Antarctica resources: Economic activities in Antarctica - resources and legal regimes

• Main Author: Jabour, J
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Edward Elgar Publishing 2016
• Subjects: Law and Legal Studies; Law; International Law (excl. International Trade Law); Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783478330; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113961

The Antarctic is that region of the Southern Hemisphere containing the continent ofAntarctica and the Southern Ocean that surrounds it. The region (hereinafter 'Antarctica')has a number of boundaries, both in law (for example, 'south of 60 South')and in the natural sciences (for example, 'south of the Antarctic Convergence'). Thevariety of economically viable natural resources in Antarctica is limited. The region hassuffered from over-exploitation of whales, seals and penguins since Captain Cookreturned to England and reported that the southern seas were teeming with wildlife.Explorers, such as Sir Douglas Mawson, collected geological specimens on theirexploration and discovery expeditions, and these collections supported theories that thesame kinds of minerals being extracted in post-Gondwana continents such as India andAustralia might also be found in Antarctica. But this place has never been seen as astorehouse of great riches, per se , because of its relative isolation, inhospitable climateand the economic impracticality of resource extraction. Rather, since the twentiethcentury, Antarctica has become valued more for its potential for scientific information,including about global climate processes, than for its economic potential.