Super Yacht racing

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Surprising sunken islands discovered near Australia

A CSIRO image of one of the island plateaus found at the bottom of the Indian Ocean (University of Tasmania)
Two islands which were once part of the super-continent Gondwana have been discovered on the floor of the Indian Ocean about 1,600 kilometres west of Perth.

From OurAmazingPlanet

Two sunken islands almost the size of Tasmania have been discovered in the Indian Ocean west of the Australian city of Perth.

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

The researchers who found the islands during a recent sea voyage think that they were once part of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which could have ramifications for our understanding of how that giant landmass broke apart.

"The data collected on the voyage could significantly change our understanding of the way in which India, Australia and Antarctica broke off from Gondwana," said team member Joanne Whittaker, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney.

The finding can change our understanding of the way in which India, Australia and Antarctica broke off from Gondwana.
(infographics : Telegraph)

The islands were found during a three-week voyage to map the seafloor of the Perth Abyssal Plain that concluded last week.
Travelling on the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) vessel Southern Surveyor, the scientists discovered the islands through detailed seafloor mapping and by dredging rock samples from the steep slopes of the two islands that now are covered by about a mile (1.5 kilometers) of ocean water.

"The sunken islands charted during the expedition have flat tops, which indicates they were once at sea level before being gradually submerged," Whittaker said in a statement.
The rocks retrieved from the islands also surprisingly suggested the islands weren't always underwater.

"We expected to see common oceanic rocks such as basalt in the dredge, but were surprised to see continental rocks such as granite, gneiss and sandstone containing fossils," said chief scientist for the expedition Simon Williams, also of the University of Sydney.

The makeup of the rocks suggests how the islands might have fit into the breakup of Gondwana: In the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the Earth (more than 130 million years ago), India was adjacent to Western Australia.
When India began to break away from Australia, the islands formed part of the last link between the two continents. [Have There Always Been Continents?]

Eventually these islands, referred to as "micro-continents" by scientists, were separated from both landmasses and stranded in the Indian Ocean, thousands of miles from the Australian and Indian coasts, the scientists suggest.

"A detailed analysis of the rocks dredged up during the voyage will tell us about their age and how they fit into the Gondwana jigsaw," Williams said.

The implications of the detail to be found from these islands goes beyond a finer-tuned picture of Gondwana's dismantling: "Our preliminary analysis of the magnetic data that we collected could cause us to rethink the whole plate tectonic story for the whole of the eastern Indian Ocean," Whittaker said, who was unable to sail on the voyage due to the recent birth of her baby.
Researchers from Macquarie University and the University of Tasmania also participated in the expedition.

Links :

• HeraldSun : Scientists find two 'sunken islands' off WA - part of Gondwana land link
• ABC : Gondwana fragments found off Perth
  

Canada CHS update in the Marine GeoGarage

1310 port de Montréal

24 charts have been updated (November 11) :

• 1220 BAIE DES SEPT ILES
• 1226 ANCHORAGES AND HARBOURS INSTALLATIONS
• 1310 PORT DE MONTREAL
• 1311 SOREL-TRACY TO VARENNES
• 1312 LAC SAINT-PIERRE
• 1430 LAC SAINT-LOUIS
• 1510A LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
• 1510B LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
• 2077 LAKE ONTARIO - WESTERN PORTION
• 2086 TORONTO TO HAMILTON
• 4020 STRAIT OF BELLE ISLE
• 4279 BRAS D'OR LAKE
• 4306 STRAIT OF CANSO AND SOUTHERN APPROACHES
• 4335 STRAIT OF CANSO AND APPROACHES
• 4462 ST. GEORGE'S BAY
• 4491 MALPEQUE BAY
• 4530 HAMILTON SOUND EASTERN PORTION
• 4625 BURIN PENINSULA TO SAINT-PIERRE
• 4820 CAPE FREELS TO EXPLOITS ISLANDS
• 4825 BURGEO AND RAMEA ISLANDS
• 4830 GREAT BAY DE L'EAU AND APPROACHES LES APPROCHES
• 4832 FORTUNE BAY - SOUTHERN PORTION
• 4852 SMITH SOUND AND RANDOM SOUND
• 4855 BONAVISTA BAY SOUTHERN PORTION
• 4905 CAPE TORMENTINE TO WEST POINT

