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Geology topics

Robert W. Rowland

Publications and source records attributed to Robert W. Rowland.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Law of the sea, the continental shelf, and marine research

The question of the amount of seabed to which a coastal nation is entitled is addressed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This treaty, ratified by 153 nations and in force since 1994, specifies national obligations, rights, and jurisdiction in the oceans, and it allows nations a continental shelf out to at least 200 nautical miles or to a maritime boundary. Article 76 (A76) of the convention enables coastal nations to establish their continental shelves beyond 200 nautical miles and therefore to control, among other things, access for scientific research and the use of seabed resources that would otherwise be considered to lie beyond national jurisdiction. To date, seven submissions for extended continental shelves (ECS) have been filed under UNCLOS (Table 1). These submissions have begun to define the ambiguities in A76. How these ambiguities are resolved into final ECS boundaries will probably set important precedents guiding the future delimitation of the ECS by the United States, which has not ratified the convention, and other coastal nations. This report uses examples from the first three submissions—by the Russian Federation, Brazil, and Australia—to identify outstanding issues encountered in applying A76 to ECS delimitation.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2006

USGS analysis of the Australian UNCLOS submission

In November 2004, the Government of Australia made a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) for 10 extended continental shelf (ECS) regions, utilizing Article-76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). With information provided in the Australian Executive Summary, the USGS examined the 10 regions of the submission from geological, morphological, and resource perspectives. By their own request, the Australians asked that CLCS take no action on the Australian-Antarctic Territory. The major limitation in this analysis is that no bathymetric soundings or detailed hydrographic profiles were provided in the Australian Executive Summary that might show why the Foot of the Slope (FOS) was chosen or where the 2,500-m contour is located. This represents a major limitation because more than half of the 4,205 boundary points utilize the bathymetric formula line and more than one-third of them utilize the bathymetric constraint line. CLCS decisions on the components of this submission may set a precedent for how ECSs are treated in future submissions. Some of the key decisions will cover (a) how a 'natural prolongation' of a continental margin is determined, particularly if a bathymetric saddle that appears to determine the prolongation is in deep water and is well outside of the 200-nm limit (Exmouth Plateau), (b) defining to what extent that plateaus, rises, caps, banks and spurs that are formed of oceanic crust and from oceanic processes can be considered to be 'natural prolongations' (Kerguelen Plateau), (c) to what degree UNCLOS recognizes reefs and uninhabited micro-islands (specifically, rocks and/or sand shoals) as islands that can have an EEZ (Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs north of Lord Howe Island), and (d) how the Foot of the Slope (FOS) is chosen (Great Australian Bight). The submission contains situations that are relevant to potential future U.S. submissions and are potentially analogous to certain features of the US margins. The Australian margin has significant geological and morphological variety, similar to the US margin and gives a good idea of the complexity of issues related to the U.S. margin. Decisions about basins and ridges in the Lord Howe Rise and Three Kings Ridge regions will likely bear on the status of ridges in the Arctic, such as Lomonosov Ridge. The Naturaliste Plateau and the South Tasman Rise appear to have parallels with the Chukchi Plateau in the Arctic and the Blake Plateau off the southeastern U.S. The ECS on Macquarie Island/Ridge may determine how boundaries along ridges such as the Mariannas are treated.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1984

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR - EEZ SYMPOSIUM.

The Presidential proclamation on March 10, 1983, of a 200-nautical-mile-wide Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) focuses attention on the mineral resources of a vast submarine area. The hard-mineral resources in the EEZ include shallow-water placer deposits, polymetallic sulfide deposits, and cobalt-enriched manganese crusts in deeper water. The petroleum resource potential of basins within the EEZ is of importance especially in the deep water of the continental slope and rise. In order to formulate a national program to assess the resources in the EEZ, a symposium on 'A National Program for the Assessment and Development of the Mineral Resources of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone', was held at the National Center of the US Geological Survey. The symposium covered resource evaluation, engineering development needs, and the legal framework for management of the assessment and development of this vast area. Recommendations resulting from the symposium are discussed as well as the initial steps for implementing those recommendations and formulating an effective national program.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1979

Manganese nodule resources in the northeastern equatorial Pacific

Recent publication of maps at scale 1:1,000,000 of the northeastern equatorial Pacific region showing publicly available information on the nickel plus copper content of manganese nodules has made it possible to outline the prime area between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones which has been the focus of several recent scientific and commercial studies. The area, defined as that in which the nodules contain more than 1.8 percent nickel plus copper, is about 2o5 million km 2 . The available evidence suggests that about half of it contains nodules in concentration (reported in wet weight units) greater than 5 kg/m 2 and averaging 11.9 kg/m 2 . If we assume that 20 percent of the nodules in this area of 1.25 million km 2 are recoverable, its potential recoverable resources are about 2.1 billion dry metric tons of nodules averaging about 25 percent Mn, 1.3 percent Ni, 1.0 percent Cu, 0.22 percent Co, and 0.05 percent Mo—enough to support about 27 mining operations each producing an average of 75 million metric tons of nodules over their lifetimes. Estimates based on other plausible assumptions would be higher or lower, but of the same order of magnitude. Thus it seems probable that the magnitude of the potentially recoverable nodule resources of the Clarion-Clipperton prime area—the most promising now known—is at most in the range of several tens of the average-size operations postulated.

Book chapter↗
USGS1978

Manganese nodule resources in the northeastern equatorial Pacific

Recent publication of maps at a scale of 1:1,000,000 of the northeastern equatorial Pacific region showing publicly available information on the nickel-plus-copper content of manganese nodules has made it possible to delineate the limits of the prime area between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones which has been the focus of several recent scientific and commercial studies. The area, defined as that in which the nodules contain more than 1.8 percent nickel plus copper, is about 2.5 million square kilometers in size, and about half of it is assumed to contain nodules in concentrations greater than 5 kg/m 2 and averaging 11.9 kg/m 2 . Assuming that 20 percent of the nodules in this area of 1.25 million square kilometers would be recoverable, its potentially recoverable resources are about 2.1 billion dry metric tons of nodules averaging about 25 percent Mn, 1.3 percent Ni, 1 percent Cu, 0.22 percent Co, and 0.05 percent Mo--enough to support about 27 mining operations each producing an average of 75 million metric tons of nodules over their lifetimes. Estimates based on other plausible assumptions would be higher or lower, but of the same order of magnitude. Thus it seems probable that the magnitude of the potentially recoverable nodule resources of the Clarion-Clipperton prime area--the most promising now known--is at most in the range of several tens of the average-size operations postulated.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1973

The benthic fauna of the Northern Bering Sea

The shelled benthic fauna of the northern Bering Sea has been extensively sampled and the taxonomy, distribution and functional role of 105 species of mollusks, two species of barnacles, two species of echinoids and one species of brachiopod havet4pen examined: The major benthic communities were evaluated by cluster analysis. They are: the Balanus rostratus alaskensis community which inhabits cobble or gravel substrates; the Tellina lutea alternidentata community which is limited to areas of clean sand; the Clinocardium ciliatum community which is found on silty-sand substrates; and the Macoma balthica community which inhabits the brackish coastal lagoons. These associations were compared with the classic boreal benthic communities of Peterson & Thorson. Although the Bering Sea fauna is compositionally similar to the Scandinavian, the species associations differ markedly. These differences are believed to be due to substrate differences. The Bering Sea sediments are more poorly sorted and patchily distributed than those of Scandinavian waters.

Open-File Report↗