Continental shelf maps could add Egypt-size area to U.S. territory.

The United States has completed a two-decade-long undersea mapping effort that has resulted in the discovery of 1 million square kilometers of sea floor, which is twice the size of California. This mapping effort has allowed the U.S. to claim valuable geological and biological resources, particularly in the Arctic, and has also provided a wealth of seafloor data that is fueling scientific advances. The impetus for this mapping effort came from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which allows coastal nations to claim sea floor outside of their exclusive economic zone if they can demonstrate that it is a natural prolongation of their continental shelf. The U.S. claims are fairly conservative and are not likely to draw fierce objections, but the Senate has not ratified the Law of the Sea, so the U.S. has not submitted its maps to the U.N. commission for evaluation. The data from this mapping effort has been used for various research purposes, including identifying deep-sea habitats, studying the geologic evolution of ocean basins, and identifying areas at risk of producing submarine mudslides. [Extracted from the article]