USGS Law of the Sea Active
The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico, western Pacific, and Pacific west coast. USGS provides geologic measurements and research to help define the ECS collaboratively with the Department of State, NOAA, and other federal agencies.
The Law of the Sea project integrates science and law. Article 76 of the Law of the Sea Convention sets forth rules for determining the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M). Defining the outer limits of the ECS is necessary for determining the exact extent of the area within which the United States exercises its sovereign rights and jurisdiction. The size of the U.S. ECS is roughly 1 million square kilometers, more than twice the area of the state of California. The resources in the U.S. ECS are worth many billions if not trillions of dollars.
Why study the ECS?
The United States, like other countries, has an inherent interest in knowing, and declaring to others, the exact extent of its ECS and thus the sovereign rights it is entitled to exercise in this part of the ocean. Defining those limits in concrete geographical terms provides the specificity and certainty necessary to protect, manage, and use the resources of the ECS. The collection and analysis of the data necessary to establish the outer limits of the U.S. ECS also provides a better scientific understanding of our continental margins. Department of State ECS FAQ
The USGS conducts research to provide geologic framework, seafloor processes, and sediment thickness measurements to identify and establish the outer limits of the U.S. ECS. With its national knowledge and expertise of the U.S. continental margins, USGS has responsibility for developing a database of sediment thickness and continental margin geology, assessing existing data, and developing scientific research opportunities. USGS conducts complex, lengthy field experiments in the regions beyond 200 M. USGS also advises the Department of State about the possible geologic criteria used by other coastal States to identify their ECS limits. Finally, this project includes a task to investigate the mineral resource potential of the U.S. EEZ and ECS. USGS studies help enable the federal government to make informed decisions relating to boundary negotiations, resource development, and resource conservation in the deep-water areas of the U.S. continental margins, including those beyond 200 M.
For this project, USGS works within the framework of a federal interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, chaired by the Department of State and co-vice-chaired by NOAA and Department of the Interior. The Task Force approves project goals and work plans that are developed by the three cooperating agencies.
USGS has led or participated in ten field programs in four regions to collect seismic reflection data to support delineation of the U.S. ECS. Because of the absence of seismic data in the area north of Alaska, the Arctic Ocean represents the largest seismic effort of the project (~17,000 km of seismic track data, collected collaboratively with the Geological Survey of Canada during six field programs in remote ice-covered areas). The Atlantic required the second largest effort (two field programs, ~5400 km of seismic track data). The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska each required one field effort, collecting ~3000 km of data in each region.
The USGS Law of the Sea project is a programmatic effort by the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP), involving participants from the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC), the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), the Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center, and as well as the CMHRP Program Office. From 2002 through 2022, WHCMSC is home base for the active project. From 2023, Law of the Sea activity continues as a task within the USGS Global Marine Minerals project, based within PCMSC.
Below are other scientific efforts related to this project
Global Marine Mineral Resources
Below are data products associated with this project.
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Sediment Laboratory
The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Sediment Analysis Laboratory is a resource that performs analyses relating to grain size, mineralogy, composition, and sedimentary character of samples collected by WHCMSC researchers and their partners using state of the art techniques and analytical equipment.
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Seismic velocities within the sedimentary succession of the Canada Basin and southern Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge, Arctic Ocean: evidence for accelerated porosity reduction?
Bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin for marine geological investigations
Aleutian basin oceanic crust
Depth-to-basement, sediment-thickness, and bathymetry data for the deep-sea basins offshore of Washington, Oregon, and California
Deep-Water Acoustic Anomalies from Methane Hydrate in the Bering Sea
Dynamic response to strike-slip tectonic control on the deposition and evolution of the Baranof Fan, Gulf of Alaska
Assessment of tsunami hazard to the U.S. Atlantic margin
Baseline monitoring of the western Arctic Ocean estimates 20% of the Canadian Basin surface waters are undersaturated with respect to aragonite
2010 Joint United States-Canadian Program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy--Cruise HLY1002
Geomorphic process fingerprints in submarine canyons
The role of farfield tectonic stress in oceanic intraplate deformation, Gulf of Alaska
2008 Joint United States-Canadian program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy--Cruise HLY0806
In September 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), conducted bathymetric and geophysical surveys in the Arctic Beaufort Sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Healy. The principal objective of this mission to the high Arctic was to acquire data in support of delineation of the outer limits of the U.S. and Can
- Overview
The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico, western Pacific, and Pacific west coast. USGS provides geologic measurements and research to help define the ECS collaboratively with the Department of State, NOAA, and other federal agencies.
