What is the difference between continental shelf and continental slope?

Continents are the seven main divisions of land on Earth. A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break. From the break, the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental slope. The widths of the continental shelves vary.

What is Isobath continental shelf?

Coastal countries have exclusive rights to resources located within the continental shelf, which legally is defined as the seabed up to roughly 370 km (200 nautical miles) from shore or to the outer edge of the continental margin, whichever is farther, subject to an overall limit of about 650 km (350 nautical miles) …

What is continental shelf according to unclos?

The continental shelf can be defined as the area whose outer limit shall not exceed 350 nautical miles from the baseline or shall not exceed 100 nautical miles from the 2500 meters isobath. The coastal state has exclusive rights for exploring and exploiting its natural resources in this area.

What is an exclusive continental shelf?

The continental shelf includes only the seabed and subsoil; whereas the EEZ includes the water column. Some of the sovereign rights that a coastal State may exercise in the EEZ, especially rights to the resources of the water column (e.g., pelagic fisheries), do not apply to the ECS.

What causes continental slope?

Over geologic time, the continental slopes are temporary depositional sites for sediments. During lowstands of sea level, rivers may dump their sedimentary burden directly on them. Sediments build up until the mass becomes unstable and sloughs off to the lower slope and the continental rise.

What are three characteristics of the continental slope?

The continental slope (often referred to simply as “the slope”) is commonly dissected by submarine canyons; faulting, rifting and slumping of large blocks of sediment can form steep escarpments, relatively flat terraces and (under certain conditions) basins perched on the slope.

What does a continental slope look like?

Continental slope – The slope is “the deepening sea floor out from the shelf edge to the upper limit of the continental rise, or the point where there is a general decrease in steepness” (IHO, 2008). On average, the slope is a narrow band ~41 km wide that encircles all continents and islands.

Where are continental slopes found?

Continental slopes are regions of steeply sloping seafloor that lie between continental shelves and the deep ocean basins (Figure 2).

Is the continental rise active or passive?

Active continental margins are those that are tectonically active, such as along much of the Pacific coast. Active margins are marked by earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain belts. Unlike passive margins, they lack a continental rise and abyssal plain.

What is the difference between continental shelf and continental slope? Continents are the seven main divisions of land on Earth. A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break. From the break, the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental…