Continental Shelf

Domain	Definition
Energy	The portion of the sea bottom that slopes gradually fromthe edge of a continent. Usually defined as areas where water is less than 200 metersor 600 feet deep. (references)
Environment	The gently sloping extension of the land bordering continents which is covered by shallow water. Source: European Union. (references)
Food & Agriculture	The relatively shallow expanse of sea surrounding a land mass, where the depth increases gradually with distance from land. Beyond the shelf the bottom falls away sharply to the full ocean depth. The edge of the shelf is commonly taken to be at a depth of about 200 metres. Source: European Union. (references)
Mining	A. The gently sloping tread around a continent, extending from the low-water line to the depth of approx. 100 fathoms (183 m), at which depth there is a marked increase of slope toward the great depths b. The gently sloping, shallowly submerged marginal zone of the continents extending from the shore to an abrupt increase in bottom inclination. The greatest average depth is less than 60 ft (18.3 m), and the width ranges from very narrow to more than 200 mi (322 km) c. An area of a coastal State comprising the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nmi (370 km) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental shelf does not extend up to thatdistance. See also:outer continental shelf. (references)
Public Administration	Continuation of the margins of the continent extending beneath the sea. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms within Context: Continental Shelf

Modern Usage: Continental Shelf

Commercial Usage: Continental Shelf

Domain	Title
Books	Alternatives for Inspecting Outer Continental Shelf Operations (reference) Climatic Atlas of the Outer Continental Shelf Waters and Coastal Regions of Alaska (reference) Continental Shelf Limits: The Scientific and Legal Interface (reference) Environmental Information for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Decisions in Alaska (reference) Fisheries and Oil Development on the Continental Shelf (American Fisheries Society Symposium, 11) (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Continental Shelf Research (reference) (more periodical examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Image Slideshow: Continental Shelf

Photo Album: Continental Shelf

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Cubs stay with sedated polar bear - Ursus maritimus - mother during Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program studies. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).		Sedated bear - Ursus maritimus - ready for measurement and tagging. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program studies. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).
	Polar bear - Ursus maritimus - running from helicopter noise during Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).		Helicopter pilot Budd Christman with large sedated male polar bear - Ursus maritimus. Bears were measured and tagged for future study. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) studies. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals).
	Ewing marine camera photo of bottom on continental shelf Camera deployed from C&GS ship BOWEN Inshore oceanographic studies. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		Sorting through the spoils of a bottom trawl on the continental shelf of the Ross Sea. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.
	Large submarine depression in the continental shelf off Prince of Wales Island discovered by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. In: "Submarine Mountains in the Gulf of Alaska" by Harold W. Murray of the C&GS. Published in Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 1941, Vol 52, pp. 333-362. Offprint call number: 526.98 M98. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.		Bathymetric map of the United States continental shelf and slope off the New York Bight area. This map was derived from Coast and Geodetic Survey soundings and was published in the 1970's. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.
	Map of "Geology of the Sea Bottom in the Approaches to New York Bay." This map depicts the upper reaches of Hudson Canyon and the remnants of a valley in continental shelf. This early physiographic map was published in the Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Report for 1884, Appendix 13, p. 438. It was drawn by Adolph Lindenkohl and is the earliest published map of a submarine canyon. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.		Warm rings show clearly breaking off the Gulf Stream and migrating onto the continental shelf off of the Mid-Atlantic states. Convective cloud activity is seen east of Cape Cod and south of Cape Hatteras. Credit: NOAA in Space.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Non-Fiction Usage: Continental Shelf

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		A total of 140 exploration sites covering 1.4 million square kilometers of territory (840,000 square kilometers on land and 160,000 square kilometers on the continental shelf) has been offered during several rounds of bidding. (references)
Economic History	Norway	Production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is expensive, and is not profitable when prices go below USD 11 per barrel. (references)
	Tunisia	In 1982, the International Court of Justice ruled in Libya's favor in the partition of the oil-rich continental shelf it shares with Tunisia. (references)
	Norway	According to the Oil and Energy Ministry, the move will allow operators on the Norwegian continental shelf to make contracts on an individual basis. (references)
Political Economy	NORWAY	On Norway's offshore continental shelf, remaining oil reserves, discovered plus undiscovered, will last for some 30 years at current extraction rates, while the equivalent figure for natural gas is about 125 years. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Continental Shelf

Modern Translation: Continental Shelf

Language		Translations for "continental shelf"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Bulgarian		шелф. (various references)

Danish		kontinentalsokkel, fastlandssokkel. (various references)

Dutch		continentaal plateau, continentaal plat. (various references)

Finnish		mannerjalusta. (various references)

French		plate-forme continentale, plateau continental. (various references)

German		Kontinentalschelf. (various references)

Greek		υφαλοκρηπίδα (shelf), ηπειρωτική πλάκα, ηπειρωτική υφαλοκρηπίδα. (various references)

Hungarian		kontinentális talapzat. (various references)

Italian		platea continentale. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		陸棚 , 大陸棚 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		たいりく� な, りくほう, りく� な. (various references)

Manx		ymmyr vooarheeragh. (various references)

Pig Latin		ontinentalcay elfshay

Portuguese		plataforma continental. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		potopljen u plitko more, deo kontinenta. (various references)

Spanish		plataforma continental. (various references)

Swedish		shelf, kontinentalsockel. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Misspellings: Continental Shelf

Anagrams: Continental Shelf

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-c-e-e-f-h-i-l-l-n-n-n-o-s-t-t"
	-4 letters: continentals, nonaesthetic.
	-5 letters: centennials, clothesline, constellate, continental, fianchettos, fontanelles, innocentest, nonathletes, nonathletic, stenohaline.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Gulf Lake	Noun: land covered with water, gulf, gulph, bay, inlet, bight, estuary, arm of the sea, bayou, fiord, armlet; frith, firth, ostiary, mouth; lagune, lagoon; indraught; cove, creek; natural harbor; roads; strait; narrows; Euripus; sound, belt, gut, kyles; continental slope, continental shelf.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	It runs from here, up to the tip of India, veers off towards Indonesia, and terminates off the Australian continental shelf. (Crack in the World; writing credit: Jon Manchip White)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
continental shelf	55
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Misspellings
	"Continental Shelf" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: continetal shelf. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Continental Shelf

Definition: Continental Shelf

Continental Shelf

Noun

Specialty Definition: Continental Shelf

Synonym: Continental Shelf

Synonyms within Context: Continental Shelf

Gulf Lake

Crosswords: Continental Shelf

Modern Usage: Continental Shelf

Screenplays

Commercial Usage: Continental Shelf

Books

Periodicals

Image Slideshow: Continental Shelf

Illustrations:Continental Shelf

Photo Album: Continental Shelf

Non-Fiction Usage: Continental Shelf

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Continental Shelf

Modern Translation: Continental Shelf

Bulgarian

Danish

Dutch

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Manx

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Misspellings: Continental Shelf

Misspellings

Anagrams: Continental Shelf

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

INDEX

Illustrations:
Continental Shelf