Reach for the Top Canada’s 2019 Extended Continental Shelf Claim in the Arctic

• Published in: Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy
• Main Author: Smith, Jeffrey J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Greenland; Archipelago; Arctic Archipelago; canada basin; Lomonosov Ridge; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24519391-00402008; https://brill.com/view/journals/apoc/4/2/article-p246_246.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/apoc/4/2/article-p246_246.xml

This article examines Canada’s 2019 claim to an extended continental shelf ( ecs ) in the Arctic. The claim follows the country’s Atlantic coast ecs submission of in 2013 to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the clcs ). The extent and basis of the 2019 claim are considered, including an apparent encroachment into the United States Alaskan shelf and a reliance on the Lomonosov Ridge as an extension of Canada’s Arctic archipelago. The competing claims of Denmark for Greenland and Russia are discussed. It is concluded that the western part of Canada’s claim in the Canada Basin adjacent to Alaska is supportable. However, the claim to an ecs around the Lomonosov Ridge is less certain.