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-  Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program 
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#           Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf      

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      By Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program      September 23, 2022    

## USGS Law of the Sea Project

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## USGS Global Marine Mineral Resources

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## CMHRP Decadal Science Strategy

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## USGS Gas Hydrates Project

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            -              Overview           
            -              Science           
            -              Data           
            -              Web Tools           

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group that brings together many U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State, the USGS, and NOAA, to understand and determine the geographic extent of this deep-water maritime zone. Together, these agencies are mapping the features of the seafloor and determining sediment thickness to delineate the outer limits of the U.S. ECS using rules set forth in Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Within our ECS, the United States holds sovereign rights under customary international law to protect, manage and use the resources on and under the seabed. 

View Media Details

The Department of State chairs the U.S. ECS Task Force, with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and NOAA acting in co-Vice Chair capacities.  The Department of State oversees project management and the legal and diplomatic aspects of the project. DOI provides marine geologic and non-living resource expertise in the interagency partnership. NOAA acquires seafloor bathymetry data, assesses seafloor structure, and maintains the ECS data archive.

Within DOI, the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP) leads the ECS effort to collect, analyze and synthesize geological and geophysical information. The CMHRP’s key role in the ECS effort is acquisition and interpretation of both legacy and new seismic data to measure sediment thickness on U.S. continental margins and understand the geologic processes controlling seafloor morphology. The CMHRP also describes the geological framework of U.S. continental margins in support of the U.S. effort to delineate its ECS according to the Law of the Sea Convention. CMHRP scientists have collaborated with international geological surveys and numerous academic partners to complete ECS studies.

While the CMHRP’s formal responsibilities are to supply data for identifying the outer limits of the U.S. ECS, the newly acquired data have led to significant geological discoveries. In the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, the seismic data have revealed the tectonic processes that led to opening of the basin. Rocks collected from the seafloor more than 600 km north of the Alaskan Arctic coast have provided new information about high concentrations of critical and strategic seafloor minerals. In the Bering Sea, the seismic data acquired for U.S. ECS purposes have been applied to better understand the distribution of gas hydrates in the basin. In the Atlantic Ocean, ECS seismic data provide the first complete subseafloor view of the 375 km long Cape Fear submarine landslide, the largest submarine landslide documented offshore of the U.S. east coast. The CMHRP also contributes geological expertise to the ECS Task Force on other U.S. margins, including those of the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific west coast, Gulf of Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, and U.S. territories.

 

View Media Details

### USGS Law of the Sea Project 

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Learn more

### Global Marine Minerals

The Global Marine Mineral Resources project researches deep ocean minerals within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and throughout the Earth’s oceans.

Learn more

### USGS Gas Hydrates Project

The USGS Gas Hydrates Project has been making contributions to advance understanding of US and international gas hydrates science for at least three decades. The research group working on gas hydrates at the USGS is among the largest in the US and has expertise in all the major geoscience disciplines.

Learn more

link

September 23, 2022

####                 USGS Law of the Sea              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

September 23, 2022

####   USGS Law of the Sea

Learn More

link

June 15, 2022

####                 Global Marine Mineral Resources              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

June 15, 2022

####   Global Marine Mineral Resources

Learn More

link

October 15, 2018

####                 U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

October 15, 2018

####   U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project

Learn More

August 30, 2022

####                 Multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter from the Alaskan region, Extended Continental Shelf Project, 2011 field season: Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea              

Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

January 3, 2020

####                 Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program Decadal Science Strategy              

This geonarrative constitutes the Decadal Science Strategy of the U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, for 2020 to 2030.

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Hurricanes

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group that brings together many U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State, the USGS, and NOAA, to understand and determine the geographic extent of this deep-water maritime zone. Together, these agencies are mapping the features of the seafloor and determining sediment thickness to delineate the outer limits of the U.S. ECS using rules set forth in Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Within our ECS, the United States holds sovereign rights under customary international law to protect, manage and use the resources on and under the seabed. 

View Media Details

The Department of State chairs the U.S. ECS Task Force, with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and NOAA acting in co-Vice Chair capacities.  The Department of State oversees project management and the legal and diplomatic aspects of the project. DOI provides marine geologic and non-living resource expertise in the interagency partnership. NOAA acquires seafloor bathymetry data, assesses seafloor structure, and maintains the ECS data archive.

Within DOI, the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP) leads the ECS effort to collect, analyze and synthesize geological and geophysical information. The CMHRP’s key role in the ECS effort is acquisition and interpretation of both legacy and new seismic data to measure sediment thickness on U.S. continental margins and understand the geologic processes controlling seafloor morphology. The CMHRP also describes the geological framework of U.S. continental margins in support of the U.S. effort to delineate its ECS according to the Law of the Sea Convention. CMHRP scientists have collaborated with international geological surveys and numerous academic partners to complete ECS studies.

While the CMHRP’s formal responsibilities are to supply data for identifying the outer limits of the U.S. ECS, the newly acquired data have led to significant geological discoveries. In the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, the seismic data have revealed the tectonic processes that led to opening of the basin. Rocks collected from the seafloor more than 600 km north of the Alaskan Arctic coast have provided new information about high concentrations of critical and strategic seafloor minerals. In the Bering Sea, the seismic data acquired for U.S. ECS purposes have been applied to better understand the distribution of gas hydrates in the basin. In the Atlantic Ocean, ECS seismic data provide the first complete subseafloor view of the 375 km long Cape Fear submarine landslide, the largest submarine landslide documented offshore of the U.S. east coast. The CMHRP also contributes geological expertise to the ECS Task Force on other U.S. margins, including those of the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific west coast, Gulf of Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, and U.S. territories.

 

View Media Details

### USGS Law of the Sea Project 

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Learn more

### Global Marine Minerals

The Global Marine Mineral Resources project researches deep ocean minerals within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and throughout the Earth’s oceans.

Learn more

### USGS Gas Hydrates Project

The USGS Gas Hydrates Project has been making contributions to advance understanding of US and international gas hydrates science for at least three decades. The research group working on gas hydrates at the USGS is among the largest in the US and has expertise in all the major geoscience disciplines.

Learn more

link

September 23, 2022

####                 USGS Law of the Sea              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

September 23, 2022

####   USGS Law of the Sea

Learn More

link

June 15, 2022

####                 Global Marine Mineral Resources              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

June 15, 2022

####   Global Marine Mineral Resources

Learn More

link

October 15, 2018

####                 U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

link

October 15, 2018

####   U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project

Learn More

August 30, 2022

####                 Multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter from the Alaskan region, Extended Continental Shelf Project, 2011 field season: Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea              

Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization

January 3, 2020

####                 Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program Decadal Science Strategy              

This geonarrative constitutes the Decadal Science Strategy of the U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, for 2020 to 2030.

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Hurricanes