What is the base of the continental slope called?

What is the base of the continental slope called?

At the base of the continental slope, there is a sudden decrease in slope angle, and the sea floor begins to level out towards the abyssal plain. This portion of the seafloor is called the continental rise, and marks the outermost zone of the continental margin.

What is the slope of continental slope?

The continental slope is defined as the zone extending from the shelf break and terminating at the continental rise where the gradient becomes less than 1:40 or where the slope is bounded by a deep-sea trench or a marginal plateau.

Where is the continental slope located?

A continental slope is defined by the IHO as “the slope seaward from the shelf to the upper edge of a continental rise or the point where there is a general reduction of slope.

What are the 3 parts of the continental margin?

The continental margins consist of three portions: (1) the continental shelf which has shallow water depths rarely deeper than 650 ft) and extends seaward from the shoreline to distances ranging from 12.3 miles to 249 miles, (2) the continental slope where the bottom drops off to depths of up to 3.1 miles, and (3) the …

What is the largest continental shelf?

The world’s largest continental shelf extends 1,500 km (about 930 miles) from the coast of Siberia into the Arctic Ocean. Continental shelves are usually covered with a layer of sand, silts, and silty muds.

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 the use of 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 is average depth of continental slope?

The continental slope extends from the shelf break to water depths typically of around 3,000–4,000 m where an abrupt change in gradient delimits the foot of 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.

What is the deepest part of the continental margin?

At its deepest points, the continental shelf is usually less than 660 feet (200 meters) below sea level (the level surface of the sea). Although the continental shelf is easier to explore than deeper areas of the ocean, there is still much to learn.

What lives in the continental shelf?

Lobster, Dungeness crab, tuna, cod, halibut, sole and mackerel can be found. Permanent rock fixtures are home to anemones, sponges, clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and coral. Larger animals such as whales and sea turtles can be seen in continental shelf areas as they follow migration routes.

Which is the best definition of continental slope?

Definition of continental slope. : the comparatively steep slope from a continental shelf to the ocean floor.

How does the lower slope of the continental shelf slow down?

Sediments build up until the mass becomes unstable and sloughs off to the lower slope and the continental rise. During highstands of sea level, these processes slow down as the coastline retreats landward across the continental shelf, and more of the sediments delivered to the coast are trapped in estuaries and lagoons.

Where are continental slopes located in the Indian Ocean?

Gradients are flattest in the Indian Ocean. About one-half of all continental slopes descend into deep-sea trenches or shallower depressions, and most of the remainder terminate in fans of marine sediment or in continental rises. The transition from continental crust to oceanic crust usually occurs below the continental slope.

Where does slumping occur on the continental slope?

Slumping often appears on the fracture belt at the upper continental slope, and gravity flow is often located below the slumping. But this doesn’t reflect that there is inevitable connection between them, slumping and gravity flow can occur at the same time, and they can also happen alone.