Ten short-range refraction profiles on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the area between 62° and 65°N are analyzed. These show that the shelf is covered with considerable thicknesses of layered sediments. The maximum total thickness measured is 4.1 km. Average velocities are 1.9, 2.2, 2.6, and 3.6 km/sec, representing unconsolidated, semiconsolidated, and consolidated sediments; and 5.2 km/sec representing a basement which is probably a continuation of the continental igneous and metamorphic rocks. On the sea floor the surface expression of the sediment-basement interface separates a region of exposed basement from the typical sediment covered shelf. The sediment-basement interface dips towards the shelf edge with its maximum gradient near the coast. The sediments may be of Cenozoic and Mesozoic age.