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

This has led to more frequent clashes with Greece and Cyprus over exclusive economic zones and continental shelf boundaries.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 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

Their fossils have been found in several areas of Texas, but this fossil shows for the first time that the big cat roamed the now-submerged continental shelf that connects Texas and Florida.

From Science Daily • May 30, 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