International law considerations for owners and operators of cabled and buoy observatories

Numerous undersea observatories using cables or buoys are being planned and implemented by scientists and engineers. These projects are being planned with service lives measured in decades. The geographic reach of these systems extends beyond national waters and well into the high seas. Procurement and maintenance of these systems must be cost effective if they are to realize their scientific goals. This objective can be enhanced if the scientists and engineers designing, building, and operating these systems do so with awareness of the responsibilities, liabilities, and advantages accorded marine scientific research under international and maritime law. Generally, these subjects are addressed in the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982 (UNCLOS), as it is supplemented by appropriate national law. This paper provides a basic overview of applicable international law. For purposes of showing the relationship between UNCLOS with national law, U.S. law is utilized, although many nations have similar approaches in their domestic law. In planning an undersea observatory system, a complete and timely analysis of the national law of jurisdictions with a factual nexus to the system is recommended at the earliest stages.     

Plate tectonics and offshore boundary delimitation: Tunisia-Libya case at the International Court of Justice

The first major offshore boundary dispute where plate tectonics constituted a significant argument was recently brought before the International Court of Justice by Libya and Tunisia concerning the delimitation of their continental shelves. Libya placed emphasis on this concept to determine natural prolongation of its land territory under the sea. Tunisia contested use of the entire African continental landmass as a reference unit and views geography, geomorphology and bathymetry as relevant as geology. The Court pronounced that “It is the outcome, not the evolution in the long-distant past, which is of importance.” Moreover, it is the present-day configuration of coasts and seabed that are the main factors, not geology.     

国际海洋法与我国的海洋管理体制

《联合国海洋法公约》扩大了国家海洋权益,并要求各国对整个国家管辖海域实施综合管理,而我国分散执法的海洋管理体制存在种种弊端,与之不相适应。整合海上执法队伍,建立统一的海洋管理体制,建设一支职业化、专业化、多能化的海警部队,应该是我国海洋管理体制改革的主要目标和当务之急。     

Oil and gas resources offshore Newfoundland

In earlier issues of this journal two Canadian court decisions concerning continental shelf rights offshore Newfoundland were discussed.¹ It will be recalled that both the Newfoundland Court of Appeal ² and, thereafter, the Supreme Court of Canada ³ held that the right to explore for and exploit the resources of the continental shelf adjacent to the province, and to legislate with respect thereto, rested exclusively with the relevant federal authorities.     

International trade law compatibility of market-related measures to combat illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing

Measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing increasingly seek to constrain access to markets. These measures include enhanced seafood traceability and catch documentation schemes, the blocking of port access and landings, the identification and assessment of vessels engaged in IUU fishing and the prohibition on imports, transhipments or trade of fish products. It is important that such measures are in accordance with international law, including the agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This article evaluates a range of market-related measures for compatibility with international trade law, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The law requires measures to be non-discriminatory and, for certain technical regulations, not more trade-restrictive than necessary to achieve a legitimate objective. However, there are exceptions to these rules, including for measures relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources or for measures necessary for the protection of animal life or health, public morals, or to secure compliance with certain laws or regulations. While the design of current unilateral measures to combat IUU fishing appears to accord with trade law requirements, this article argues that there is scope for a wider and more collective approach. In this vein, new provisions in the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are identified. The article concludes with recommendations for governments, international organisations, private actors and the global community wishing to take action in this area.     

Beneficiation and digestion of Georgia offshore phosphates

Abstract

The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted beneficiation and digestion tests to evaluate the potential of recovering P₂O₅ from an apatite deposit located 10 nautical miles offshore Savannah, GA, in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A 1.8 metric ton sample containing 1.0–1.5% P₂O₅ was obtained in a cooperative drilling project involving the Bureau of Mines, the Marine Minerals Technology Center‐Continental Shelf Division, the Minerals Management Service, and the Georgia Nonenergy Minerals Offshore Task Force. Beneficiation methods were evaluated with the goal of producing a 29–31% P₂O₅ concentrate with a CaO: P₂O₅ratio of less than 1.6: 1. These specifications were obtained using a combination of gravity separation and flotation. Comparative leaching tests conducted using EEZ, Idaho, and Florida phosphate concentrates showed that these EEZ phosphates behaved similarly to land‐based phosphates. The results suggest that as land‐based phosphate deposits are depleted, ocean phosphates represent a feasible alternate source.     

海洋平台结构形状与拓扑优化设计

以实际环境荷载作用下的实际海洋导管架平台结构为对象，研究了海洋平台结构在风，流，海冰等多荷载模式和多荷载工况下的优化设计的理论方法和应用技术，建立了结构尺寸优化，形状优化和拓扑优化问题的统一模型。计算结果反映出形状优化比尺寸优化所得设计更优，而拓扑优化的设计效果最好。不同的荷载工况对应的最优拓扑形式不同，因此在实际设计中应考虑实际的荷载工况，选取不同的拓扑形式。     

