600 mile claims

American scientists calculate the length of the Alaska shelf

Last year’s pretentious installation of the Russian tricolor at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean by an expedition led by State Duma Deputy Speaker Artur Chilingarov seems to have seriously provoked experts in the study of the Arctic. American scientists intend to, in some way, repeat the achievement of the Russian party-scientific group and “stake out” their own plots in this region, which is very promising in terms of fossil resources. For the second year in a row, a group of specialists from the University of New Hampshire is heading to the Chukchi Sea from the northernmost point of the United States - Cape Barrow in Alaska. Without pre-election reports, an advertising campaign and demonstrative patriotism, they intend to create a three-dimensional map of the bottom near the Chukchi Sea in order to obtain new data on the extent of the Alaska shelf. According to Reuters, a three-week expedition on the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy will start next Thursday.

It is noteworthy that in August last year the Americans even had to justify themselves - they say that access to the Arctic Ocean, and even on a militarized ship, is not a direct response to the excursion of the Russians, who set themselves not so much scientific goals as trying to amaze the world by diving Bathyscaphe "Mir" near the North Pole. Now that Mr. Chilingarov and like-minded people have temporarily switched to Baikal, the Healy’s exit from the port is no longer accompanied by increased interest in the press. But the information that experts will collect during the expedition is closely monitored by the US State Department.

Let us recall that last year the American foreign policy department reacted very painfully to the Arctic 2007 expedition and the statements of Russian politicians that followed the successful dive of Mir-2 with estimates of hydrocarbon reserves in the Lomonosov Ridge area. The State Department even released a special statement that the flag planted by Russian polar explorers at the bottom does not have any legal weight in Russia’s claim to the territory of the sea shelf.

American diplomats prefer not to talk about what legal dividends the expeditions on the Healy, the newest American icebreaker launched just eight years ago, will bring to the United States. But, according to State Department spokeswoman Margaret Hays, the data will help assess the possibility of new sources of oil and natural gas for the United States. Reuters quoted Ms Hayes as saying that Alaska's continental shelf could extend up to 600 miles from the US coastline. Scientists from the University of New Hampshire, as well as Canadian specialists who will replace them with Healy in early September, must check how justified such a statement is.

American Arctic researchers are not afraid to continue active research work in the fall - they expect that the melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean will significantly facilitate their work. In any case, during last year's expedition the climatic conditions were very favorable. “This is very bad for the Arctic, but very good for mapping,” Larry Meyer, one of the leaders of the research team, told Reuters.

Fedor SEREBRYANSKY