The Law of the Sea project integrates science and law. Article 76 of the Law of the Sea Convention sets forth rules for determining the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M). Defining the outer limits of the ECS is necessary for determining the exact extent of the area within which the United States exercises its sovereign rights and jurisdiction. The size of the U.S. ECS is roughly 1 million square kilometers, more than twice the area of the state of California. The resources in the U.S. ECS are worth many billions if not trillions of dollars.
Why study the ECS?
The United States, like other countries, has an inherent interest in knowing, and declaring to others, the exact extent of its ECS and thus the sovereign rights it is entitled to exercise in this part of the ocean. Defining those limits in concrete geographical terms provides the specificity and certainty necessary to protect, manage, and use the resources of the ECS. The collection and analysis of the data necessary to establish the outer limits of the U.S. ECS also provides a better scientific understanding of our continental margins. Department of State ECS FAQ
The USGS conducts research to provide geologic framework, seafloor processes, and sediment thickness measurements to identify and establish the outer limits of the U.S. ECS. With its national knowledge and expertise of the U.S. continental margins, USGS has responsibility for developing a database of sediment thickness and continental margin geology, assessing existing data, and developing scientific research opportunities. USGS conducts complex, lengthy field experiments in the regions beyond 200 M. USGS also advises the Department of State about the possible geologic criteria used by other coastal States to identify their ECS limits. Finally, this project includes a task to investigate the mineral resource potential of the U.S. EEZ and ECS. USGS studies help enable the federal government to make informed decisions relating to boundary negotiations, resource development, and resource conservation in the deep-water areas of the U.S. continental margins, including those beyond 200 M.
For this project, USGS works within the framework of a federal interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, chaired by the Department of State and co-vice-chaired by NOAA and Department of the Interior. The Task Force approves project goals and work plans that are developed by the three cooperating agencies.
USGS has led or participated in ten field programs in four regions to collect seismic reflection data to support delineation of the U.S. ECS. Because of the absence of seismic data in the area north of Alaska, the Arctic Ocean represents the largest seismic effort of the project (~17,000 km of seismic track data, collected collaboratively with the Geological Survey of Canada during six field programs in remote ice-covered areas). The Atlantic required the second largest effort (two field programs, ~5400 km of seismic track data). The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska each required one field effort, collecting ~3000 km of data in each region.
The USGS Law of the Sea project is a programmatic effort by the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP), involving participants from the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC), the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), the Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center, and as well as the CMHRP Program Office. From 2002 through 2022, WHCMSC is home base for the active project. From 2023, Law of the Sea activity continues as a task within the USGS Global Marine Minerals project, based within PCMSC.
- Science
Below are other scientific efforts related to this project
Global Marine Mineral Resources
Researching seafloor mineral resources that occur within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and areas beyond national jurisdictions. - Data
Below are data products associated with this project.
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Sediment LaboratoryThe Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Sediment Analysis Laboratory is a resource that performs analyses relating to grain size, mineralogy, composition, and sedimentary character of samples collected by WHCMSC researchers and their partners using state of the art techniques and analytical equipment.
- Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 43Seismic velocities within the sedimentary succession of the Canada Basin and southern Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge, Arctic Ocean: evidence for accelerated porosity reduction?
The Canada Basin and the southern Alpha-Mendeleev ridge complex underlie a significant proportion of the Arctic Ocean, but the geology of this undrilled and mostly ice-covered frontier is poorly known. New information is encoded in seismic wide-angle reflections and refractions recorded with expendable sonobuoys between 2007 and 2011. Velocity–depth samples within the sedimentary succession are exAuthorsJohn Shimeld, Qingmou Li, Deping Chian, Nina Lebedeva-Ivanova, Ruth Jackson, David Mosher, Deborah R. HutchinsonBathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin for marine geological investigations
A bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin covering almost 725,000 square kilometers of seafloor from the New England Seamounts in the north to the Blake Basin in the south is compiled from existing multibeam bathymetric data for marine geological investigations. Although other terrain models of the same area are extant, they are produced from either satellite-derived bathymetry at coarseAuthorsBrian D. Andrews, Jason D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink, Daniel S. Brothers, James V. Gardner, Elizabeth A. Lobecker, Brian R. CalderAleutian basin oceanic crust
