Dear Colleagues,
The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf's
has published a summary of its recommendations relating to the UK's 2008
submission concerning the continental shelf of Ascension Island. The
Commission has concluded that Ascension Island is a "volcanic ...
pinnacle surrounded by the deep ocean floor" and that it is distinct
from the surrounding floor "morphologically, geologically, geophysically
and geochemically". In this context, the Commission decided that the
foot of slope points from which the UK measured its proposed continental
shelf limit cannot be considered valid. In other words, the CLCS has
rejected the UK's submission - which related to nearly 200,000 square
kilometres of mid-Atlantic seabed - in its entirety.
The CLCS noted that this decision does not mean that islands, in
general, cannot generate a continental margin that extends beyond 200
nautical miles. However, I would be interested to hear from members who
are familiar with submissions to the CLCS whether this decision is
likely to have implications for other continental shelf submissions
based on volcanic islands.
Although the decision will obviously be disappointing to the UK,
Ascension Island still generates rights over the resources of more than
440,000 square kilometres of sea and seabed within 200 nautical miles of
the island - an area nearly twice as large as the UK's land territory!
Documents relating to the UK's submission, including the summary of the
CLCS recommendations, is available online at
http://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_gbr.ht
m.
Best wishes,
m a r t i n
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Martin Pratt
Director of Research
International Boundaries Research Unit
Department of Geography
Durham University
Durham DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 1964
Fax: +44 (0)191 334 1962
[log in to unmask]
www.durham.ac.uk/ibru
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