Subject: ch 14  defining the indefinable<br/>
Date: Jan 05, 2001 @ 02:48<br/>
Author: michael donner (michael donner &lt;m@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1121897837">subtitled  antarctic maritime boundaries<br/>
by gerard j mangone<br/>
<br/>
the land part of everyones land<br/>
antarctica is greater in area than brazil canada or us & twice as big as europe<br/>
<br/>
it is the highest continent<br/>
2700m average<br/>
cf asia 1000m average<br/>
<br/>
altitude makes it average 15 degrees colder than arctic<br/>
<br/>
only 2 or 3 percent is exposed rock<br/>
the rest being covered by ice sheet 2000m thick on average<br/>
or about 90 percent of all the worlds ice<br/>
the rest of it being mainly danish<br/>
<br/>
dry desert<br/>
15cm annual precip<br/>
essentially never melts but compacts into ice sheet<br/>
<br/>
cyclical human pop at 36 bases run by 13 of the 17 participating countries<br/>
varied from 3000 in summer to 900 in frightful weather of 1986<br/>
<br/>
says legal status has become increasingly contentious since 1983<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
cook was dispatched by brit govt to sail as far south as possible<br/>
  & got paid for eating candy in that regard imo<br/>
<br/>
he discovered s georgia & s sandwich islands in 1775 & was the first to<br/>
cross the antarctic circle yet incredibly failed to discover antarctica<br/>
<br/>
in 1819 the s shetlands were discovered by another dude who also incredibly<br/>
never sighted antarctica<br/>
which was finally clearly sighted for the first time in 1841 by ross<br/>
several different dudes later<br/>
tho prescott names several of these intermediates as more probable first<br/>
sighters<br/>
<br/>
mt erebus is volcanic<br/>
<br/>
evidently the name of the north cape is adare<br/>
  which we should add to our extremities list<br/>
<br/>
first landfalls by white men occurred there in 1895 1899 etc<br/>
<br/>
first good map  by australia 1939<br/>
better by new zealand 1953<br/>
then germany 54<br/>
then usa 55<br/>
<br/>
first formal territorial claim by britain 1908<br/>
the description of which led to the sectoring principle<br/>
tho nicholson attributes it to canadian senator poirier in same year<br/>
<br/>
this departure from customary intl law was vigorously disputed<br/>
but eventually led to the ghost sexinational hendecapoint arauclfrgbnz<br/>
aka oracle frig bins or the south pole<br/>
<br/>
tho a norwegian was first to the south pole in 1911<br/>
norway wont claim it or engage in the sectoring game at all<br/>
except once to some minor degree when positively provoked by german claim<br/>
jumping in 1939<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
norway has maintained this position btw to defend herself from the russian<br/>
sector bearing on polaris closer to home<br/>
but thats a different tale<br/>
which includes the fact that the north pole is technically a sesquinational<br/>
quadripoint since russia claims it sectorially in earnest & canada<br/>
halfheartedly<br/>
  but these are my asides<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
to resume with the book tho<br/>
2 sectors of antarctica totalling 125 degrees of the 360 degree pie have<br/>
never been claimed & so have never not been everyones land<br/>
<br/>
the 1959 treaty sought to suspend all affirmations of claims<br/>
or the modification  enlargement  denial  or projection of claims<br/>
to territorial sovereignty on the continent<br/>
maintaining the indeterminate legal status of the continent<br/>
etc<br/>
<br/>
so from a little problem over a hotly disputed sexinational hendecapoint in<br/>
a freezing desert<br/>
everyones land proceeded from conception at the pole<br/>
to birth thruout antarctica in 1959<br/>
& by 1982 in the high seas as well<br/>
  oops  my gloss again<br/>
<br/>
but to resume<br/>
where no territorial sovereign is recognized in the area or in an area that<br/>
has not even been claimed by any state<br/>
punishment for local offenses is dubious<br/>
  yes dubious<br/>
    yeaahhh<br/>
dubious not only for the nationals of the state that tries to prosecute<br/>
but especially for the nationals of another state who may be charged with<br/>
violating even a measure agreed by the signatories<br/>
  yesss<br/>
<br/>
after 1974 when 200nm eezs started to spring up<br/>
brit norse safrican french & ozzie islands could project eezs toward the<br/>
antarctic mainland<br/>
<br/>
states may establish eezs & continental shelves contiguous to their<br/>
nonantarctic territories<br/>
but may not claim to exercise sovereign rights in the area<br/>
including putatively the seabed surrounding antarctica up to the beaches<br/>
<br/>
once the concept was accepted in 1982 that the resources of the seabed<br/>
beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind & can only<br/>
be exploited thru an international organization<br/>
many developing states in the united nations led by malaysia were bold<br/>
enough to call for international management of antarctica & equitable<br/>
sharing of at least its mineral benefits<br/>
<br/>
a resolution to this effect was approved by the un general assembly 3 dec 1985<br/>
much to the chagrin of nearly all the states with consultative status under<br/>
the antarctic treaty<br/>
<br/>
the boundaries of antarctica continue to be anamalous<br/>
  his word  not mine<br/>
<br/>
her future will depend upon the recognition of boundaries<br/>
not as exclusive preserves of sovereigns<br/>
but as areas of fixed responsibilities<br/>
<br/>
  govt not as privelege but as plumbing<br/>
    oops  me again<br/>
<br/>
antarctica & its surrounding seas<br/>
because of their location & extraordinary physical environment<br/>
can be treated differently than other areas of the world<br/>
allowing some states to be guardians of the world heritage<br/>
but not denying any state a share in its benefits<br/>
<br/>
m</div>