Our Seabed Frontier : Challenges and Choices

The establishment of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 1983 "for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources" presents the nation with an opportunity and a challenge to wisely use its diverse resources.

Besides living resources such as fisheries, this vast region contains extensive and potentially valuable mineral and energy resources, and is used for various other purposes?such as waste disposal, pipelines, cables, and military uses.

This book assesses the state of knowledge of seafloor properties and processes as they relate to future utilization of the U.S.

EEZ seabed. Table of ContentsFront Matter1. Seabed Jurisdiction and Utilization2. Seabed Processes and Activities3. Present and Potential Uses of the Seabed4. Technology and Data Acquisition5. The Challenges of Eez Use6. Coordination and Planning7. Conclusions and RecommendationsReferencesGlossaryAppendix A: The Presidential Eez ProclamationAppendix B: Committee BiographiesAppendix C: Participants of the Workshop on Uses and Technology forthe Exclusive Economic Zone Seabed, Keystone, Colorado