Back to Country Profile
Historical Values
Year Value
2022 continental shelf: The continental shelf (see Figure 1), a rather flat area of the sea floor adjacent to the coast that gradually slopes down from the shore to water depths of about 200 m (660 ft). Dimensions can vary: they may be narrow or nearly nonexistent in some places or extend for hundreds of miles in others. The waters along the continental shelf are usually productive in both plant and animal life, both from sunlight and nutrients from ocean upwelling and terrestrial runoff. Compared to
2023 continental shelf: The continental shelf (see Figure 1), a rather flat area of the sea floor adjacent to the coast that gradually slopes down from the shore to water depths of about 200 m (660 ft). Dimensions can vary: they may be narrow or nearly nonexistent in some places or extend for hundreds of miles in others. The waters along the continental shelf are usually productive in both plant and animal life, both from sunlight and nutrients from ocean upwelling and terrestrial runoff. Compared to
2024 continental shelf: The continental shelf (see Figure 1), a rather flat area of the sea floor adjacent to the coast that gradually slopes down from the shore to water depths of about 200 m (660 ft). Dimensions can vary: they may be narrow or nearly nonexistent in some places or extend for hundreds of miles in others. The waters along the continental shelf are usually productive in both plant and animal life, from sunlight and nutrients from ocean upwelling and terrestrial runoff. In Antarctica, t
2025 continental shelf: the following are examples of features on the continental shelf of the Southern Ocean (see Figure 2): Astrid Ridge (see also Figure 4) Belgrano Bank Gunnerus Ridge (see also Figure 4) Hayes Bank Iselin Bank continental slope: the following are examples of features on the continental slope of the Southern Ocean (see Figure 2): Amery Basin (Figure 4) Filchner Trough Hillary Canyon Pobeda Canyon (Figure 3) abyssal plains: the following are examples of features on the abyssal plai