The ANTOSTRAT Legacy: Science Collaboration and International Transparency in Potential Marine Mineral Resource Exploitation of Antarctica

Abstract

The Antarctic Offshore Stratigraphy project ( ANTOSTRAT; 1989–2002) was an extremely successful collaboration in international marine geological science that also lifted the perceived “veil of secrecy” from studies of potential exploitation of Antarctic marine mineral resources. The project laid the groundwork for circumAntarctic seismic, drilling, and rock coring programs designed to decipher Antarctica’s tectonic, stratigraphic, and climate histories. In 2002, ANTOSTRAT evolved into the equally successful and currently active Antarctic Climate Evolution research program. The need for, and evolution of, ANTOSTRAT was based on two simple tenets within SCAR and the Antarctic Treaty: international science collaboration and open access to data. The ANTOSTRAT project may be a helpful analog for other regions of strong international science and geopolitical interests, such as the Arctic. This is the ANTOSTRAT story. ANTARCTIC OFFSHORE STRATIGRAPHY PROJECT: THE EARLY YEARS In 1986, the science community established the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Group of Specialists on Cenozoic Paleoenvironments in Southern High Latitudes to study and assess geologic sample and core data as well as geophysical remote sensing data to better comprehend Antarctica’s geologic history and its impact on global sea level and climate change (Figure 1). Recognizing that Antarctica is 98% ice covered, the Antarctic Alan Cooper (emeritus), U.S. Geological Survey, and Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University. Peter Barker (retired), British Antarctic Survey, and Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham. Peter Barrett, Antarctic Research Centre and New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington. John Behrendt, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, and (emeritus) U.S. Geological Survey. Giuliano Brancolini (retired), Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale. Jonathan Childs, U.S. Geological Survey. Carlota Escutia, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas–Universidad de Granada. Wilfried Jokat, Alfred Wegener Institute. Yngve Kristoffersen, Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen. German Leitchenkov, Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean, VNIIOkeangeologia. Howard Stagg (retired), Geoscience Australia. Manabu Tanahashi, Geological Survey of Japan. Nigel Wardell, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale. Peter Webb, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University. 2 2 4 • S C I E N C E D I P L O M A C Y Offshore Stratigraphy project (ANTOSTRAT) was established under the aegis of the Group of Specialists to focus geoscience investigations on Antarctica’s offshore regions (Cooper and Webb, 1992). The stated objective of ANTOSTRAT was to bring together all research groups responsible for collecting offshore geological and geophysical data, to collaborate in field and laboratory studies directed toward understanding Cenozoic paleoenvironments, to plan future offshore geologic studies, and to promote scientific deep drilling. preluDe To poTenTIal MarIne MInerals Data relevant to ANTOSTRAT had been collected in Antarctica since the early 1970s, but these were commonly unavailable to anyone except the data collectors (or to collaborators via private data exchange agreements). The geologic and geophysical data collected during the preANTOSTRAT years were also being used for assessments of offshore mineral resources by national, academic, and corporate research groups. Because many of the offshore geologic and geophysical data, especially the seismic reflection data, were not openly accessible, there was a perceived “veil of secrecy” on the eventual uses of ongoing geoscientific studies. Many beyond the Antarctic community were asking whether these studies were for research purposes or for mineral exploration. In the decade preceding the establishment of ANTOSTRAT, interest in Antarctica’s potential mineral resources was increasing (e.g., Behrendt, 1983; Splettstoesser and Dreschhoff, 1990), with the escalating price and demand for such resources. The most important of these resources were hydrocarbons. collaBoraTIon In scIence With the implementation of ANTOSTRAT in 1989 and the first ANTOSTRAT symposium in April 1990 (Cooper and Webb, 1990), at which the emphasis was on offshore geoscience data, the level of interest in the science and geopolitics of the offshore areas blossomed. At the 1990 symposium, the groundwork for collaboration in studying the offshore data was laid down with the formation of working groups for the five principal marine regions around the Antarctic continent accessible by surface vessels (i.e., Ross Sea, Wilkes Land, Prydz Bay, Weddell Sea, and Antarctic Peninsula). The working groups were tasked to collate, analyze, and publish collaborative research papers on the geoscience data from each region. The first tenet of ANTOSTRAT (i.e., collaboration in science) was now in place, and the interest in, and support for, ANTOSTRAT gained momentum among all countries engaged in conducting marine surveys of the Antarctic margin. THE ANTARCTIC SEISMIC DATA LIBRARY SYSTEM FOR COOPERATIVE RESEARCH: OPEN ACCESS TO DATA—A LINK TO THE ANTARCTIC TREATY There was, however, still no mechanism in place for open access to the most valuable of all Earth science data FIGURE 1. The ANTOSTRAT logo and an early 1990s ANTOSTRAT model linking global sea levels to Antarctic ice sheet history (modified from Cooper and Webb, 1992). C O O P E R / T H E A N T O S T R AT L E G A C Y • 2 2 5 for research and hydrocarbon exploration: multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data (Figure 2). The MCS data are used to image the structure of the Earth, from the seafloor down to 10 km or more below the sea floor. Such information is needed to decipher how continents and their margins formed. They also help to identify where hydrocarbons may be present. The MCS data are therefore both a powerful research tool and a basic and widely used tool in the exploration for petroleum. A key criterion for establishing their intended use is the level of access to the data. MCS data used for research purposes will be openly accessible to others (via publication and later release), but data collected for commercial exploration purposes will rarely be made accessible. In late 1990, with the level of debate on Antarctica’s mineral resources increasing, it was clear to members of the ANTOSTRAT steering committee that the second tenet of ANTOSTRAT (i.e., open access to data in accord with Article III of the Antarctic Treaty) needed to be addressed promptly to clearly demonstrate that ANTOSTRAT was truly a science project and not mineral exploration of Antarctica undertaken under another name. In April 1991, ANTOSTRAT convened a special workshop in Oslo, Norway, to develop and agree to a system by which the highly valued MCS data would be made openly accessible. This would help ANTOSTRAT move forward faster with its collaborative science agenda of making circumAntarctic maps needed for understanding Antarctica’s geologic and climate history. FIGURE 2. Multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data. Maps showing track lines of data: (A) collected before 1988 (modified from Behrendt, 1990) and (B) collected as of late 2009 (about 350,000 km). (C) Example MCS profile across the Ross Sea with seismic stratigraphic units (RSS) and Deep Sea Drilling Project site noted (modified from Cooper et al. 2009). About 275,000 km of MCS data are now in the SDLS. 2 2 6 • S C I E N C E D I P L O M A C Y The Oslo workshop included lead scientists from groups in the 11 countries that had collected MCS data (Cooper and the ANTOSTRAT Steering Committee, 1991; Figure 2A,C).1 The participants developed a plan for a new science data library. All participants agreed to the plan and forwarded an outline of it to the XVI Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (October 1991). There the outline statement was discussed and adopted as Recommendation XVI12, thereby formalizing the SCAR Antarctic Seismic Data Library System for Cooperative Research (SDLS) as part of the Antarctic Treaty System (Figure 3). The second tenet of ANTOSTRAT (i.e., open access to data) was now in place. In the same year, 1991, the Madrid Protocol on Antarctic Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Antarctic Treaty System, 1991) was signed establishing a 50year moratorium on resource exploration and exploitation. The MCS data can be used for both exploration and basic research, yet the adoption of the SDLS into the treaty opened access to these data and removed the perceived veil of secrecy about how they were being used. Because MCS data are critical for understanding Earth history and paleoclimates, they continue to be collected and made openly available for research purposes.