continental shelf

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These rocks formed in a shallow marine environment along a continental shelf during the final stages of Gondwana's formation, before the supercontinent eventually split apart to form regions that became South America and Africa.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

Equinor has an ambition to maintain approximately the same production level in 2035 as in 2020, corresponding to around 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas a day from the Norwegian continental shelf.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

Tides will now be lifting it up and down, and where it is touching the continental shelf, it will grind backwards and forwards, eroding the rock and ice.

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2025

But as it pushes up against the continental shelf, it can generate eddies, much like the revolving pools of water that form on the downstream sides of boulders in a river.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 15, 2024

At such times the ridge came down, and the continental shelf, so to speak, stretched out, and the algae along the shore became so slack that I tended to catch my feet in it.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel