IBCAO Draft Report of Editorial Board Meeting Copenhagen, Oct 19-20 1998

IOC/IASC/IHO Editorial Board for the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean
Report of Meeting Copenhagen, Denmark October 19-20, 1998

APPENDIX C

THE CONTINENTAL SHELF BEYOND
200 NAUTICAL MILES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN

A Scientific/Technical Workshop
co-chaired by Yuri Kazmin and Ron Macnab

SUMMARY REPORT

1. From October 16 to 18 1996, a workshop was held at the Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition in Lomonosov-St. Petersburg, Russia. Experts in hydrography and marine geoscience attended from various agencies of the five Arctic coastal states: Canada, Denmark, Norway, the Russian Federation, and the USA. The list of participants is shown in Annex I.

2. The experts discussed various technical and scientific aspects of delimiting the juridical Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Arctic Ocean within the legal framework defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The topics discussed during the workshop are listed in Annex II.

3. Below are the main points that emerged from the discussions:

a. The severe climatic and ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean make it difficult to apply some of the existing methods and technologies that are generally easy to use in other oceans, in order to obtain the information that is necessary for establishing the outer limits of the Continental Shelf.

b. The floor of the Arctic Ocean is characterized by the existence of at least four large submarine elevations that could be considered to be submerged prolongations of the continental margins beyond 200 nautical miles: Chukchi Plateau, Mendeleyev Ridge, Lomonosov Ridge, and Alpha Ridge. Adequate sets of geological and geophysical data, together with bathymetric and morphological information, are seen as critical to establishing that such elevations are indeed natural components of the continental margin.

c. To avoid duplication of effort and to promote cooperation among experts charged with the technical implementation of Article 76, it is highly desirable to consider a consolidation of information and data sets that presently exist in a variety of forms and in many separate locations. Such action would create a coherent and unified description of the bathymetric and geological characteristics of the sea bed and the sub-seabed; subject to proprietary and other considerations, the free circulation of this information would also contribute to an understanding of the region's tectonic framework and history.

d. Consequent to the above description of common scientific interests in the Arctic Ocean, it would seem appropriate for the five Arctic coastal states to work together towards the resolution of common scientific problems, and to the achievement of common goals within the Article 76 context. Further meetings should be organized to continue the exchange of information that was initiated in the Workshop, and to develop a body of reports, etc, that would provide a scientific and historical background to Article 76 investigations in the Arctic.

(Approved by all attendees; original signed by co-Chairmen)

ANNEX I: THE CONTINENTAL SHELF BEYOND
200 NAUTICAL MILES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN

PARTICIPANTS

CANADA	Geological Survey of Canada	Jacob Verhoef (geophysicist) Ruth Jackson (geophysicist) Ron Macnab (geophysicist)

DENMARK	Geodaesikontoret	Frede Madsen (geodesist)

NORWAY	Norwegian Petroleum Directorate	Harald Brekke (geologist) Morten Sand (geologist)

RUSSIA	Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition	Vladimir Kryukov (geologist) Mikhai1 Sorokin (geophysicist)

	MINPRIRODA	Ivan Glumov (geologist) Yuriy Kazmin (geologist)

	VNIIOkeangeologia	Igor Gramberg (geologist) German Naryshkin (hydrographer) Viktor Poselov (geophysicist) Yulian Pogrebitskiy (geologist) Sergey Maschenkov (geophysicist) Oleg Suprunenko (geologist) Valeriy Kaminskiy (geophysicist) Garrik Grikurov (geologist)

	GUNiO	Vyacheslav Solodov (hydrographer) Vasiliy Raskatov (hydrographer) Yuriy Kiselev (geophysicist) Aleksandr Zhilevich (hydrographer)

	SE Sevmorgeo	Yuriy Matveev (geophysicist) Mark Verba (geologist)

	SEVMORGEOLOGIA	Yuriy Bardukov (geologist)

	RAE	Valeriy Lukin (hydrologist)

USA	Texas A&M University	Leonard Johnson (geologist)

	Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory	Bernard Coakley (geophysicist)

Translators	Maria Ivanova Elena Miloradovskaya

ANNEX II: THE CONTINENTAL SHELF BEYOND
200 NAUTICAL MILES IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN

AGENDA

1. INTRODUCTION a) Acknowledgements b) Aims of the Workshop c) Timetable	Kryukov

2. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION: THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK DEFINED BY THE LAW OF THE SEA	Kazmin, Macnab

a) Article 76: methodology for delimiting the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles

b) Article 77: rights of the coastal state with respect to resources of the continental shelf

c) Article 123: cooperation of states bordering enclosed or semi-enclosed seas as they exercise their rights and perform their duties

d) Annex II: commission on the limits of the continental shelf

e) Short summary	General discussion

3. BASIC DESCRIPTIONS
a) Main geological features and peculiarites of the Arctic Ocean structure and evolution	Pogrebitsky

b) Geological nature of the main morphological structures of the Arctic Ocean	Jackson

c) Geomorphological analysis of sea bed relief in the Arctic Ocean	Gramberg, Naryshkin

d) Scientific investigations inthe Arctic Ocean from submarines	Coakley

e) Gas and oil resources of the Arctic Ocean	Gramberg, Suprunenko, Lazurkin

f) Exchange processes in the Arctic Ocean	Raskatov

4. PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSION: IMPLEMENTING ARTICLE 76
a) Identifying 'natural prolongations': known or inferred nature of the Chuckchi Borderlands, the Mendeleyev Ridge, the Alpha Ridge and the Lomonosov Ridge, and their relationships to the continental margin

Poselov, Macnabb) Determining the foot of the slope: methodologies for tracing the point of maximum change in the sea floor gradient	Naryshkin, Solodov

c) Determining the 2500-m contour: measuring bathymetry accurately in the deep ocean	Naryshkin, Solodov

d) Determining the 'Gardiner Line': identifying points where thicknes of sedimentary rock is at least 1% of the distance back to the foot of the slope	Poselov

e) Results of completed and/or current investigations: work that has been done to date for shelf edge delimitation beyond 200 nautical miles	Sorokin, Macnab

f) Proposed investigations for Article 76 purposes, including field work; prospects for international collaboration	General discussion

5. PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSION: DATA BASE TOPICS

a) Status of existing data bases: bathymetric and sediment thickness observations available for determing the foot of the continental slope, the 2500-m isobath, and the so-called 'Gardiner Line'	Solodov, Narishkyn, Jackson, Madsen, Brekke, Macnab

b) Prospects for consolidating and rationalizing current data bases from various national and public domain archives	General discussion

6. DISCUSSION (TIME PERMITTING): RELATED TOPICS	Kazmin, Macnab
a) Submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf b) Potential seabed resources beyond 200 nautical miles c) Environmental management/stewardship

Return to Copenhagen Report Page