CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

WHAT IS THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE ARCTIC? Ridge . On 2 August 2007 a Russian mini-submarine placed a Russian flag on the seabed under the North Pole as a symbolic support for the Russian claim which was submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2001. In the submission of 2001 one of the central issues is a Russian claim to the underwater ridge lying under the North Pole – the Lomonosov Ridge and Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge as extensions of the Eurasian continent. 71 As mentioned above, the Commission neither refused nor accepted the Russian submission but recommended further research. Russia hoped the newest geological findings would lead the Commission to come to a different conclusion. The possible delineation of the continental shelf in respect to the Lomonosov Ridge and Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge depends on the interpretation of the terms ridge and elevation in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. As Heidar 72 states, it is not easy to distinguish between submarine elevations and submarine ridges, because the Convention on the Law of the Sea does not contain their definition. Article 76 of the Convention, however, contains three different terms. In Article 76, paragraph 3 there is the term oceanic ridge . There is a negative definition which says that the continental margin does not include the deep ocean floor with its oceanic ridges or the subsoil thereof. The other term is submarine ridge . From Article 76, paragraph 6 of the Convention follows that submarine ridge could, according to Benitah, be included 73 in the continental shelf. The outer limit of the continental shelf, however, does not exceed 350 nautical miles, from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Heidar 74 has a different opinion, claiming that submarine ridge is not a natural component of the continental margin . The third term is submarine elevation , which is used in the second sentence of Article 76, paragraph 6. According to this regulation, „this paragraph does not apply to submarine elevations that are natural components of the continental margin, such as its plateaux, rises, caps, banks and spurs“. Submarine elevation is a natural component of the margin and can be of oceanic or continental origin. What is required, however, is the natural prolongation, i.e. continuity of morphologic and geologic origin and history of the rocks of the landmass of the dry land of the coastal state. 75 It is understood that for the submarine elevation the limitation 76 of 350 nautical miles contained in the first sentence of this paragraph will not apply. Points on this submarine elevation beyond the limit of 350 nautical miles should be included into the continental shelf and the regulation about the 100 nautical miles beyond the depth of 2500m should be used 77 . There is a possibility that the above mentioned Russian claim is based on understanding the ridges as being submarine elevation 71 Benitah, M., op. cit. 72 Heidar, T. H., The Legal Regime of the Arctic Ocean. Zeitschrift fur auslandisches offentliches Recht und Volkerrecht , 2009, 69/3, p. 637. 73 Benitah. M., op. cit. 74 Heidar, T. H., op. cit., p. 638. 75 Ibid. 76 Benitah, M., op. cit. A similar idea is presented by Wolfrum, R., op. cit. , p. 538. 77 Ibid.

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