Geological limits of the “continental shelf

Continental shelf is an old and well understood physiographic term. In the search for revenues from high‐technology ocean‐floor mining the U.N. Third Law of the Sea Conference has redefined “continental shelf”; to include the entire continental margin (continental shelf, slope, and rise) notwithstanding the fact that the underlying geology oceanward of the continental slope is very different from the geology landward of it. In addition, the outer limit of the “continental shelf”; was defined in an arbitrary and artificial manner. These legal definitions have no significance for science, and their usefulness for world economics and politics remains to be seen.