Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Southern California, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-242).

The purpose of this study was to clarify the ambiguity in the law relating to the extended continental shelf in Article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Another aim was to study the application of the law in a more focused part of the world, the region of East Asia, and in particular, Malaysia. The study also sought to propose solutions to issues relating to the extended continental shelf. The history of the law relating to the continental shelf, the codification of the law, and the enforcement of the law by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is presented. Besides that, Article 76 was also thoroughly discussed in order to identify the problems involved. Besides that, the two biggest issues which determine the outer limits of the continental shelf are examined. These are issues relating to ridges and submarine elevations and the application of the foot of continental slope provisions. The study examined the problems involved with the legal and scientific interface found in Article 76 and addressed them by referring to the legislative history of Article 76, State practice and the practice of the Commission. The continental shelf in the East Asian region is also analysed in order to provide an overview of the continental shelf issues in the region. Special reference to Malaysia is made as a State that has made a submission on its outer limits of the continental shelf. A thorough analysis was made based on the findings made in this study. This study also explored possible solutions to the continental shelf issues discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1971

This study examined the foraminifera and the ecologic conditions of the benthic environment of the Oregon shelf and the uppermost slope (75-550 m depth) between 143°45' N and 144°40' N. Seasonal collections monitored the near-bottom marine environment and the sedimentary substrate at 16 stations. The foraminiferal benthic fauna was examined from eight seasonal stations and two additional stations. Use of a multiple corer provided randomly selected subsarnples of the sediment for ecologic and faunal analyses. Use of water bottles that triggered upon bottom impact provided measurements of the water as close to the bottom as 0. 6 m. Computerized data processing and statistical analyses aided the ecologic and faunal evaluations. The environmental study showed the existence of considerable variation in the hydrography of near-bottom waters, especially between summer and winter (upwelling and non-upwelling) collections at the same station. Upwelling conditions directly affect the benthic Redacted for Privacy environment. In addition, the water at any one place, at least dciring upwelling, was so well mixed that vertical stratification did not exist between 0.6 and 5.0 m off the bottom. Statistically significant sea-. sorial variations in surface sediments at the same station were not observed. The living benthic foraminiferal fauna exhibited considerable within-station variation both in species composition and in specimen size of selected species. The percent abundance of individual dominant species varied in adjacent cores (subsamples) by amounts up to 46%. Living specimens of a single species were found that were three times as large as the smallest living specimen from the same sample, yet there was no evidence of a multimodal size distribution resulting from age classes. The author suggests that the dominant species are aggregated and that the aggregations are colonies of asexually produced siblings. Lack of fit of species-frequency curves to the lognormal distribution indicated that relatively few species are fit to reproduce in a particular environment; most juvenile specimens that enter a particular environment belong to species that will not thrive there and either die or simply maintain growth with little chance of reproductive success. The existence of colonial aggregations of individuals is considered to provide the best explanation of the observed variations between adjacent samples. However, the observed variations could be due to sampling error or to substrate microheterogeneity. A possible natural community of 15 dominant species has been determined for those species that form a consistent part of each other's biologic environment. The community crossed the depth and substrate boundaries upon which the stations were selected and appeared to be a general community for the Oregon outer shelf. The limits of the community appear to be determined mostly by water depth, with approximate boundaries at 75-100 m and somewhere between 200-500 m. Regression analyses to determine the ecologic control on the foraminiferal fauna did not indicate a close correspondence between faunal parameters and environmental variables. Regression analyses to determine the ecologic control on mdividual species indicated that most species depended upon a set of two to four environmental variables rather than upon one single limiting factor. The set for each species was different. Temperature. phosphate concentration and oxygen concentrations were common hydrographic members of sets; percent silt, percent sand, percent clay, organic carbon content and organic nitrogen were common sedimentary members of sets. / Graduation date: 1972

Recently obtained airgun-sonobuoy wide-angle refraction and reflection profiles provide data to study crustal velocities and structures along the continental margin of northern California and Southern Oregon. In the thick sedimentary wedge at the base of the continental slope, as many as five distinct layers can be seismically observed, which range in velocity from 2.13 to 3.32 km/sec. The basement layers beneath the wedge are disrupted. The profile which crosses the southeasternmost portion of the Gorda Basin near Cape Mendocino shows evidence of compression at the base of the slope. Velocities of 3.14 to 5.15 km/sec were obtained for this line. Off the central Oregon margin on the abyssal plain near the base of the slope, oceanic layers and 3 overlie a shallow mantle of velocity 7.65 km/sec. Basement velocities average 4.75 km/sec and sediment velocities varied from 1.60 to 2.78 km/sec. The lower slope of the northern California-southern Oregon margin is characterized by rough, folded structures which trend north-south. Little recent sediment cover is seen. A velocity of 2.25 km/sec was obtained for a 520 m-thick surface layer underlain by material with a refraction velocity of 2.68 km/sec. The abyssal plain sediments near Cape Mendocino appear to be in the process of being uplifted and folded into the lower slope, while near Cape Blanco the lower slope displays sediments which abut against the base of the slope below a prominent lower shelf bench. The upper slope shows large anticlinal folds which form the basement of the upper slope basins, particularly beneath the Klamath Plateau off Northern California. Velocities obtained from the sediments of the Klamath Plateau vary from 1.73 to 2.63 km/sec. The inner shelf region is formed by a synclinal basin controlled by an outer continental high which parallels the shelf break. Velocities were studied mainly from refraction arrivals with an assumed surface sediment velocity of 1.66 km/sec. The underlying sediment velocities range from 2.07 to 2.75 km/sec. Evidence of uplift, basement deformation, sediment deformation within structurally controlled basins, compression features, and the north-south trending folds all support an imbricate thrust model for this continental margin. / Graduation date: 1979

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1982. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-225).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 1982. / Supervised by Gabriel T. Csanady. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-225).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. O'Brien, James J., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Oceanography. Title and description from dissertation home page (June 18, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.