National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Russia's Arctic Claim Backed By Rocks, Officials Say


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The 1,200-mile-long (2,000-kilometer-long) Lomonosov Ridge runs along the seabed from Siberia to North America, as seen in this map of the Arctic Circle.

Rock samples from the ridge suggest that it might be part of a continental shelf, a fact that Russian officials say backs their claim that the potentially oil-rich Arctic seabed is part of Mother Russia.

Map courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration