Atlantic-Type Continental Margins
Bruce C. Heezen
INTRODUCTION
Continental margins can be characterized as of
"Atlantic" or "Pacific" type, essentially depending
on whether they have experienced a relatively long
period of stability, in which case they are called
Atlantic type, or whether they have suffered active
tectonism during latter geological times, in which
case they are assigned to the Pacific type. We are
concerned in this chapter with the Atlantic-type
continental margins which bound the Arctic and
Norwegian seas, the North and South Atlantic
oceans, and all of the Indian Ocean (with the
exception of the Sunda Arc), and all which circles
Antarctica (with the exception of the Scotia Arc).
Parts of the marginal basins of the Pacific can also
be considered to be Atlantic type; for example, the
continental margin of Alaska in the Bering Sea, the
Siberian continental margin in the Okhotsk Sea, the
Asian continental margin in the Japan Sea, and the
Southeast Asian continental margin in the South
China Sea. Parts of the Mediterranean margin might
also be considered to be Atlantic type. Atlantic-type
continental margins have been studied most
extensively in the North Atlantic, but a significant
assemblage of data provides insight into the
structure of the continental margin of west Africa,
Argentina, and Kenya.
ATLANTIC·TYPE CONTINENTAL MARGIN
Topographically, the Atlantic-type continental
margin is typified by a relatively wide continental
shelf which may vary from 30 to over 300-km in
width [Fig. 1). It is also characterized by a relatively
dissected continental slope indented by submarine
canyons (at least in those areas which have been
surveyed in sufficient detail to reveal the presence
or absence of submarine canyons).
The boundary between the "continental shelf"
and the continental slope, known as the "shelf
break," varies indepth, often as a direct function of
latitude (shelf breaks in the polar areas are often as
great as 600 m, whereas those in lower latitudes
rarely exceed 100 m) . The base of the "continental
slope" and its boundary with the relatively more
gentle, seaward-sloping "continental rise" is
defined as that point where the seaward gradient
drops below 1 in 40. The declinity of the continental
slope ranges from 1 in 5 to 1 in 25. Continental rise
gradients are generally less than 1 in 100, so the
sometimes gradational change between continental
slope and continental rise although defined by an
13
C. A. Burk et al. (eds.), The Geology of Continental Margins
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1974
Fig. 1. An Atlantic continental margin is a fundamental part of
the threefold division of the entire ocean basin. Here are
shown the three major morphologic divisions of the ocean in
a trans-Atlantic profile from New England to the Spanish
Sahara (after Heezen et al. , 1959) .
arbitrary slope angle, is generally not difficult to pick
on regional profiles. The continental rise spreads out
80 to more than 50Q-km as a gentle-relief feature
which is delineated by yet-another marked boundary
in seaward gradient, and a contrast in microtopo-
graphy, at the margin of the "abyssal plains of the
ocean basin floor." The gradients of the abyssal
plains are by definition and by observation less than
1 in 1000. Abyssal plains have relief of less than 1
fathom over distances of 1 or 2 miles. The width of the
abyssal plains range from a few km to 300 or 500 km.
(Fig. 2).
INTERNAL MARGIN COMPOSmON
The Atlantic-type continental margins are
characterized topographically by a relatively
smooth relief, which is quite obviously a surface
expression of relatively large sediment accumula-
tions [Fig. 3). This sediment has accumulated under
a relatively stable but incessantly subsiding tectonic
environment which has produced little in the way of
deformation. Therefore, it is ideally suited to
seismic reflection exploration techniques since
relatively undisturbed stratified sequences provide
acoustical contrast and continuity. Where the
seismic refraction technique has been employed to
determine the total thickness of sediments at the
foot of the continental slope, thicknesses of as much
as 10 km have been measured. However, the
sediment thicknesses of the continental rise are
often so great that most seismic systems are
incapable of recording reflections from the areas of
greatest sediment accumulation.
14 Continental Margins

so· 75" 70. 65"

Fig. 2. The continental margin of the eastern United States illustrates the principal characteristics of Atlantic
continental margins: the broad, smooth, emerged and submerged continental shelf; the precipitous continental
slope dissected by canyons; and the continental rise, a broad apron of sediments sweeping out toward the ocean
basin floor. Also shown are a current-eroded marginal plateau (the Blake Plateau) off Georgia and Florida and
its seaward escarpment, and the subsiding Bahama Platform. (From Physiographic diagram of the North
Atlantic Ocean, Geological Society of America, copyright Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp, 1968.)