Oceans Pack 4

Question 1

What is ‘The Area’ under UNCLOS?

Answer 1

The seafloor and ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction

Question 2

Who regulates the Area?

Answer 2

• International Seabed Authority (ISA)
• Regulates the exploration and use of resources (e.g. deep sea mining)

Question 3

What does sovereignty of ocean resources mean?

Answer 3

Power or control over ocean resources

Question 4

What resources does the ocean floor provide?

Answer 4

• Minerals
• Fossil fuels

Question 5

What are the different categories of ocean resources?

Answer 5

• Biotic (e.g. plants, animals)
• Abiotic (e.g. fossil fuels, precious metals, minerals, sands, gravel)

Question 6

Who can exploit resources in the High Seas?

Answer 6

• Part of the ‘heritage of mankind’
• Benefits are shared by everyone
• Only some countries have the technology to exploit the abiotic resources of the High Seas

Question 7

What are the most mined minerals?

Answer 7

• Sand and gravel
• Used for construction and coastal management
• Extracted from shallow costal waters as they are washed into the sea by rivers and heavy rainfall
• Recovered easily and cheaply

Question 8

What are placer deposits and examples?

Answer 8

• Washed off land into the sea
• Diamonds near S Africa and Namibia
• Gold along shores of Alaska
• Tin and titanium along S American coastlines
• Sand, salt and gravel as well

Question 9

Where are the most important minerals found?

Answer 9

• Deep sea waters and seafloor
• Beyond any nation’s jurisdiction
  E.g. iron, nickel, copper, titanium, cobalt

Question 10

What an manganese nodules?

Answer 10

• Rocks that contain manganese, iron, nickel, copper and cobalt
• Most important mineral deposit in the sea

Question 11

Where are manganese nodules found?

Answer 11

• Largest deposit in the Pacific Ocean
• Between Mexico and Hawaii in Clarion-Clipperton Zone
• Also, off the coast of Peru, Indian Ocean and 2000km of the E coast of Australia

Question 12

Why is it difficult to harvest manganese nodules?

Answer 12

• 3.5-6km under the ocean’s surface
• Expensive due to lack of commercial mining machine
• Mineral prices have historically not been high
• Not economically viable until recently

Question 13

What are cobalt crusts?

Answer 13

• Metallic layers on the edge of submarine volcanoes
• Also contain magnesium and iron
• Half are found in Pacific Ocean
• Deep water and need to separate the crust means minerals are not yet exploited

Question 14

What minerals are near ocean-floor black smokers?

Answer 14

• Iron, copper, zinc and gold found in sulfur-rich mud and ores nearby
• At submarine plate boundaries (e.f. Mid-Atlantic Ridge)
• Iron-rich sulfides present
• SW Pacific Ocean has copper, zinc and gold

Question 15

What fossil fuels are found in the oceans?

Answer 15

• 1/3 of all world’s oil and gas comes from oceans
• Both conventional and unconventional sources found in the oceans
• Shallow water reserves have been used up (e.g. North Sea)
• Companies are moving to deeper and more remote areas
• Technological advances mean new discoveries have happened in deeper waters

Question 16

What is an example of deepwater fossil fuel reserves?

Answer 16

• Brazil’s Santos Coast
• 400 deepwater locations

Question 17

What are the benefits of deep-sea mining?

Answer 17

• Potential solution to global shortage of raw materials
• Minerals could be used for batteries and technology to reduce GHGs

Question 18

What are the limitations of deep-sea mining?

Answer 18

• Impacts on ocean, climate and biodiversity are far from being fully understood
• 37 countries have declared support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining (e.g. France, UK, Germany, Canada, New Zealand and Pacific island states)

Question 19

Who regulates deep-sea mining?

Answer 19

• ISA regulates in seabed areas away from national jurisdiction
• Issued 31 contracts to explore deep-sea mineral deposits
• Has not finalised regulations yet

Question 20

How do landlocked countries struggle without a coastline?

Answer 20

• No ocean resources from EEZ or territorial waters
• Trade is difficult as goods are delayed at border crossings and clearance takes a long time
  E.g. Takes Ugandan goods 5 days longer to leave through Dar es Salaam port than Tanzanian goods

Question 21

How many countries are landlocked?

Answer 21

• 44 countries
• Roughly 35 are LICs or MICs (EEs)
• 16 poorest countries in the world are landlocked

Question 22

What rights do landlocked countries have to the ocean?

Answer 22

• Right of access to the ocean via transit states
• Difficult and expensive to uphold

Question 23

How does Bolivia function as a landlocked country?

Answer 23

• Lost its Pacific coastline to Chile in 19th century war
• Chile promised to allow full and free commercial transit
• Most imports and export pass through Chile but this passage is delayed
• Delay from inspections and poorly maintained roads
• Bolivia’s GDP would be 1/5 higher if it had direct access to the sea
  E.g. 2013 strike by Chilean officials meant there was a 20km queue of lorries in Bolivia

Question 24

How did Bolivia try to fix its landlocking?

Answer 24

• Applied to International Court of Justice in the The Hague
• For sovereign access to the sea by reinstating its old coastline
• It lost

Question 25

What is a counter to being landlocked?

Answer 25

- Switzerland - Rich as it focuses on banking

Question 26

How does resource exploitation affect local communities and indigenous people?

Answer 26

- Rely on seafood for diet - Commercial vehicles encroach on native waters with large trawlers E.g. N American coast, Arctic and African coastline

Question 27

What is happening in Sierra Leone?

Answer 27

- Government gave permits to China, Russia and EU to fish in their EEZ - Have very productive seas - Illegal pair trawling is taking place - Removing 100 tons of fish per day

Question 28

What is happening in Papua New Guinea?

Answer 28

- Mineral extraction by Nautilus Minerals (Canadian) - In Brunswick Sea - Impacts people's livelihoods and environment