KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources(KIGAM) held the 37th Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names(SCUFN) at Maison Glad Jeju from Monday, June 24 to Friday, June 28. About 60 people from 19 countries attended the meeting, including Vice President Kim Se-Joon of KIGAM, Director General Kim Jaecheol of the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency, and Chairman Yasuhiko OHARA of SCUFN.

The main roles of SCUFN include: To define the nomenclature used for undersea features, e.g. canyon, plateau, fracture zone, etc., as well as naming guidelines and to consider and decide on names that have been submitted to the Sub-Committee. The 37th SCUFN decided on approximately 100 underwater feature names, and recommended that the decided underwater feature names be listed in the Underwater Feature Names Collection and widely used on nautical charts and maps around the world.

The first Korean undersea names were registered in 2007, starting with Anyongbok Seamount, Ulleung Plateau and Jeju Submarine Valley in the East Sea. Other notable names include Jeongyakjeon Seamount in the North Pacific, Petals Submarine Knoll in the East Pacific, and Cheomseongdae Submarine Ridge in the Southern Ocean.

Dr. Pyeong-Koo Lee, President of KIGAM stated, “We will continue to support research and international cooperation so that KIGAM can play a leading role in the international marine geology field in the future.”