Patagonian Shelf
Coordinates: 46°S 63°W / 46°S 63°W The Patagonian or Argentine Shelf is part of the South American continental shelf belonging to the Argentine Sea on the Atlantic seaboard, south of about 35°S. It adjoinins the coasts of Uruguay, Argentina and the Falkland Islands. Various authorities quote different dimensions of the shelf, depending on how they define its limits. Quoted statistics cites its area as being from 1.2 to 2.7 million square kilometres and its maximum width as being between 760 and 850 kilometres.[1][2] The shelf itself can be divided into a 100 km band where the seabed slopes at about 1 m/km then a wide plain (250 to 450 km wide) where the seabed slopes gently to 200 m isobath. Apart from the Falklands Plateau (which lies to the east of the Falkland Islands), the seabed then falls by up to 10 m/km to 2000 m and more.[3]
The Falklands Trough separates the Patagonian Shelf from the Scotia Arc.[4]
References
- ↑ "Patagonian Shelf large marine ecosystem". The encyclopaedia of Earth. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ↑ Heileman, S (2009). "XVI-55 Patagonian Shelf: LME #14". Large Marine Ecosystems of the World - United Nations Regional Seas Report and Studies No. 182. United Nations EP. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ↑ Guerrero, Raúl; Baldoni, Ana; Benavides, Hugo (1999). "Oceanographic Conditions at the Southern End of the Argentine Continental Slope" (PDF). INIDEP Documento Cientifico. Mar del Plata, Argentina: National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP). 5: 7–22. INIDEP Contribution Nº 1083. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ↑ White, R W; Gillon, K W; Black, A D; Reid, J B (2002). The distribution of seabirds and marine mammals in Falkland Islands waters (PDF). Joint Nature COnservation Committee. p. 12. ISBN 1 86107 534 0. Retrieved 31 October 2012.