Without the weight of water to support their sides, the continental shelves would collapse.

如果没有海水支撑大陆架，大陆架就会崩塌。

It comes from the oil and gas resources that was found in the late 1960s on the Norwegian continental shelves.

它来自 20 世纪 60 年代末在挪威大陆架发现的石油和天然气资源。

But these continents, in terms of a strict geological definition  actually extend outward some way into the sea, in the form of shallow continental shelves, before  suddenly dropping down into the abyssal plains of the deep oceans.

但按照严格的地质定义，这些大陆实际上以浅大陆架的形式向外延伸到海中，然后突然坠入深海平原。