Unique geomorphologic features in ocean basins
Continental shelves
- Typically 70-80 km wide; water depth is typically <200 m
- Often have very thick accumulations of unconsolidated sediments and young sedimentary rocks
- Detritus or sediment is derived from the adjacent continent
- Sedimentary rocks lie on a basement of regular, continental rock. Basement may be igneous, metamorphic, or old sedimentary rocks, depending upon what crops out above shoreline.
- Continental shelves are the submerged fringes of continents