Arctic seabed 'belongs to Russia'

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

A Russian expedition has proved that a ridge of mountains below the Arctic Ocean is part of Russia's continental shelf, government officials have said.

The Natural Resources Ministry said tests on soil samples showed Russia was linked to the Lomonosov Ridge.

Moscow has mounted several expeditions recently - and risked tensions with rivals in August by planting a flag in the seabed below the North Pole.

The Arctic is thought to be rich in oil, gas and mineral reserves.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7005483.stm

[kitty1]

1. Maybe Russia should hold off until everyone's samples are in nt

[Vilis Veritas]

2. Let's just hope they are good stewards of the environment...

Oh wait...

No Fear.

[Xithras]

3. Not a very good argument.

The Russians are correct that the Lomonosov Ridge is connected to the North American plate, which includes all of Russia east of the Lena river. I fail to see how this gives them any more claim to the area than those shared by other residents of the North American plate, including Canada, Denmark, and the United States.

[Deja Q]

4. Is Pavel Chekov running that country? He thinks Russia invented everything, owns everything,

and anything else you can think for everything.

It belongs to Canada.

[KamaAina]

5. Huh? Is Russia not a signatory to the Law of the Sea treaty?

This would indicate otherwise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_Sea#Signature_and_ratification

then again, (surprise!), the U.S. is not, so who am I to talk? :eyes:

[Scurrilous]

6. Britain said to lay claim to south Atlantic seabed

<snip>

"Britain is seeking to legally annex stretches of the south Atlantic seabed in a bid to tap gas, mineral and oil wealth, in a move that could raise tension with Argentina, a newspaper reported Saturday.

It plans to file with the United Nations authorities a claim to tens of thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean floor around the Falklands, Ascension Island and Rockall, The Guardian said.

In a bloody war 25 years ago, British forces expelled Argentine invasion forces from the Falkland Islands, which is 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometres) from Britain. Argentina claims the Falklands, or Malvinas, as their own.

The British government is trying to speed up the application process with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) ahead of an international deadline in May 2009, the newspaper said.

In a novel legal approach, any state can use detailed geological and geophysical surveys to demarcate a new "continental shelf outer limit" that can extend up to the 350 miles from its shoreline, The Guardian said."

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