46°S 63°W / 46°S 63°W / -46; -63 The Patagonian (sometimes referred to as Argentine) [1]Shelf is part of the South American continental shelf belonging to the Argentine Sea on the Atlantic seaboard, south of about 35°S. It adjoins 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.[2][3] 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.[1]

Bathymetry of the Falklands plateau and Scotia Arc

The Falklands Trough separates the Patagonian Shelf from the Scotia Arc.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ "Patagonian Shelf large marine ecosystem". The encyclopaedia of Earth. 19 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  3. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  4. ^ 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.


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