| Argentine Sea | |
|---|---|
  Argentine Sea The Argentine Sea, off the Atlantic coast of Argentina | |
| Location | Eastern shore of Argentina |
| Coordinates | 46°S63°W / 46°S 63°W /-46; -63 |
| Part of | South Atlantic Ocean |
| River sources | Río de la Plata,Colorado River,Río Negro,Chubut River,Deseado River |
| Basin countries | Argentina,Uruguay,Falkland Islands (UK) |
| Surface area | 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi) |
| Islands | Falkland Islands,Tierra del Fuego |
TheArgentine Sea (Spanish:Mar Argentino) is amarginal sea of theAtlantic Ocean adjacent to the southern tip ofSouth America. It ranges from the mouth of the estuary of theRío de la Plata in the north (35th parallel south) to theIsla de los Estados in the south, and from the Argentine coast to the 200 metersisobath. Its width varies between 210 km in front ofMar del Plata and 850 km at the latitude of theFalkland Islands. The coastline extends for 4,725 km. To the east of the Argentine Sea extends much deeper and more extensiveArgentine Basin.
The nameArgentine Sea appears to have been coined by Romanian-born explorerJulius Popper, who surveyed and charted parts ofTierra del Fuego in the mid 1880s. The name appears in charts of the region he published in 1891.[1][2]
The Argentine Sea is in theSouth Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern coast of Argentina, extending from the approximate latitude ofMontevideo, Uruguay, southward toTierra del Fuego, and is situated about 500 mi (800 km) north ofAntarctica. It is underlain by thecontinental sea shelf of thePatagonian Shelf The Argentine Sea has a surface area of 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi)[3] and is one of the largest seas in the world. The average depth of the sea is 1,205 m (3,952 ft) and the maximum depth is 2,224 m (7,296 ft). It has a salinity of 3.5%.[3]
The Argentine Sea progressively widens going southward, in contrast to the narrowing of the continental mass.[3] The sea platform has a series of plateaux which descend to the east as large terraces or steps. Because of its stair-shaped plateaux, the Argentine Sea is similar morphologically to the Extra-AndeanPatagonia. TheFalkland Islands are also located within the continental shelf of the Argentine Sea.
According to the law 23968,[clarification needed] theterritorial waters of Argentina extend 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from the line from the gulfs of San Matías and San Jorge to the outer limits of theRiver Plate. The contiguous zone extends 12 nautical miles after the territorial waters, and theexclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from it. Theextended continental shelf extends to either the limits of the exclusive economic zone or the shelf slope. Argentina has signed and ratified theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The exclusive economic zone claimed by Argentina overlap with claims maintained by theUnited Kingdom around theFalkland Islands and similar claims aroundSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The UK's Falkland Islands claim boundary starts from the midpoint between Argentina and the Islands to the West and stretches 200 nautical miles in other directions with similar claims around the otherBritish Overseas Territories.[4]
Argentina announced its claim without consultation with the United Kingdom. In the years 1990 to 2005 fishing and mineral resources in the area were administered by joint commissions between Argentina and the United Kingdom, Argentina unilaterally withdrew from these organisations in 2005 to pursue a more aggressive stance in its claim to the Falkland Islands. At any one time Argentina usually has a single vessel patrolling the undisputed area of its claim,[5] the vessels do not enter the exclusive economic zone of the United Kingdom although there have been reports of Argentine warships threatening vessels on the Falkland side of the border by radio.[6]
Under the terms of theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Article 59 disputed and overlapping claims have no legal force until the dispute is resolved between the opposing parties.
TheUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of April 30, 1982, which entered into force on November 16, 1994, established the regime of the continental shelf inPart VI (Articles 76 to 85), defining inArticle 76, paragraph 1 what is understood as a continental shelf.
Argentina ratified the convention on January 12, 1995, and it came into force for the country on December 31, 1995.
On August 25, 1997, Chile signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and it entered into force for the country on September 24, 1997.[7]
In 2009, Argentina submitted a presentation to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which was accepted in 2016 by theUNCLOS.[8] The map in the submission included the disputed territories with theUnited Kingdom, such as theFalkland Islands,South Georgia, andSouth Sandwich Islands, a crescent-shaped area south of Argentina's territorial sea as defined in the 1984 treaty with Chile.[9] This area was also claimed by Chile as part of itspresential sea,[10] and the sea surrounding theAntarctic Peninsula, which is claimed by all three aforementioned countries.[11] That same year, on May 8, Chile submitted its Preliminary Report to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.[12][13][14]
In 2020, theArgentine Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the outer limit of the Argentine Continental Shelf in Law 27,557.[15]
That same year, on December 21, Chile submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf the partial report on the extended continental shelf inEaster Island andSalas y Gómez.[16][17]
In 2021,Chilean PresidentSebastián Piñera signed Supreme Decree No. 95, which outlined the continental shelf east of the 67º 16' 0 meridian as part of Chile'scontinental shelf (not the extended one) area projected from the Diego Ramírez Islands, also claiming the crescent area that Argentina considers part of its extension achieved under the extended continental shelf principle.[18][19][20] This was reflected in theSHOA Chart No. 8[21] and prompted a response from the Argentine Foreign Ministry against Chile's measure.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
In February 2022, Chile submitted its second partial presentation regarding the Western Continental Shelf of theChilean Antarctic Territory.[30][31] In August of the same year, Chile made the oral presentations of both partial submissions during the 55th Session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the United Nations in New York.[32][7]
In 2023, Chile, through SHOA, made available an illustrative graphic showing all the maritime areas claimed by the country, which was once again rejected by Argentina.[33][34][35][36]
In July 2023, theInternational Court of Justice ruled on the priority of a Continental Shelf over an Extended Continental Shelf in thecase of the territorial and maritime dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua.[37]The Argentine sea is one of the most temperate seas of the world. It receives the coldFalkland Current from the south, which comes from the Antarctic, and the warmBrazil Current from the north.[38]
The Argentine sea has twelve areas identified as places of great biodiversity. There are two international protected areas, one national, and eighteen provincial ones.[38]
The Argentine sea hasplankton,algae,crustaceans,sardines andanchovies. Those feed the more advanced fauna such as penguins,cormorants, sharks, whales, dolphins,Burmeister's porpoise, fur seals, sea lions, andsouthern elephant seals.
