The section of the ocean floor that slopes down progressively from the low-water mark to the depth averaging out about 130 metres at which the angle of decline increases distinctly is termed as the Continental Shelf.
The term continental shelf is used by scientists and jurists to denote that part of the continental shelf active margin which is between the water's edge and the shelf break or, where there is no perceptible gradient, between the shoreline and the point where the depth of the superjacent water is between 100 and 200 metres.
It can be mentioned here that this term is used in Article 76 in the Law of Sea Convention as a juridical term. The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the underwater part of the land territory of the coastal State - the seabed and subsoil of the underwater areas that extend further than its territorial sea to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 marine miles (nautical miles) where the outer edge of the continental margin is not extended up to that expansion.
The continental margin consists of the seabed and subsoil of the shelf, including the slope and the rise as well. It, however, does not include the deep ocean floor.
Vide Article 76 the coastal State may institute the outer limits of its juridical continental shelf in a case where the continental margin extends beyond 200 nautical miles by determining the foot of the continental slope or by calculating the requirement stated for the thickness of sedimentary rocks or by keeping in mind the geomorphologic needs and by meeting the distance and depth criteria, or even by any amalgamation of these techniques vide Article 76, paragraphs 4 – 7 of the Convention.
