It had been assumed that the ice extended westward from the Alaskan/Canadian mountains to the very edge of the continental shelf, the flat, submerged part of the continent that extends into the ocean.(人們過去曾猜測，冰山從阿拉斯加和加拿大山脈向西延伸到大陸架的最邊緣，也就是大陸架扁平的、延伸到海洋中的水下大陸那部分。)

How do people define the continental shelf?(人們怎么確定陸架的范圍的？)

The scope of the continental shelf is generally date from the doldrums until the deep sea along the mainland so far.(大陸架的范圍一般是從低潮算起，一直到深海中的大陸沿為止。)

Peat layer is on the continental shelf there was lush vegetation of a proof.(泥炭層是大陸架上曾經有茂盛植物的一個印證。)

Topographically, we may consider the coastal plain to be a terrestrial analog of the continental shelf.(從地形角度講我們可以把沿岸平原看成是大陸架在陸上的類似構造。)

They can often be found on the slopes of the continental shelf, though as yet they are impossibly awkward to extract.(它們能經常在大陸架的斜坡上找到，盡管目前來看其開采難度之大令人望而卻步。)

Russia, a signatory in 1997, already has used the treaty's legal authority to assert its rights to mineral riches on its continental shelf in the Arctic.(于1997年簽署該條約的俄羅斯已經開始利用條約賦予的合法權力來主張其對自己部分北冰洋大陸架礦產資源的所有權。)

Instead, China insists its exclusive economic zone stretches farther east to the edge of the continental shelf near the Japanese island of Okinawa.(而是，堅持認為中國的專屬經濟區一直向東延伸到日本沖繩島附近的大陸架邊緣。)

This time of year, they should be foraging from the sea ice floating over the productive waters of the continental shelf.(往年這個時候，它們應該在漂浮在這片大陸架地區食物豐富的海域上的冰面上捕食。)

But there will still be rich pickings in the extended continental shelf that is up for grabs by May 13th.(但在5月13日之前，仍然是各國申請延伸大陸架、抓住這片豐富海底寶藏的最后機會。)