By PHILIP ENGLISH
A $44 million science project to define the outer limits of New Zealand's undersea continental shelf is on budget and on time.
The 13-year project still has years to run, but it is expected to identify potential wealth for New Zealand, such as oil and mineral reserves on the seabed, and boost knowledge of the country's geographical origins and its marine geology.
The project began in 1996 after New Zealand ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The UN has since extended the project deadline by three years to 2009, by when New Zealand is expected to have put its claim for thousands of square kilometres of new territory beneath the sea.
On top of the existing 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, the shelf claim will cover an area up to nine times the size of New Zealand's land mass.
The claim, based on evidence that the project has collected to back New Zealand's right to its continental shelf, involves the seabed and what lies beneath it - not resources such as fish stocks living between about 1000m and 4000m above the shelf.
Seismic surveys that have penetrated the seabed to depths of up to 35km have revealed the structure of the edges of the continental shelf.
Much of the research has been done by using soundwaves to determine the geology of the seafloor.
Vessels have also dredged up rocks to work out if they are part of the continental shelf.
Project leader Jerome Sheppard said a lot of data had yet to be analysed. There was no firm evidence of oil or mineral finds, but "some sedimentary basins where typically oil is found have been discovered".
Apart from possible wealth arising from the project, science is benefiting from research that would normally be unaffordable.
"There is a really high level of enthusiasm from all the scientists who have worked on the project because this is basically the biggest science project that has taken place offshore in New Zealand in the past 15 years," said Mr Sheppard.
Scientists were learning more about the origin and composition of crustal rocks and the shape of the seabed, but were also finding undersea mountains, fault lines and links between New Zealand and the ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland.
Seabed surveys will finish next year, leaving legal aspects of the claim to be finalised.
"Because no state has actually put their evidence before the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf yet, everybody is still feeling their way on how the commission will rule on certain things," said Mr Sheppard.
The first case "will certainly have a huge impact because everybody will be watching closely to see if the approaches they have taken are right".
Land Information NZ is responsible for the surveys and analysis of data. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will handle international boundary negotiations, including putting New Zealand's case for its continental shelf claim to the UN.
Other agencies involved include the Ministry of Economic Development's crown minerals division, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
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Visit Land Information NZ and click on "publications".
Seabed study to help NZ push out boundaries
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