Britain claims huge area of Atlantic seabed
As the international race for ownership of mineral- and resource-rich regions gathers pace, Britain has formally applied for rights to a 200,000-square-kilometre ring around Ascension Island, a dependency of the British territory of St Helena.
Several countries are scrambling to prepare evidence to submit to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to take advantage of the opportunity to extend their territories beyond the existing 200-mile (322-kilometre) limit and up to 350 miles (563 kilometres). To submit a claim, nation states must prove that the seabed is a continuous part of the continental shelf.
As Geographical went to press, the commission had received 11 submissions. But this ongoing process has already caused tension among nations bordering contested regions such as the Arctic and Antarctica, especially as global warming is opening up previously inaccessible areas that may harbour increasingly scarce resources.
In addition to extending the territory around Ascension Island, the UK has made – or is expected to make – submissions in respect of three other areas: Hatton–Rockall in the northeast Atlantic off the northwest coast of Scotland; areas around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia in the South Atlantic; and an area off the British Antarctic Territory. However, Argentina and Chile have stated that they also intend to claim the area off Antarctica.
August 2008
Several countries are scrambling to prepare evidence to submit to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to take advantage of the opportunity to extend their territories beyond the existing 200-mile (322-kilometre) limit and up to 350 miles (563 kilometres). To submit a claim, nation states must prove that the seabed is a continuous part of the continental shelf.
As Geographical went to press, the commission had received 11 submissions. But this ongoing process has already caused tension among nations bordering contested regions such as the Arctic and Antarctica, especially as global warming is opening up previously inaccessible areas that may harbour increasingly scarce resources.
In addition to extending the territory around Ascension Island, the UK has made – or is expected to make – submissions in respect of three other areas: Hatton–Rockall in the northeast Atlantic off the northwest coast of Scotland; areas around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia in the South Atlantic; and an area off the British Antarctic Territory. However, Argentina and Chile have stated that they also intend to claim the area off Antarctica.
August 2008
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