Editing North Sea (section)

===Major features===
For the most part, the sea lies on the European [[continental shelf]] with a mean depth of {{convert|90|m}}.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Calow">{{cite book
|last=Calow
|first=Peter
|title=Blackwell's Concise Encyclopedia of Environmental Management
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7V-JtHroGkC&pg=PA100
|access-date=26 December 2008
|year=1999
|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
|isbn=978-0-632-04951-6
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417083622/https://books.google.com/books?id=L7V-JtHroGkC&pg=PA100
|url-status=live
}}</ref> The only exception is the [[Norwegian trench]], which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from [[Oslo]] to an area north of [[Bergen]].<ref name="Britannica"/> It is between {{convert|20|and|30|km|mi}} wide and has a maximum depth of {{convert|725|m}}.<ref name="Lis">{{cite web| title=Limits in the seas: North Sea continental shelf boundaries| work=U.S. Department of State| publisher=United States Government| date=14 June 1974| url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/62000.pdf| access-date=17 June 2013| archive-date=11 June 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611210859/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/62000.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Dogger Bank]], a vast [[moraine]], or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere {{cvt|15|to|30|m|round=5}} below the surface.<ref name="Ostergren">{{cite book
|last=Ostergren
|first= Robert Clifford
|author2=John G. Rice
 |title=The Europeans: A Geography of People, Culture, and Environment
|url=https://archive.org/details/europeansgeograp00oste
|url-access=registration
|year=2004
|publisher=Guilford Press
|location=Bath, UK
|isbn= 978-0-89862-272-0
|page=[https://archive.org/details/europeansgeograp00oste/page/62 62]
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
 |publisher    = Maptech Online MapServer
 |title        = Dogger Bank
 |date         = 1989–2008
 |url          = http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=54.74456315454079&lon=2.3527509224287115&scale=1500000&zoom=50&type=0&icon=0&width=498&height=498&searchscope=dom&CFID=1719760&CFTOKEN=33728793&scriptfile=http%3A%2F%2Fmapserver.maptech.com%2Fhomepage%2Findex.cfm&latlontype=DMS
 |url-status   = dead
 |access-date  = 20 July 2007
|archive-date = 11 July 2012
|archive-url  = https://archive.today/20120711211708/http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=54.74456315454079&lon=2.3527509224287115&scale=1500000&zoom=50&type=0&icon=0&width=498&height=498&searchscope=dom&CFID=1719760&CFTOKEN=33728793&scriptfile=http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm&latlontype=DMS
}}</ref> This feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea.<ref name="Britannica"/> The [[Long Forties]] and the [[Broad Fourteens]] are large areas with roughly uniform depth in [[fathom]]s (forty fathoms and fourteen fathoms or {{cvt|73|and|26|m|disp=or}} deep, respectively). These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate,<ref name="Tuckey">{{cite book
|last=Tuckey
|first=James Hingston
|title=Maritime Geography and Statistics ...
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EMMBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA420
|year=1815
|publisher=Black, Parry & Co.
|isbn=9780521311915
|page=445
|access-date=17 February 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417083623/https://books.google.com/books?id=EMMBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA420
|url-status=live
}}</ref> which has been alleviated by the implementation of [[Global navigation satellite system|satellite navigation systems]].<ref name="Bradford">{{cite book
|last=Bradford
|first=Thomas Gamaliel
|title=Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics, and Biography, Brought Down to the Present Time; Including a Copious Collection of Original Articles in American Biography; on the Basis of the Seventh Edition of the German Conversations-lexicon
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxsPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA445
|year=1838
|publisher=Thomas, Cowperthwait, & co.
|isbn=9780521311915
|page=445
|access-date=17 February 2020
|archive-date=17 April 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417083623/https://books.google.com/books?id=cxsPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA445
|url-status=live
}}</ref> The [[Devil's Hole (North Sea)|Devil's Hole]] lies {{convert|320|km|mi|abbr=}} east of [[Dundee]], Scotland. The feature is a series of asymmetrical trenches between {{convert|20|and|30|km|mi}} long, {{convert|1|and|2|km|mi|spell=in|1}} wide and up to {{convert|230|m}} deep.<ref>{{cite journal| journal=The Edinburgh Geologist| issue=14| date=Autumn 1983| title=The Devil's Hole in the North Sea| author=Alan Fyfe| url=http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_14_04.html/| access-date=2 November 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201164653/http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edingeologist/z_14_04.html/| archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref>

Other areas which are less deep are [[Cleaver Bank]], [[Fisher Bank]] and [[Noordhinder Bank]].