continental slope  Seaward border of a continental shelf. The
world's combined continental slope is about 200,000 mi (300,000
km) long and descends at an average angle of about 4° from the
edge of the continental shelf to the beginning of the ocean
basins at depths of 330–10,500 ft (100–3,200 m). The slope is
most gradual off stable coasts without major rivers and is
steepest off coasts with young mountain ranges and narrow
continental shelves. Slopes off mountainous coastlines and
narrow shelves commonly have outcrops of rock. The dominant
sediments of continental slopes are muds; there are smaller
amounts of sediments of sand or gravel.  Learn more about
continental slope with a free trial on  Slope is used to
describe the steepness, incline, gradient, or grade of a
straight line. A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline.
The slope is defined as the ratio of the "rise" divided by the
"run" between two points on a line, or in other words, the ratio
of the altitude change to the horizontal distance be