According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the name continental shelf has been given a legal definition as the section of the seabed adjacent to the coasts of a particular country to which it belongs. The continental shelves are teeming with life due to the sunlight available in the shallow waters, as opposed to the biotic desert of the lowlands of the oceans. The pelagic environment (water column) of the continental shelf forms the neritic zone, and the benthic (seabed) province of the continental shelf is the sublivodal zone. [35] Shelves make up less than ten percent of the ocean, and a rough estimate suggests that only about 30% of the continental shelf seafloor receives enough sunlight to allow benthic photosynthesis. [36] What is the continental shelf? It is the underwater extension of the landmass of a coastal state to the outer edge of the continental margin. The continental shelf is under the jurisdiction of the coastal State. However, areas beyond the continental margin are part of the international seabed area. The continental shelves cover an area of about 27 million km2 (10 million square miles), or about 7% of the ocean area. [15] The width of the continental shelf varies considerably – it is not uncommon for an area to have virtually no shelf at all, especially when the leading edge of a advancing oceanic plate submerges beneath the continental crust in a subduction zone off the coast of Chile or the west coast of Sumatra. The largest plateau – the Siberian Shelf in the Arctic Ocean – stretches 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) wide. The South China Sea lies above another vast area of the continental shelf, the Sunda Shelf, which connects Borneo, Sumatra and Java to mainland Asia. Other well-known bodies of water that cover the continental shelves include the North Sea and the Persian Gulf. The average width of continental shelves is about 80 km (50 mi).
The depth of the shelf also varies, but is generally limited to water shallower than 100 m (330 ft). [16] The inclination of the shelf is generally quite small, on the order of 0.5°; Vertical relief is also minimal at less than 20 m (66 ft). [17] Is there an upper limit to the extent of continental shelves? Yes. Regardless of the rule used to determine the extent of the continental shelf, absolute limits apply. The continental shelf shall not extend beyond 350 nautical miles (648 km) or, failing that, 100 nautical miles (185 km) beyond the point of the seabed at a depth of 2,500 metres. The latter option applies only to underwater elevations that are natural components of the continental margin. How is the size and outer limits of the continental shelf determined? All coastal States have a continental shelf that extends 200 nautical miles to the sea (1 nautical mile = 1,852 km). Many States therefore do not need to collect more specific data or to take into account the outer limits of their continental shelf. Russia`s expedition to place a flag on the North Pole seabed in August 2007 has no legal effect. A continental shelf is a part of a continent that lies beneath an area of relatively shallow water known as the Continental Shelf Sea. Many of these plateaus were exposed by sea level drop during ice ages. The plateau that surrounds an island is called an island plateau.
Can the areas of the plateau around Svalbard be properly described as part of the Norwegian continental shelf? It is clear that Svalbard is part of Norway, and no one disputes that. All areas of the continental shelf originating within Norwegian territory are Norwegian in the sense that they fall under Norwegian jurisdiction. As a result, the areas of the plateau around Svalbard are part of the Norwegian continental shelf. Speaking of continental shelf, it also has the meaning mentioned above. Although the geographical and geological concept of the continental shelf is quite old, the legal concept of the continental shelf was advanced by the Gulf of Pariah Treaty of 1942 and highlighted by the Truman Proclamation of 1945. The reason for this is that the concept of the continental shelf is essentially linked to the exploration of the natural resources of the sea adjacent to the territorial sea.