United States ocean territory could grow by larger than twice that of California and the majority of it being in ocean areas offshore Alaska under an application being made through the Federal government.
The U.S. State Department this month released the results from the two-decade effort to trace areas of the expanded continental shelf regions that extend beyond the nation’s 200 miles Exclusive Economic Zone. The main focus is on the Arctic Ocean, where bathymetric and geological surveys conducted by federal agencies resulted in the first maps that were detailed of a complex seafloor, including the formation of ridges, canyons and deep sea plateaus.
The overall map shows there is evidence that the U.S. has rights to an additional 987,700 square kilometres, roughly twice that of California in accordance with the State Department. More than half – 520,400 square km is located within the Arctic Ocean beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zone that runs off the Alaska’s North Slope. Another 176,330 square kilometres are located in a triangular area within the Bering Sea, which is located near bordering the U.S.-Russia sea border. There are some claims being made to territories that lies between both the Atlantic as well as Pacific coasts as well as in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mariana Islands area.
The decades-long effort to map the entire continental shelf was undertaken by both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as The U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations, as well as within the Arctic there were numerous research trips conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy. This project is an official claim to be presented for the world community as well, The State Department said.
“The continental shelf refers to an extension of a country’s area beneath the sea. Similar to other countries that have continental shelves, this one too, the United States has rights under international law to preserve and manage its resources and vital habitats under and around their ECS,” the State Department stated during its December. 19 news release.
According to international law, all countries are entitled to claim sovereignty over regions of the ocean over 200 miles insofar that those regions are physically linked to the underwater shelves that extend out from continents. Sovereignty is a means of controlling the development of resources.
However, in the case of U.S., there is one problem that is: the U.S. Senate has not adopted the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which is the treaty in which claims are ruled upon.
Ratification is a requirement from two-thirds majority of U.S. Senate, and the most important Republicans including then-President Ronald Reagan, have rejected the idea for years.
The case of U.S. Senator. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska The Arctic Ocean mapping adds some urgency to her recent effort to secure approval for ratification.
The bill she proposed during November’s session, which was her 3rd attempt to pass, could succeed considering the tangible benefits of ratifying the treaty, she told an event on December. 22 news press conference.
“I’m very hopeful that things will change,” she said. The resistance has always been present in her group as she pointed out. “But when I’ve had conversations with colleagues from different backgrounds there is an innate interest in understanding about and learning more.”
She pointed out that her bill includes one Republican cosponsor Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana.
Murkowski explained that her understanding is she believes that she believes that the U.S., without ratification has the right to assert claims, however it is not granted the ability to challenge claims. Without ratification, “we’re limited in terms of our capacity to defend our claims and then challenge others, too.”
As a part of the Law of the Sea treaty could assist to help the U.S. assert more control in areas that are not just the Arctic because climate change opens the oceans to increased activity. But also also in regions that are disputed, such as in the South China Sea, Murkowski stated.
Former Lieutenant. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who chaired the U.S. Arctic Research Commission from 2006 until 2010 has also advocated for an ratification.
Without it, he added that it’s possible that the U.S. claim could run into a lot of problems. “It’s an issue if someone contests us and believes that they’ve not entitled to the same territory,” he said.
In reality the extended continental shelf that is mapped in the U.S. in the Arctic overlaps a little with the continental shelf extended claimed by Canada in a dispute which is something that the State Department said will have to be resolved in the near future.
But, the area defined in the nationwide mapping program, at the very least, within the Arctic and Bering areas of Alaska seems to be in U.S. rights, Treadwell declared. Since they are circling well-known maritime boundaries, they tend to avoid regions of contention Treadwell said.
However, there are several major conflicts over claims from different Arctic nations. Russia and Canada have, who earlier signed the treaty, are pushing different and interlinked Arctic Ocean claims, for instance. Russian claims go over that of the North Pole, while Canada’s claims to 1.2 million square kilometers of Arctic Ocean seabed and subsoil are also encompassing as far as the North Pole.
The recently mapped U.S. Arctic territory does not extend as far north as it should. The northernmost point is 680 nautical miles over the current exclusive economic zone of 200 miles limit.
Within the Arctic region which it is the U.S. is intending to claim as an extended continental shelf, is a topographical feature dubbed”the Chukchi Borderland, located 600 miles north of Bering Strait. In the area, underwater the ridges and plateaus rise out of the seafloor to a point where the saltier, warmer waters flowing from the Atlantic meet the colder and fresher water coming from the Pacific.
The Chukchi Borderland is clearly an extension of land that is located in Arctic Alaska, according to the State Department’s documentation.
“Extensive geophysical information and analysis reveal it is the case that Chukchi Borderland and the northern Chukchi elevation share a key geochemical, structural, morphologic Geophysical, and tectonic link and northern Alaska and the Chukchi Shelf and northern Alaska,” said the department’s executive report.
Treadwell stated that it was possible that U.S. expanded continental shelf claim could yield several beneficial economic and regulatory advantages. The argument was made within his essay released on December. 19, by The Washington, D.C.- located Wilson Center in which Treadwell serves as an advisory committee member for the Polar Institute advisory committee member.
In addition to the possibility of extraction of resources, the extended continental shelf which is now more well-understood can be utilized for the correct placement of long-distance fiber optic connections, for instance, he added. If U.S. sovereignty in the region is confirmed in the future, that means the U.S. will have the power to supervise and check the research vessel of other countries operating in the region this is a practice that is growing in the wake of China, Korea and Japan are expanding their icebreaker fleets the official said.
“Once we’ve got it we’ll decide what to can do with the information,” he said.
