| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
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| continental shelf |
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| The region adjoining the coastline of a continent, where the ocean is no more than a few hundred feet deep. The shelf is built up from sediments washed down to the sea by rivers. | 1 |
| ‡ The continental shelves are often valuable because of the mineral resources and abundant marine life found there. (See offshore drilling.) | 2 |
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| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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