Q. Consider the following statements regarding continental slope:
1. It is an area of steep slope between the continental shelf and deep-sea plain
2. It is a part of the continental margin covered by ocean water.
3. Continental slopes may have deep sea fan at its base..
Which of the above given statements is/are correct?
Answer: D
Notes:
Continental Slope
- A continental slope is the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the deep ocean floor. The continental slope is cut by submarine canyons in many locations. The continental slope marks the seaward edge of the continental shelf.
- Continental slopes are cut by submarine canyons. The dominant process influencing slopes are sediment deposition and erosion by turbidity currents.
- The gradient of the slope is lowest off stable coasts without major rivers and highest off coasts with young mountain ranges and narrow continental shelves. Most Pacific slopes are steeper than Atlantic slopes.
- Gradients are flattest in the Indian Ocean. About one-half of all continental slopes descend into deep-sea trenches or shallower depressions, and most of the remainder terminate in fans of marine sediment or in continental rises.
- The transition from continental crust to oceanic crust usually occurs below the continental slope.
Source: NCERT
