Sunlight penetrates the shallow waters of continental shelves which makes this areas rich in sea life from microscopic algae to big mammals like sealions. South America next to the Pacific has a narrow shelf, while the Bering Sea has a wide Continental Shelf. If you look at this map, the light blue colors next to the continents show the sea shelf.
The width varies across continents but it can average 80km. The average depth of the Continental sea Shelf is 150m. The continental shelf was exposed by drops in sea level due to glacial periods. It starts at the coastline of a continent and ends at the shelf break.Ĭontinental shelves are part of the continent even though they are underwater. The Continental Shelf is the part of the continent that is submerged under water. Each one of these zones is explained below. It also shows Ocean Zones and Seafloor features. The table below shows the depth in meters and feet. Vertical Divisions of the OceanĪs the depth in the ocean increases, the water column has different characteristics and light penetration.
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