So 790 charts (1671 including sub-charts) are available in the Canada CHS layer. (see coverage)

Note : don't forget to visit 'Notices to Mariners' published monthly and available from the Canadian Coast Guard both online or through a free hardcopy subscription service.
This essential publication provides the latest information on changes to the aids to navigation system, as well as updates from CHS regarding CHS charts and publications.
See also written Notices to Shipping and Navarea warnings : NOTSHIP

South China Sea : freedom of navigation

South China sea an area of 'significant concern' :
busy waters (half the world's tonnage flows through these navigation lanes) and potential sources of major energy reserves

From ChinaDaily

The law of the sea has no bearing on disputes over maritime sovereignty and jurisdiction over certain sea areas
Recently, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has often been talked about in the media.
Few people, however, have taken the trouble to explore its original meaning.
In fact, freedom of navigation is not a label that can be used randomly.
It is a legal rule, which was established centuries ago based on economic, social and political demands and circumstances.

The oceans, which cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface, are important channels of communication for peoples on different continents.
Therefore, the idea that the oceans must be kept open and free reflects the simple desire of human beings to communicate and trade with one another.
In 1609, Hugo Grotius, a Dutch jurist who is known as "the father of international law", published his book Mare Liberum (The Free Sea), which formulated the notion of the freedom of the seas. He developed this idea into a legal principle.
According to his view, everyone had a right under international law to sail freely and trade with others.
Grotius' doctrine was in support of Dutch trade with East India via sea routes.
Britain was the Netherlands' main maritime rival and a counter "closed sea" theory was proposed by the Englishman John Selden.
However, Grotius was the winner of this debate, as freedom of the seas finally became a universally recognized legal principle, as it went hand in hand with key words such as communication, trade and peace, and was inseparable from being fair and open, and was in the interests of human society as a whole.

As oceans have become more utilized by people, the principle of freedom of navigation has been developed in international law.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) successfully codifies the legal rules governing freedom of navigation and stipulates in Article 90 that:
"Every State, whether coastal or land-locked, has the right to sail ships flying its flag on the high seas". UNCLOS also states in Article 87 that "freedom of the high seas is exercised under the conditions laid down by this Convention and by other rules of international law" and "these freedoms shall be exercised by all States with due regard for the interests of other States in their exercise of the freedom of the high seas".
These provisions indicate clearly that freedom of navigation has evolved from an abstract concept and absolute norm into a body of specific rules with certain conditions under international law.

In accordance with the current international law of the sea, freedom of navigation is mainly applicable to the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones of coastal states.
However, the world hasn't forgotten to accommodate passage through other ocean spaces.
Thus the rule of "innocent passage" was adopted with regard to the territorial seas of coastal states and "transit passage" for straits used for international navigation.
These three principles together guarantee the navigational rights of all states.

Since 2005, the United Nations General Assembly resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea by repeatedly using exactly the same text call upon states to ensure freedom of navigation, the safety of navigation and the rights of transit passage and innocent passage.
This demonstrates that freedom of navigation has obtained broad, consistent and ever-lasting consensus among the international community.

Freedom of navigation is essentially a right of an independent and open nature, which means that exercising the right of freedom of navigation does not generate, nor depends upon, any other right.
As Grotius wisely declared, "no man is ignorant that a ship passing the seas leaveth no more right than the way thereof."
Therefore, freedom of navigation has no bearing on disputes among countries concerning maritime sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over certain sea areas.
Any attempt to force a connection between these two issues will only restrict freedom of navigation and undermine its independent and open nature.

However, even as a legal rule, freedom of navigation does not operate in a vacuum and it has inevitably encountered problems in its application.
For example, the Proliferation Security Initiative, which was sponsored by the United States and other countries, is challenged by some countries on the grounds that the initiative contravenes UNCLOS, in particular its provisions relating to freedom of navigation and the right of innocent passage.
Compulsory pilotage, exercised by some countries in their straits, is also questioned by some countries for its non-conformity with the provisions of UNCLOS regarding transit passage in the straits used for international navigation.

