Back in the 17th century, there was a whole world to explore and conquer; consequently, the Arctic Ocean was pretty low on everyone's wish list. Nations could agree that the seeming wasteland of ice belonged to no one. But by the 1970s, with the dearth of readily available fossil fuels beginning to pose a bit of a problem, it was time to overhaul the laws that governed the Arctic -- and the priceless mineral rights hidden in the seafloor below.
Thus, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which came into force in 1994. In addition to governing matters regarding the Arctic environment and navigational rights, the treaty also gave Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States potential sovereignty over precious Arctic seafloor. Each nation has a claim to waters 200 nautical miles from its shorelines. If the country can define its continental shelves, proving they extend beyond 200 nautical miles, then it's eligible to participate in the great Arctic land grab, and can claim an additional 150 nautical miles.
Here's the thing, though: It's hard to map land that lies below frigid waters or thick ice. So Canada, which has until 2013 to stake its claim, is using a variety of techniques to cover a lot of ground. According to CBC News, federal scientists have already mapped out the eastern Arctic's seabed and are now moving west.
"What we're trying to do is cover the entire Arctic margin from […] north of Greenland to almost the Alaska boundary," Jacob Verhoef, the project's scientific director, said.
The mid-March to early May project will consist of two teams performing what sound like fairly traditional surveying tasks. One group will set up on Borden Island, taking a helicopter out to measure the seafloor's depth; another will work at an offshore ice camp.
But there's also a third party involved -- yellow, pencil-like autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs. They look remarkably like the Yellow Submarine, just stretched out and windowless. But the 22-foot-long (7-meter) machines can go places submarines and scientists can't, measuring depths and recording other information necessary for surveying. They'll also enter the water like giant ice fishing lures, cast down through enormous holes cut into ice that's 6 feet (2 meters) thick.
Defence Research and Development Canada, a science- and technology-oriented branch of Canada's defense department, is working with the federal scientists to help wrangle the new AUVs. The United States, a co-claimant in the Arctic race, is also helping out with the surveying effort -- a collaboration that seems less surprising when one considers how paltry the country's own claim is through Alaska's shelf.
Image: Who owns that seafloor? Credit: (Dale Wilson/Photographer's Choice RF/Getty Images)
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