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USGS CMG InfoBank: Continental Shelf

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Comment: 04:27 - 05:04 (00:37)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 4. The Sea Floor

Keywords: "continental shelf", shoreline, "Pacific Ocean"

Our transcription: Scientists have identified several different regions of the sea floor.

Most of us have had first hand experience with the shallowest and most accessible area, the "Continental Shelf".

Every time we go wading in the ocean, we're walking at the landward edge of a Continental Shelf.

Shelves cover one-sixths of Earth's surface, sloping gently down from shorelines at an angle of about one-tenth of a degree.

Worldwide, shelves average 70 kilometers in width, but in some regions, notably the Pacific Coast, shelves can be as narrow as two kilometers.

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