Foot of the Continental Slope of Sri Lanka (2004)
Dr. M. M. P. M. Fernando, Prof. Dhammika A. Tantrigoda
Abstract :
Foot of the continental slope of Sri Lanka has been has been determined using satellite bathymetry information downloaded from NOAA database (http://topex.ucsd.edu) employing the second derivative method. Foot of the continental slope of Sri Lanka is situated at an average distance of about 47 km. Its maximum and minimum distances from the zero height contour are 127 km and 16 km. Almost 70% of the foot of continental slope occurs in the depth range of 2600 – 3800 m.
Introduction:
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a comprehensive legal and scientific framework for addressing various issues related oceanic areas (United Nations, 1983, 1993). One of the most important achievements of UNCLOS is the successful formulation of a set of criteria that determines the sea area that a maritime country can claim.
Continents and oceans are two geologically different large regions interfaced by a smaller region known as the continental margin. A Continental margin consists of three morphologically distinct parts called continental shelf, slope and rise. Continental margin is generally considered as the natural prolongation of the land territory, which is submerged under water. Therefore a maritime country should have the right to claim the sea area up to the outer edge of the continental margin. This position has been accepted by the UNCLOS and has been explicitly stated so in the paragraph 1 of the article 76. A technically sound as well as legally acceptable method of delimiting the outer edge of the continental margins has been given in the paragraph 4(a) of the article 76 of the convention. This method can be used successfully to delimit outer edge of the continental margins of many coastal states. However, it has been pointed out that application of article 76 would give rise to inequitable results to states such as Sri Lanka in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal in view of the special nature of morphology of their continental shelves. In response to submissions made by the government of Sri Lanka with regard to this situation a special method of establishing maritime boundaries for countries south of Bay of Bengal, which satisfy certain conditions, has been formulated during the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea held in 1982. This special method and the relevant conditions have been incorporated in the Annex II of the final act as a statement of understanding.
When a maritime country is demarcating its maritime boundaries either using the article 76 or the Annex II, it is first necessary to determine the foot of the continental slope of the adjacent sea area. This is because most of the measurements related to the demarcating of maritime boundaries have to made from the foot of the continental slope. The following section describes a study carried out to determine the position foot of the continental slope of Sri Lanka in view its importance in demarcating the maritime boundaries of Sri Lanka.
Vidyodaya Journal of Science, (2005), Vol 12, pp 65 – 70.