Extended Continental Shelf Project

Welcome to the Website for the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project! The 2010 U.S.-Canada Arctic Continental Shelf Survey runs from August 2 through September 14.

The mission of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project is to establish the full extent of the continental shelf of the United States, consistent with international law. Since 2003, the United States has been gathering and analyzing data to determine its extended continental shelf, following the criteria contained in Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. There are six areas in which the U.S. likely has an extended continental shelf: the Atlantic Margin, Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea, off the west side of Guam/Northern Mariana Islands, and in two areas in the Gulf of Mexico. There are nine areas in which the U.S. may have an extended continental shelf: the Gulf of Alaska, the western end of the Aleutian Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii's Necker Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, and three areas off the U.S. west coast (see map).

The United States has an inherent national interest in knowing, and declaring to others with specificity, the extent of our sovereign rights with regard to the U.S. extended continental shelf. Certainty and international recognition are important in establishing the necessary stability for development, conservation and protection of these areas, likely rich in resources.

The U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project has a Strategic Plan, which details the Project's mission, vision, goals and objectives, and also a Project Plan, a long-term plan that specifies the remaining work to determine the outer limits of the U.S. extended continental shelf. The Project is directed by the U.S Extended Continental Shelf Task Force, an interagency body headed by the U.S. Department of State.

The 2010 mission will be a 5-week mission involving two icebreakers: U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Healy and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Louis S. St-Laurent.

 

• 

  The Coast Guard Cutter HEALY (WAGB - 20) is United States' newest and most technologically advanced polar icebreaker.

• 

  Area north of Alaska surveyed by NOAA and UNH researchers during expeditions in 2003, 2004 and 2007. Credit: UNH/NOAA

• 

  An aerial view of the Chukchi Borderland from the north, with tracks from 2003, 2004 and 2007 mapping expeditions. Credit: UNH/NOAA

---

Visit the Law of the Sea Mapping Program for data relating to all of the ECS mapping missions.