Submitted by Ichbinalj, Oct 11, 2007 18:03

Placing a ceramic flag and a titanium base anchor on the floor of the North Pole and claiming territorial rights to the North Pole, conjurers up memories of Sputnik, Uri Gagarin, and the space race. Even though the Russians were first in the early days of space exploration, it was the USA who put a man on the moon. That turned out to be a race for space rocks and moon rocks. No nation has yet to claim national sovereignty of the moon.
The race for the Arctic is different. We are not racing to claim moon rocks. The nations laying claim to the Arctic seabed are staking their claims on the anticipated vast mineral resources of the Arctic. This is more like the San Francisco Gold Rush of 1849. MIR-I and MIR-II have blazed the trail. Now, where is ALNIV? MIR claims to be able to reach 99 percent of the oceans' depths. ALVIN, operated by the US Navy and Woods Hole, only claims to be able to reach 63 percent of the global ocean floor.
ALVIN is the world's oldest research submersible. Is she any match for the new kids on the block, MIR-I and MIR-II? Let's hpoe so. The future of America's energy resources may hang in the balance.

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