Ocean has shelves?

I vaguely remember learning somewhere that the ocean has shelves and has physically elevated sections going farther out to sea from the shore. Does anyone know what I am talking about here? How does this work ect.? Does the ocean “bulge” in the middle?

P.S. I am talking about the surface of the water being elevated or having different elevations other than the natural curvature of the earth. Sort of like water mountains/hills maybe?

At first, I thought I knew what you were talking about.

Then I read your P.S. and now I’m not so sure.

What ChalkPit said.

The surface of the ocean is, by definition, at sea level. Well, barring waves and whatnot.

Interestingly, they mention our beloved Cecil here.

The ocean bulges due to tides.

But does the contour of the ocean floor directly effect the waterline above it? I kinda doubt it, but I can’t offer any details to confirm so.

It does a little because of the ocean floor and also currents. From this page.

Wind and wave transports water and thus produces “hills” in the surface of the sea. This site describes the effects in the great lakes, but the same processes also occur in the oceans:

Are you thinking about continental shelves? That’s where the ocean is relatively shallow for some distance out from the continents.

Here is a pretty good visual of what they look like.

Whoa, that’s a cool pic. Thanks for your replies. Our world is an amazing one.

Smeghead, you catch the last couple posts?! By definition? Don’t be so closed-minded bud. :slight_smile:

Though mentioned much less often in scientific discussion, nearby the continental shelf can also be found the continental sofa and continental coffee table.

I was aware of those minor variations. Really!

But even in those cases, the local sea level is still, by definition, sea level, even if it’s an inch or so higher than sea level elsewhere.