An 'epeiric sea' (also known as an 'epicontinental sea') is a large but shallow body of
salt water that lies over a part of a
continent.
Epeiric seas are usually associated with the
marine transgressions of the early
Cenozoic and other eras. They can be warm or cold; indeed, several were present at the end of the last
Ice Age, when
sea level rose more rapidly than some areas could
isostatically adjust. Modern examples are the
Persian Gulf, the
North Sea, and
Hudson Bay.
See also
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Champlain Sea
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Sundance Sea
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Sequence stratigraphy
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Turgai Sea
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Tyrrell Sea
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Western Interior Seaway
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Zechstein Sea