Shelf Break

The shelf break is the line where the gentle continental shelf gives way to the steeper continental slope, the outer edge of the shelf. It sits at a fairly consistent depth worldwide, near 120 to 140 meters, set by the lowstand sea level of Quaternary glacials when shorelines stood at the shelf edge. Gradient increases sharply from under one degree on the shelf to several degrees on the slope. The break concentrates internal-wave energy and sediment bypass, and it is the head region for many submarine canyons that funnel sediment to the rise. It defines the seaward limit of the outer continental shelf.