Question

Which one of the states in India has the broadest continental shelf?
a. Andhra Pradesh
b. Gujarat
c. Karnataka
d. Tamil Nadu

Answer 1

Hint:
 A continental shelf is a part of a continent which is submerged under a region known as a shelf sea of relatively shallow water. During glacial cycles and interglacial periods, many of these shelves have been exposed. An insular shelf is known as the shelf surrounding an island.

Complete solution:
India's Tamil Nadu has the largest continental shelf. The edge of a continent which lies under the ocean is a continental shelf.

In most areas, the continental shelf of Tamil Nadu is narrow, ranging in width from 4.0 to 6.0 km from the coast, and occupies an area of 41,412 km. Tamil Nadu's continental shelf is divided into three zones:
(i) inshore belt up to a depth of 10 fathoms;
(ii) offshore grounds at depths of 10 to 25 fathoms;
(iii) the region of 'Deep Sea,' 25 to 100 fathoms

A steep continental slope, surrounded by a flatter continental rise, comprises the continental rim, between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, in which sediment from the continent above cascades down the slope and accumulates at the base of the slope as a pile of sediment. It is composed of dense sediments formed by turbidity currents from the shelf and slope, reaching as far as 500 km from the slope. The continental rise's gradient is intermediate between the gradients of the slope and the shelf.

Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Note:
Tamil Nadu is one of India's eight maritime states, bestowed with 1 076 km of the second-longest coastline. There are 556 coastal marine fishing villages with a total fishing population of 8.53 lakhs, 2.62 lakhs of which are actively engaged in fishing.