New Soil Samples Prove the Arctic is Ours - Russia
Date: 21-Sep-07
Country: RUSSIA
The Arctic 2007 expedition was the first to plant a flag on
the seabed directly below the North Pole and it symbolically
claimed the area, which geologists believe is rich in minerals
and energy deposits, for the Kremlin.
Now Russia says the scientific evidence cements their claims
and they will present it to the United Nations.
Other countries aspiring to own the Arctic seabed have
rushed to reiterate their own claims before a May 2009 deadline.
"We have received preliminary data from an analysis of
models of the earth's crust from Arctic 2007 which confirms that
the Lomonosov Ridge ... is part of the adjoining continental
shelf of the Russian Federation," the statement said.
The Lomonosov Ridge, named after 18th century Russian writer
and scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, runs hundreds of kilometres
along the bottom of the Arctic seabed below the icy North Pole
and is key to claiming the region's untapped resources.
Global warming is melting the polar icecaps and governments
now believe that it is only a matter of time before they will be
able to start exploiting the previously inaccessible seabed
below the Arctic icecap.
International law states that the five nations which control
a coastline in the Arctic -- Canada, Russia, the United States,
Norway and Denmark via its ownership of Greenland -- have a 320
km (200 mile) economic zone north of their shore.
But Russia -- which has grown rich in the last decade from
oil and gas revenues -- claims a far larger slice because it
says the Arctic and Siberia are linked via the Lomonosov Ridge.
It first made the claim to the United Nations in 2001, but
now intends to show it new evidence.
"At the present time we are preparing rock samples and
materials to document and present to the United Nations
commission on ownership of the continental shelf," the statement
said.
Last month's expedition, when a mini-submarine dived from a
command ship 4,200 m (13,000 feet) below the sea and planted the
Russian flag with a mechanical arm, triggered international
allegations of a Kremlin stunt.