We present two-dimensional P-wave velocity structure along two wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer profiles from the Aleutian basin in the Bering Sea. The basement here is commonly considered to be trapped oceanic crust, yet there is a change in orientation of magnetic lineations and gravity features within the basin that might reflect later processes. Line 1 extends ∼225 km from southwest to nortAuthorsGail L. Christeson, Ginger A. BarthDepth-to-basement, sediment-thickness, and bathymetry data for the deep-sea basins offshore of Washington, Oregon, and California
Contours and derivative raster files of depth-to-basement, sediment-thickness, and bathymetry data for the area offshore of Washington, Oregon, and California are provided here as GIS-ready shapefiles and GeoTIFF files. The data were used to generate paper maps in 1992 and 1993 from 1984 surveys of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone by the U.S. Geological Survey for depth to basement and sediment thAuthorsFlorence L. Wong, Muriel S. GrimDeep-Water Acoustic Anomalies from Methane Hydrate in the Bering Sea
A recent expedition to the central Bering Sea, one of the most remote locations in the world, has yielded observations confirming gas and gas hydrates in this deep ocean basin. Significant sound speed anomalies found using inversion of pre-stack seismic data are observed in association with variable seismic amplitude anomalies in the thick sediment column. The anomalously low sound speeds below thAuthorsWarren T. Wood, Ginger A. Barth, David W. Scholl, Nina Lebedeva-IvanovaDynamic response to strike-slip tectonic control on the deposition and evolution of the Baranof Fan, Gulf of Alaska
The Baranof Fan is one of three large deep-sea fans in the Gulf of Alaska, and is a key component in understanding large-scale erosion and sedimentation patterns for southeast Alaska and western Canada. We integrate new and existing seismic reflection profiles to provide new constraints on the Baranof Fan area, geometry, volume, and channel development. We estimate the fan’s area and total sedimenAuthorsMaureen A. L. Walton, Sean P. S. Gulick, Robert S. Reece, Ginger A. Barth, Gail L. Christeson, Harm J. VanAvendonkAssessment of tsunami hazard to the U.S. Atlantic margin
Tsunami hazard is a very low-probability, but potentially high-risk natural hazard, posing unique challenges to scientists and policy makers trying to mitigate its impacts. These challenges are illustrated in this assessment of tsunami hazard to the U.S. Atlantic margin. Seismic activity along the U.S. Atlantic margin in general is low, and confirmed paleo-tsunami deposits have not yet been found,AuthorsUri S. ten Brink, Jason Chaytor, Eric L. Geist, Daniel S. Brothers, Brian D. AndrewsBaseline monitoring of the western Arctic Ocean estimates 20% of the Canadian Basin surface waters are undersaturated with respect to aragonite
Marine surface waters are being acidified due to uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, resulting in surface ocean areas of undersaturation with respect to carbonate minerals, including aragonite. In the Arctic Ocean, acidification is expected to occur at an accelerated rate with respect to the global oceans, but a paucity of baseline data has limited our understanding of the extent of Arctic undAuthorsLisa L. Robbins, Jonathan G. Wynn, John T. Lisle, Kimberly K. Yates, Paul O. Knorr, Robert H. Byrne, Xuewu Liu, Mark C. Patsavas, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Taro Takahashi2010 Joint United States-Canadian Program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy--Cruise HLY1002
In August and September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, conducted bathymetric and geophysical surveys in the Beaufort Sea and eastern Arctic Ocean aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The principal objective of this mission to the high Arctic was to acquire data in support of a delineation of the outer limits of theAuthorsBrian D. Edwards, Jonathan R. Childs, Peter J. Triezenberg, William W. Danforth, Helen GibbonsGeomorphic process fingerprints in submarine canyons
Submarine canyons are common features of continental margins worldwide. They are conduits that funnel vast quantities of sediment from the continents to the deep sea. Though it is known that submarine canyons form primarily from erosion induced by submarine sediment flows, we currently lack quantitative, empirically based expressions that describe the morphology of submarine canyon networks. MultiAuthorsDaniel S. Brothers, Uri S. ten Brink, Brian D. Andrews, Jason D. Chaytor, David C. TwichellThe role of farfield tectonic stress in oceanic intraplate deformation, Gulf of Alaska
An integration of geophysical data from the Pacific Plate reveals plate bending anomalies, massive intraplate shearing and deformation, and a lack of oceanic crust magnetic lineaments in different regions across the Gulf of Alaska. We argue that farfield stress from the Yakutat Terrane collision with North America is the major driver for these unusual features. Similar plate motion vectors indicatAuthorsRobert S. Reece, Sean P. S. Gulick, Gail L. Christesen, Brian K. Horton, Harm J. VanAvendonk, Ginger Barth2008 Joint United States-Canadian program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy--Cruise HLY0806
In September 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), conducted bathymetric and geophysical surveys in the Arctic Beaufort Sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Healy. The principal objective of this mission to the high Arctic was to acquire data in support of delineation of the outer limits of the U.S. and Can
AuthorsJonathan R. Childs, Peter J. Triezenberg, William W. Danforth - Partners