Okeanos Explorer (EX0903): Mapping Field Trial I Mendocino Ridge

The exhaustive study of the U.S. data holdings pertinent to the formulation of U.S. potential claims of an extended continental shelf under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (Mayer, et al., 2002) did not identify this area as one of the regions where new bathymetric surveys are needed. However, the ECS Task Force considered the Mendocino Ridge might be a potential extension for the U.S. The Mayer et al. (2002) report recommended that multibeam echosounder (MBES) data are needed to rigorously define (1) the foot of the slope (FoS), a parameter of the two UNCLOS-stipulated formula lines, and (2) the 2500-m isobath, a parameter of one of the UNCLOS-stipulated cutoff lines. Both of these parameters, the first a precise geodetic isobath and second a geomorphic zone, are used to define an extended continental shelf claim. The Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC) of the University of New Hampshire was directed by the U.S. Congress, through funding to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct the new surveys and archive the resultant data.