saying that the three Pacific states would be exempted from the president's plan to offer leases on 95 percent of the outer continental shelf.

— the washington post, OregonLive.com, "Zinke: Oil, gas exploration off Oregon coast might not happen," 13 Mar. 2018
According to Glen Gawarkiewicz, a research scientist who studies the continental shelf for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, currents over the shelf flow east to west — which means Nathan should have drifted in the opposite direction.

— james d. walsh, Daily Intelligencer, "A Son Took His Mother Out Fishing. She Never Came Back.," 23 Jan. 2018
According to the Interior Department, more than 3 billion barrels of oil and 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lie off the outer continental shelf.

— National Geographic, "Trump's Offshore Drilling Plan—What You Need to Know," 4 Jan. 2018
In 1945 President Truman claimed sovereignty for the U.S. over natural resources in the American continental shelf, approved in a U.N. Convention on the Continental Shelf in 1948.

— steve haycox, Anchorage Daily News, "Norwegian may be new victim of old Arctic sovereignty game," 8 Feb. 2018
Benham Rise, which faces the Pacific Ocean, is approximately 24 million hectares (59 million acres) in size and encompasses the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf further out in the ocean.

— jim gomez, The Seattle Times, "Duterte warns he’ll order navy to fire if sea wealth taken," 10 Feb. 2018
Tuna are known to time their migration to the continental shelf for spawning with the beginning of the monsoon season.

— brian payton, Smithsonian, "How Driftwood Reshapes Ecosystems," 9 Feb. 2018
He was tracked near the edge of the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, west of Key West, in early January.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "A great white shark has been spotted in the Everglades. His name is George," 5 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'continental shelf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.