Of course, the above controversies are far from overthrowing the principle of freedom of navigation itself.
In reality, the challenges to freedom of navigation come from those specific problems affecting safety of navigation.
One category consists of technical problems, including maritime accidents and pollution incidents that block shipping lanes.
Another category consists of non-traditional security threats, including piracy, armed robbery against ships and terrorist activities on the sea.
The most fundamental and effective way to safeguard freedom of navigation is to enhance cooperation in these fields.

The international legal regime governing maritime safety is already in place, with the International Maritime Organization playing a central role that is widely recognized by the international community.
At the regional level, many effective cooperation initiatives have also been carried out, such as the Cooperative Mechanism for the Straits of Malacca, initiated by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.
There is no doubt efforts in these fields can be strengthened.

It can be concluded then, that freedom of navigation consists of a complete and mature set of international legal rules, which have already obtained universal acceptance, and has nothing to do with disputes over maritime sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Also, efforts to maintain freedom of navigation shall be cooperation in the technical and non-traditional security areas.

When people talk about freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, they always connect freedom of navigation with the South China Sea disputes.
Freedom of navigation has even become grounds for some countries to call for "establishing rules" by "a multilateral mechanism" to "regulate" the conducts of certain states.
It is questionable whether the purpose of this idea is to maintain or to restrain freedom of navigation.
Or are there some other motives?

Links :

• BBC : China morning round-up, Asean South China Sea warning

Sea life "must swim faster to survive"

Photo Brian Skerry

From ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies

Fish and other sea creatures will have to travel large distances to survive climate change, international marine scientists have warned.

Sea life, particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Western and Eastern Pacific and the subarctic oceans will face growing pressures to adapt or relocate to escape extinction, according to a new study by an international team of scientists published in the journal Science.
“Our research shows that species which cannot adapt to the increasingly warm waters they will encounter under climate change will have to swim farther and faster to find a new home,” says team member Professor John Pandolfi of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland.

Using 50 years’ data of global temperature changes since the 1960s, the researchers analysed the shifting climates and seasonal patterns on land and in the oceans to understand how this will affect life in both over the coming century.
“We examined the velocity of climate change (the geographic shifts of temperature bands over time) and the shift in seasonal temperatures for both land and sea.
We found both measures were higher for the ocean at certain latitudes than on land, despite the fact that the oceans tend to warm more slowly than air over the land.”

The finding has serious implications especially for marine biodiversity hotspots – such as the famous Coral Triangle and reefs that flourish in equatorial seas, and for life in polar seas, which will come under rising pressure from other species moving in, the team says.
“Unlike land-dwelling animals, which can just move up a mountain to find a cooler place to live, a sea creature may have to migrate several hundred kilometres to find a new home where the water temperature, seasonal conditions and food supply all suit it,” Prof. Pandolfi says.

Under current global warming, land animals and plants are migrating polewards at a rate of about 6 kilometres a decade – but sea creatures may have to move several times faster to keep in touch with the water temperature and conditions that best suit them.
Team member Associate Professor Anthony Richardson from the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland became interested in how species might respond to climate change during his work on a global synthesis of marine climate impacts.

He says, “We have been underestimating the likely impact of climate change on the oceans.”
As a general rule, it seems sea life will have to move a lot faster and farther to keep up with temperature shifts in the oceans.
This applies especially to fish and marine animals living in the equatorial and subarctic seas, and poses a particular issue both for conservation and fisheries management.

Assoc. Professor Richardson explains, “There is also a complex mosaic of responses globally, related to local warming and cooling. For example, our analysis suggests that life in many areas in the Southern Ocean could move northward.”
However, as a rule, they are likely to be as great or greater in the sea than on land, as a result of its more uniform temperature distribution.
The migration is likely to be particularly pronounced among marine species living at or near the sea surface, or subsisting on marine plants and plankton that require sunlight – and less so in the deep oceans.
“Also, as seas around the equator warm more quickly and sea life migrates away – north or south – in search of cooler water, it isn’t clear what, if anything, will replace it,” Prof Pandolfi adds.
“No communities of organisms from even warmer regions currently exist to replace those moving out.”

At the same time, sea life living close to the poles could find itself overwhelmed by marine migrants moving in from warmer regions, in search of cool water.
The team’s future research will focus on how different ocean species respond to climate change and they are compiling a database on this for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Links :

• ScienceMag : paper “The Pace of Shifting Climate in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems”