The Scotian Shelf is a geological formation that is part of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

southwest of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It covers an area of , is long, and has a width from . It has an average depth of . The Scotian Shelf contains the ecologically important Scotian Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) and the Scotian Shelf Waters (SSW). The northeastern boundary is defined by the Laurentian Channel, where it drops off to . Further south is the continental slope, which sharply drops off to a depth of more than . The southwestern boundary ends at the Northeast Channel, including the Gulf of Maine. The Scotian Shelf is characterized by shallow offshore banks under the ocean surface, with deep basins and troughs between that vary in depth from . They culminate at

Sable Island Sable Island (, literally "island of sand") is a small, remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Sable Island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, and about southeast of the clo ...

. A southwesterly ocean current, occasionally containing runoff from the Gulf of St Lawrence, flows over the inner shelf. The water flow over the banks is weaker and tends have greater variation. The Scotian Shelf contains a canyon called the "

Gully A gully is a landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given ter ...

", which is more than deep. Currents flow through the canyon southward and mix offshore waters with the Nova Scotia Current. That causes an increase in biological productivity toward the east, across the Continental Shelf and contains body parts from multiple decades of animals. The Scotian Shelf is heavily influenced by the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

, resulting in a variety of marine species that are normally found farther south. They appear at regular intervals because the main current spins off cores of warm water.

Marine life

The Scotian Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) contains numerous species, including a broad range of shellfish and fishes that use the area as spawning and nursery grounds. The abundance causes the Scotian Shelf to be one of the Atlantic Ocean's most fished areas. The

right whale Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are class ...

has a critical habitat in the Roseway Basin, the northeastern part of the Scotian Shelf. Approximately 30 percent of the known population uses this habitat throughout the course of the year. The northern bottlenose whale also lives in the Scotian Shelf Waters area, particularly the Gully. About 230 individual specimens have been recorded there. Other species, such as the

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

and harbour seal, are also found in the region, including the grey seal, which is common on Sable Island. Various waterfowl use the coastal areas as a migratory staging area. Offshore areas are used by such birds as

shearwaters Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These Proce ...

, sea ducks like the common eider, and alcids like dovekies and murres.

References

External links

Image
*
Benthic habitat mapping on the Scotian Shelf based on multibeam bathymetry, surficial geology and sea floor photographs
', Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 219: 121–137, September 10, 2001 *
The Scotian Shelf In Context
': State of the Scotian Shelf Report, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, *
Eastern Scotian Shelf And Barents Sea Intercomparison: Climate Fluctuation, Human Impact and System Resilience
', ICES Annual Science Conference, Nantes 20.-24. September 2010 {{coord missing, Nova Scotia Landforms of Nova Scotia Continental shelves of North America Landforms of the Atlantic Ocean Landforms of the United States