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The littoral (coastal) boundary is defined differently from one coastal
state to another. However the littoral boundary is defined, the definition
then locates the land-sea boundary. It is from the littoral boundary that
the seaward jurisdiction starts and heads seaward.
Littoral boundaries are classed as natural monuments and can change over
time. Many jurisdictions use tidal datums (such as mean high water) to
define the littoral boundary. By continuously monitoring water level along
the coast, computations of tidal datums can be observed to change, as with
the case of sea-level rise. Thus the littoral boundary moves with the
change of location of the tidal datum which then forces a change in the
location of the seaward jurisdiction boundary so as to maintain the
constant width.
For a natural monument to change location there are three criteria that
must be met to allow the change. The change must be 1) gradual (i.e. not
sudden as may be caused by a hurricane), 2) imperceptible (i.e. difficult
to detect over short periods of time), and 3) natural (i.e. not induced by
some human interference such as construction of a seawall)
I hope this helps.
Dr. Gary Jeffress, Registered Professional Land Surveyor, Texas
Proferssor of Geographic Information Science
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
At 2:02 AM -0600 8/29/01, Martin Pratt wrote:
>I would be interested in hearing colleagues' thought in response to the
>enquiry below. My understanding is that states _would_ be obliged to
>pull back their maritime limits if relevant basepoints became
>submerged - but have any states which are vulnerable to sea-level rise
>attempted to argue that they should be allowed to retain their existing
>limits under such circumstances?
>
>Regards,
>
>m a r t i n
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [log in to unmask]
>Sent: 28 August 2001 04:50
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: sea level change and UNCLOS
>
>I gave a workshop on the Law of the Sea and AGSO - Geoscience
>Australia's role in Australia's UN submission to some senior teachers at
>a conference in Melbourne recently and the matter of sea level change
>was hotly debated. Questions were asked about the implications of future
>sea level changes to the location of maritime boundaries around
>coastal states and the impact of sea level change to submissions on
>extended continental margins that extend beyond EEZs. I would love to be
>able to pass on some useful information to these teachers.
>
>Although predicted sea level changes are relatively minor, I would think
>that countries with very flat, low-lying coastal areas would be most
>affected by increasing sea levels because their land area would decrease
>as the territorial baseline moved inland. Would the size of the island's
>surrounding EEZ also decrease or is the location of a country's EEZ
>boundary
>(and other territorial boundaries eg. territorial baseline, territorial
>sea, contiguous zone etc) 'locked in' at the time of signing UNCLOS and
>remains unchanged, no matter what happens to future sea levels and the
>location of its coastline?
>
>Also, what happens to coastal states that are composed of small islands
>if one or more of those islands goes underwater (as is the risk in the
>Pacific and, perhaps, the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea). Does
>the EEZ stay as it was before the inundation or does the EEZ shrink
>accordingly? (an aside - what happens to coastal states that extend
>their coastline
>artificially far out into the ocean eg. in Japan?).
>
>With regard to the extended continental margin, is there pressure for
>countries to submit the technical data that defines the outer limit of
>their outer margin prior to sea level changes? I know they have 10
>years from the date of signing UNCLOS but maybe they are under more
>pressure due to sea level changes. Or maybe I am completely on the wrong
>track. I've checked the Law of the Sea documentation and many other
>sources and can't seem to find
>any reference to the matter of sea level change.
>
>Any advice that you can give would be greatly appreciated!
>
>Many thanks
>
>Cindy
>
>********************************************************************
>Cindy Hann
>Education Officer
>Communications Unit
>AGSO - Geoscience Australia
>cnr. Jerrabomberra Ave. and Hindmarsh Dve
>Symonston ACT
>G.P.O. Box 378
>Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
>ph: (02) 6249 9673
>fax: (02) 6249 9977
>
>AGSO - Geoscience Australia
>ABN 80 091 799 039
>AGSO Website: www.agso.gov.au
>********************************************************************
>
>
>==================================
>Martin Pratt
>Research Officer
>International Boundaries Research Unit
>Mountjoy Research Centre, Suite 3P
>University of Durham
>Durham DH1 3UR
>United Kingdom
>
>+44 (0)191 374 7704 (direct line)
>+44 (0)191 374 7702 (fax)
>[log in to unmask] (email)
>http://www-ibru.dur.ac.uk (World Wide Web)
>==================================
Dr. Gary Jeffress, R.P.L.S.
Professor of Geographic Information Science
GIScience Program
Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive
Corpus Christi, Texas 78412
Phone (361) 825-2720
Fax (361) 825-2795
EMail [log in to unmask]
Room CI317
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