What is a continental shelf?
Q: What is a continental shelf?
A: A continental shelf is the submerged part of a continent.
Q: Was the continental shelf always below the water?
A: No, the continental shelf was part of the land during the ice ages in the glacial periods, but under water in the interglacial periods.
Q: What is the depth of the continental shelf?
A: The depth of the continental shelf varies greatly, up to 140 metres deep.
Q: What lies beyond the continental shelf?
A: Beyond the continental shelf, the bottom goes down to much greater depths.
Q: How does the width of the continental shelf vary?
A: The width of the continental shelf varies greatly depending on the edge of the moving continental plate. At the leading edge of a moving continental plate there will be little or no shelf, while the widest shelf is the Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean, which is 1500 km (930 miles) in width.
Q: In which period are we currently living?
A: We are currently living in an interglacial period
Q: Is every continent surrounded by water?
A: Every continent is surrounded by water, but it can be seen as an island where most of it is above the water line, and we see it as a continent.