东北沙地重矿物组成及其对物源的指示

了解中国东北沙地的重矿物组成并探讨其在亚洲风尘系统研究中的作用具有重要意义。目前较少甚至缺乏的重矿物数据,这影响了对该地区风尘系统的深入理解。为分析东北沙地的重矿物组成并探究其在东北风尘系统研究中的作用,分别从浑善达克沙地（OD）、科尔沁沙地（HQ）、呼伦贝尔沙地（HL）和松嫩沙地（SN）采集了34个风成沙和河流沙样品并进行了分粒级处理（＜63 μm及63～125 μm）。同时,从哈尔滨荒山黄土剖面采集了4个末次冰期黄土样品（＜63 μm）,利用Frequentist模型对哈尔滨黄土物源进行了定量重建。通过范围检验、非参数Kruskal-Wallis H检验和逐步判别函数分析（DFA）,选择了7种重矿物及特征指数（蓝晶石、锐钛矿、石榴子石、辉石、钛铁矿（磁性）、稳定系数W 、GZi指数）作为最佳复合指标进行定量重建。结果表明,钛铁矿（磁性）为浑善达克沙地的特征矿物,磁铁矿为科尔沁沙地的特征矿物,氧化铁矿物（赤铁矿、褐铁矿）为呼伦贝尔沙地的特征矿物,氧化铁矿物（磁性）、绿帘石、角闪石和石榴子石为松嫩沙地的优势矿物;不同粒度组分的重矿物含量存在明显差异,极稳定矿物优先富集于细颗粒。哈尔滨黄土与松嫩和呼伦贝尔沙地（＜63 μm组分）具有相近的重矿物组成,而与浑善达克和科尔沁沙地有一定程度的差异。根据Frequentist模型,哈尔滨黄土的来源贡献依次为：松嫩沙地（44%～86%）、呼伦贝尔沙地（10%～39%）、科尔沁沙地（3%～16%）和浑善达克沙地（0～7%）。本研究突出了细颗粒沉积物的重矿物组成结合定量模型在风尘物源示踪研究中具有很好的应用前景。     

Fluid-induced inertia and damping in vibrating offshore structures

The problem addressed in this paper is that of the fluid-structure interaction in offshore structures for which effects due to fluid viscosity are negligible. A method for evaluating the dynamic response of structures is described in which the generalized coordinates for the analysis are associated with the ‘dry’ modes of the structure. All hydrodynamic actions, including those induced by motions of the structure, are retained on the right-hand side of the equations of motion. This formulation requires the determination of generalized added mass and damping matrices associated with motions of the structure in its first few ‘dry’ modes. By these means, free surface and three dimensional fluid flow effects are retained in the analysis. Examples of the resulting frequency dependent matrices, computed using the boundary integral method, are presented for some common structural forms, and the validity of this approach is demonstrated through some experiments on a deforming column structure. Finally, results for the wave-excited dynamic response of a typical offshore structure obtained using (i) conventional strip theory ‘wet’ modes, and (ii) ‘dry’ modes, are compared.     

The tuna offshore unit: concept and operation

A radical new concept for delivering Bluefin Tuna to the marketplace is proposed offering offshore technologies to the world's fish industry. The Tuna Offshore Unit is a 190-m length and 56-m breadth vessel that resembles a semisubmersible with a catamaran hull and internal arrangement of fish-pools that can be enlarged in operation by deploying a rigid net for fish cultivation. Using the vessel, juvenile bluefin tuna are purchased at selling centers (e.g., hatcheries), fattened to a total bio-mass of 1200 tons over a period of nine months in warm-water climates and delivered to live fish markets during periods of high demand. This paper describes the main features, working principles, and design challenges of the Tuna Offshore Unit.     

Continental terrace and Deep Plain offshore central California

Seismic-reflection profile investigations of the California continental terrace and Deep Plain, between 35°N and 39°N, support the hypothesis that the continental shelf and slope consist of alternating blocks of Franciscan and granitic-metamorphic basement overlain by varying thicknesses of younger sediments. North of 37°N, the seismic profiles confirm the distribution of turbidites shown by other workers. A significant proportion of the sediments on the middle and lower continental rise, south of 37°N, appears to be unrelated to the present Monterey deep-sea canyon system.Near 39°N the ridge which forms the topographic axis of the Delgada deep-sea fan consists of a thin cover of acoustically-transparent sediment unconformably overlying a thick sequence of turbidites; the southern part of this ridge is composed of well-defined short reflectors of highly variable dip. The ridge is incised by a steep-walled, flat-floored valley which follows a nearly straight course across its eastern flank. Among possible explanations for this pattern is uplift of the sea floor beneath the ridge.Our data and investigations of others indicate that acoustic basement north of 38°40N is at least 0.5 sec (two-way travel time) shoaler than it is south of Pioneer Ridge; when present, the ridge may represent as much as 0.5 sec additional basement relief. This structural pattern probably does not extend east of 127°40W, although the magnetic expression of the ridge persists to 127°W.Disappearance of the distinctive abyssal hills topography from west to east within the area of investigation usually can be attributed to burial by turbidites. Normal pelagic sediments form a veneer, rarely more than 0.15 sec thick, which conforms with the basement topography; some localities are devoid of discernible sediment.     

Geotechnical and machinery properties influencing the offshore pile drillability

Foundations of offshore oil and gas production platforms or wind parks are in the majority of cases piled-based. Piles are mainly driven to a certain design depth using hammers. However, there are many situations were driven piles cannot be properly installed. Plug formation or presence of rock layers and/or boulders preclude the correct installation. Since time is a key factor in offshore operations, offshore drilled piles are not very common. Their high level of uncertainty is mainly due to the complexity to assess a pile drillability analysis. For these reasons, assessing the drilling time needed to overcome the problems is very important. The following research compared first of all several well-known equations used for estimating the tunnel boring machine (TBM) excavation rate. Second, a novel approach has been used, which is based on the estimation of the specific energy. After having performed continuous automatic diagraphy tests in Turin subsoils (Italy), values of friction angles and compressive strength were obtained. Specific energy was calculated at the scale of the continuous automatic diagraphy test as a function of ξ, which is a coefficient depending on the geotechnical parameters assumed by Nishimatsu. It is therefore possible to estimate the drilling rate for different values of friction angle and cohesion.