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Examples of continental slope in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The wrecks were first discovered in 2022, roughly 5,000 feet below the surface near the northwest continental slope of the South China Sea.
—Brie Stimson, Fox News, 15 June 2024
The analysis found a specific instance where dislodged methane traveled over 25 miles from the deeper parts of the continental slope up to the edge of the underwater shelf.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 6 Dec. 2023
Onshore groundwater that flows through the subsurface and offshore brings nutrients and chemicals that sustain delicate marine communities in places along the continental slope.
—Rob L. Evans, Scientific American, 15 June 2023
Because the shelf is a continuation of the continent, models of groundwater flow in land along the northeastern U.S. coast suggest there could be substantial amounts of fresh water hidden within the rocks and sediments below the continental slope's seafloor.
—Rob L. Evans, Scientific American, 15 June 2023
The team compiled 165,000 observations of brittle stars from more than 1,600 research expeditions, plotting the species distributions by coastal (0-20 m depth), continental shelf (20-200 m), upper continental slope (200-2,000 m), and deep-sea (2,000-6,500 m) seafloor zones.
—Jeffrey Marlow, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2016
In oceans, the benthic zone starts at the shoreline and follows the continental slope to the deepest depths.
—Lacy Schley, Discover Magazine, 30 Sep. 2018
This would extend the Bering Sea boundary west and south to Alaska’s Fox Islands, through Unimak Pass to the edge of the continental slope, the agency said in a statement.
—From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 13 July 2022
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Word History
First Known Use
1900, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of continental slope was
in 1900
Dictionary Entries Near continental slope
Cite this Entry
“Continental slope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continental%20slope. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
continental slope
noun
: a usually steep slope from a continental shelf to the ocean floor
More from Merriam-Webster on continental slope
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about continental slope
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