- 04/03/2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
The main topic of this essay is to describe continental margins and discuss their main characteristics. The topic of continental margins is popular in scientific circles and many researchers work under it for a long time. This question has not only geological character, but it is also a topic of hot governmental debates. We will pay our attention on their geological meaning in the body of this paper.
First of all it is necessary to define this term and analyzing different information sources we see that the continental margin is the kind of transition to the deep ocean basin. As we see from its name (continental) the margin belongs mostly to the continent. It is well-known fact points on the continental margin as on the submerged outer edge of a continent that is generally divided into two main sections. These main sections usually called the continental shelf and the continental slope. If to be logical in our descussion it is necessary to mention that from the geological point of view, a continental shelf is the equalized part of submarine outskirts of the continent, adjoining to the banks of dry land and characterized in general with its geological structure. A shelf is a submarine plain round continent, extending from a coastline to the depth which the sharp increase of steepness of bottom is marked on. For determination of shelf community its geological structure is important with the structure of adjoining dry land, and also it’s belonging to the submarine outskirts of the continent.
Continental shelf or bank of the continent, there is submarine continuation of the continent up to the line of transition of it in a steep slope. Continental shelves like continental slopes have own specific characteristics that differ them from each other. Describing continental shelf we can note that its average depth at the shelf is something about 131 meters below the surface of the ocean. For example, continental slope has other indexes and the continental slope is narrow in width, ranging from 6,2 to 62 miles (it is something about 10-100 kilometers). The transition between continental crust and oceanic crust is marked by the continental slope.
According to scientific web site we could understand that “a continental margin that has a very narrow, or even nonexistent, continental shelf and a narrow and steep continental slope is known as an active continental margin. Instead of ending in a continental rise, the continental slope of this type of margin often plunges into a deep-ocean trench, which may be filled with sediment. Earthquake and volcanic activity are prominent here. Since active continental margins occur along many coasts of the Pacific Ocean, these types of margins are also known as “Pacific-type” margins.” (www.scienceclarified.com)
In my opinion, it is necessary also to add to our discussion such notions as submarine outskirts of the continent, because exactly this part is considered the peripheral part of the continent, recovered by the waters of ocean and being continuation of adjoining part of dry land on a geological structure and relief. The submarine outskirts of the continent include being under water continuations of continental array of the off-shore state and consists of surface of the earths and the depths of the shelf, slope and rise. The concept of continental margin and submarine outskirts leans, at the same queue, on the concept of the margin of foot of continental slope. The margin of foot of continental slope is determined as a line, connecting points with the maximal change of slope in foundation of foot of continental slope.
Thus, making a little analysis of our question we understand definition of continental margin and its main characteristics. We also define such notions as continental shelf and continental slope that will help us in future to research different geological topics successfully.
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