Law of the Sea
The areas shown in blue are potential areas of an extended continental
shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit (red) Exclusive Economic Zone.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 76 provides the authority by which coastal nations may increase their claim to an extended continental shelf exceeding the 200 nautical mile (M) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Two common criteria by which a nation can extend their continental shelf beyond 200 M are: bathymetry and geology (the Gardiner, or sediment thickness formula). The USGS has a key role to play in applying the geologic (Gardiner) formula to potential claims for the U.S. and Trust Territory margins.
In FY 2002, NOAA received special appropriations to begin assembling data relevant to the United States making a claim for an extended continental margin. As part of this process for gathering this information, NOAA assembled a working group that has met periodically throughout the year. Both MMS and USGS have participated in these meetings. In developing the Congressional report, the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of New Hampshire took the lead in compiling all data sources. The USGS took the active lead for DOI data contributions to the report, which involved compiling USGS, MMS, and other data sources.
The USGS Law of the Sea- Outer Limits of the U.S. Continental Margins project will conduct geoscientific assessments of potential U.S. claims to extend the seaward limits of the legal offshore continental shelf. The project will review, compile, collect, and synthesize geologic and geophysical data from offshore areas adjacent to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and other areas of the U.S. national interest. The eight priority areas, identified in the report to Congress by Mayer and others (2002), where the Gardiner (sediment thickness) formula might be the deciding formula in making a claim are: the northeast Atlantic, the southeast Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutians, the Arctic, the Mariana Islands, and Palmyra Atoll/Kingman Reef.
The Gulf of Mexico Economic Exclusive Zone region
