Niao Chao Hill—Study of supporting techniques for China’s first international undersea feature name

Abstract

In recent years, Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) has been conducting deliberations on naming undersea features that are entirely or mainly (more than 50%) outside the external limits of the territorial sea, adhering to the principles of not involving sovereignty dispute between countries. International concern for naming undersea features is limited to those features entirely or mainly (more than 50%) outside the external limits of the territorial sea, not exceeding 12 nautical miles from the baselines, in agreement with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Feature names in the application proposal, once selected, will be added directly to “GEBCO-Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names”, and can be applied to bathymetric chart as well as to other oceanic scientific research. With a rapid progress in undersea feature naming, more and more countries are paying close attention to this work. Leading oceanic national authorities such as the USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand etc, have set up special committees of undersea geographic naming to carry out research on undersea feature naming in sea areas of interest according to plan [1]. Consequently, 53 and 81 proposals on undersea feature naming were submitted at the 23rd (2010) and 24th (2011) SCUFN conference, respectively. Among those proposals, over 100 were from Japan and Korea. In addition, studies on proposal on feature naming are also performed by some developing countries, including Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, etc. In order to participate in this international work, China submitted seven proposals of undersea feature naming in 2011 for the first time. These proposals included Niao Chao Hill, Tong Gong Seamounts, Bai Ju Guyot, Xu Fu Guyot, Ying Zhou Seamount, Peng Lai Seamount, and Fang Zhang Guyot, and all were accepted by the SCUFN committee at the 24th SCUFN conference in September, 2011. Located in the Eastern Pacific Rise, Niao Chao Hill, as the first Chinese undersea feature name recognized by the world, fills up the gap in this field for China.