Benham Plateau

 

Also known as the Benham Rise, is a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge east of the Philippines, in the Philippine Sea. 

 Benham Rise is a submerged extinct volcanic ridge located at 16 degrees 30 minutes N, 124 degrees 45 minutes E off the coast of Luzon, with the size of about 250km in diameter and rises over 2,000 meters above the sea floor, from below 5,000 meters below sea level to above 3,000 meters below sea level. Its area is close to the Benham Seamount, located at 15 degrees 48 minutes N, 124 degrees 15 minutes E. The precise location is somewhere near the east of the Philippine Trench and near the south of the East Luzon Trench, both of which absorb the subducting force of the Philippine Sea Plate under the Philippine Mobile Belt, a collage of large blocks of that crust that amalgamated prior to the collision of the Philippine Sea Plate with the Eurasian Plate.

The Congress of the Philippines enacted Republic Act No. 9522, also known as the Archipelagic Baselines Law, which is the basis of the claim. According to the document the region is bounded by the Philippine Basin on the north and east, and by Luzon on the west and south. It asserted that, according to scientific data based on seismic, magnetic, other geological features, the Benham Rise is an extension of the Philippines’ continental shelf. In summary, the baselines, the basis used for delineating the maritime territorial and jurisdictional zones (including the continental shelf), conform with the requirements of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The claim is only a partial claim since the law that allows the Philippines to expand its territorial boundaries also includes islands in the South China Sea.

According to, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje,the United Nation is expected to come out with a decision by the middle of 2012 on the Philippines’undisputed claim over the 13- million hectare Benham Rise. Paje told the Senate during a hearing on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) proposed P16.990- billion budget for 2012 that the country’s claim over Benham Rise would be recognized by the UN as part of the territory and extension of the continental shelf of the Philippines.The Philippines filed the claim in 2008 in compliance with the requirements of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).