Continental Shelf

The continental shelf is a submerged portion of a continent covered by shallow water, typically less than 100 meters deep. The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope called the shelf break, and below this is the continental slope and the abyssal plain. The shelf is divided into three areas: inner, mid, and outer, each with distinct geomorphology and marine biology, and covers an area of about 27 million km2, equivalent to 7% of the surface area of the oceans.learn more on wikipedia