Continental Margin
D2. Hydrography, tides, waves, bathymetry and marine geologyDefinition
Zone between continental crust and ocean basin, including shelf, slope, and rise.
The continental margin is the transition zone between continental crust and the deep ocean basin, comprising the continental shelf, the continental slope, and (on passive margins) the continental rise of accumulated sediment. Passive margins, away from plate boundaries, build thick sediment wedges; active margins coincide with a subduction trench and are tectonically deformed. The margin hosts submarine canyons, deep-sea fans, and most offshore resource activity.