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Submission bythePeople sRepublicofChina ConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelf beyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea EXECUTIVESUMMARY

EXECUTIVESUMMARY - United Nations · 2012-12-07 · EXECUTIVESUMMARY S ubm iso ny th ePp l’R c f C arg O L d20N M E

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Page 1: EXECUTIVESUMMARY - United Nations · 2012-12-07 · EXECUTIVESUMMARY S ubm iso ny th ePp l’R c f C arg O L d20N M E

书书书

SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChina

ConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

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1Introduction

ThePeople’sRepublicofChina(hereinafterreferredtoas“China”)signedon10December1982andratifiedon15May1996theUnitedNationsConventionontheLawoftheSea(hereinafterreferredtoas“theConvention”)

Accordingtoarticle76(8)oftheConvention,article4ofAnnexIItotheConventionandtheDecisionoftheeleventhMeetingofStatesPartiestotheConvention(SPLOS/72),theStatesPartiesforwhichtheConventionenteredintoforcebefore13May1999shallsubmitparticularsoftheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasuredtotheCommissionontheLimitsoftheContinentalShelf(hereinafterreferredtoas“theCommission”)alongwithsupportingscientificandtechnicaldatabefore13May2009

Adecision(SPLOS/183)wasmadeattheeighteenthMeetingofStatesPartiestotheConventionthat“thetimeperiodreferredtoinarticle4ofAnnexIItotheConventionandthedecisioncontainedinSPLOS/72,paragraph(a),maybesatisfiedbysubmittingtotheSecretaryGeneralpreliminaryinformationindicativeoftheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesandadescriptionofthestatusofpreparationandintendeddateofmakingasubmissioninaccordancewiththerequirementsofarticle76oftheConventionandwiththeRulesofProcedureandtheScientificandTechnicalGuidelinesoftheCommissionontheLimitsoftheContinentalShelf”

ThegeomorphologicandgeologicalfeaturesshowthatthecontinentalshelfintheEastChinaSea(hereinafterreferredtoas“ECS”)isthenaturalprolongationofChina’slandterritory,andtheOkinawaTroughisanimportantgeomorphologicunitwithprominentcut?offcharacteristics,whichistheterminationtowherethecontinentalshelfofECSextendsThecontinentalshelfinECSextendsbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaofChinaismeasured

Chinadelineatestheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesinpartofECSinaccordancewitharticle76oftheConvention,AnnexIItotheConvention,theRulesofProcedureoftheCommissionandtheScientificandTechnicalGuidelinesoftheCommission

TheChineseGovernmentsubmittedthePreliminaryInformationonDefiningtheOuterLimitsofItsContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilestotheSecretaryGeneraloftheUnitedNationson12May2009ItisspecifiedinthePreliminaryInformationthat“Chinaismakingpreparationsforthesubmissionoftheinformationontheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasuredChinahasconducteddatagatheringandprocessingintheseaareasconcerned,isformulatingthesubmissioninaccordancewiththerequirementsofarticle76oftheConvention,theRulesofProcedureoftheCommissionandtheScientificandTechnicalGuidelinesoftheCommission,andisundertakingrelevantworkofassessmentandreview”,andthat“Chinaisintendedtomakeasubmissionontheouterlimitsofall

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea  

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orpartofitscontinentalshelfthatextendsbeyond200nauticalmilesatanappropriatedateuponcompletionoftheabovework”

TheChineseGovernmenthascompletedthepreparationoftheinformationontheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesinpartofECSandherebymakesthepartialSubmission

Paragraph3ofAnnexItotheRulesofProcedureoftheCommissionprovidesthat“AsubmissionmaybemadebyacoastalStateforaportionofitscontinentalshelfinordernottoprejudicequestionsrelatingtothedelimitationofboundariesbetweenStatesinanyotherportionorportionsofthecontinentalshelfforwhichasubmissionmaybemadelater,notwithstandingtheprovisionsregardingthetenyearperiodestablishedbyarticle4ofAnnexIItotheConvention”

ThisSubmissionisapartialsubmissionconcerningtheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesinpartofECSThisSubmissionoftheChineseGovernmentiswithoutprejudicetoanyfuturesubmissionbyChinaondelineationoftheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfinECSandotherseas

ThepreparationofthisSubmissionwascarriedoutwiththeStateOceanicAdministrationofChinaandtheMinistryofForeignAffairsofChinatakingtheleadThemajorityofthedatausedinthissubmissionwastakenfromtheprojectsorganizedbytheStateOceanicAdministrationofChina,andpartofthedatawasprovidedbytheChinaGeologicalSurvey,theChineseAcademyofSciencesandChinaPetrochemicalCorporation,etc

2MapsandCoordinates

ThedataandinformationcontainedinthisSubmissionareintendedtoprovethatChina’scontinentalshelfinECSextendsbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasured,andtodelineatetheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfinpartofECS

TwofiguresandonetableareincludedinthisExecutiveSummaryFigure1isthegeomorphologicmapofECSFigure2isthemapdepictingtheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfinpartofECSTable1liststhecoordinatesdefiningthefixedpointscomprisingthelineoftheouterlimitsofthe

continentalshelfinpartofECS,descriptionofanddistancebetweenthefixedpoints

3CommissionMembersWhoProvidedAdviceduringthePreparationoftheSubmission

  DuringthepreparationofthisSubmission,ProfLuWenzheng,memberoftheCommissionprovidedadvice

4ProvisionsofArticle76InvokedinSupportoftheSubmission

Article76oftheConventionprovidesthat“thecontinentalshelfofacoastalStatecomprisesthe

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

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seabedandsubsoilofthesubmarineareasthatextendbeyonditsterritorialseathroughoutthenaturalprolongationofitslandterritorytotheouteredgeofthecontinentalmargin”IfaclaimofacoastalStateoncontinentalshelfinvolvesareasthatextendbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasured,theouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesshallbedelineatedinaccordancewiththeprovisionsinparagraphs4~6ofarticle76,andinformationonthelimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasuredshallbesubmittedbythecoastalStatetotheCommission

ProvisionsinvokedinthisSubmissiontodelineatetheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesinpartofECSincludearticle76(4)(a)(ii)oftheConvention,ie“alinedelineatedbyreferencetofixedpointsnotmorethan60nauticalmilesfromthefootofthecontinentalslope”andarticle76(5),ie“thefixedpointscomprisingthelineoftheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfontheseabed… shallnotexceed350nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasured”

Article76(7)providesthat“thecoastalStateshalldelineatetheouterlimitsofitscontinentalshelf,wherethatshelfextendsbeyond200nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasured,bystraightlinesnotexceeding60nauticalmilesinlength,connectingfixedpoints,definedbycoordinatesoflatitudeandlongitude”InthisSubmission,thelengthsofthestraightlinesconnectingthe10fixedpointscomprisingthelineoftheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesdonotexceed60nauticalmiles

5NaturalProlongationofLandTerritory

ECS,locatedtotheeastofthemainlandofChina,consistsofthreegeomorphologicunits:theshelf,theslopeandtheOkinawaTroughThecontinentalshelfofECSisthenaturalprolongationofthemainlandofChinaThemaximalwidthoftheshelfexceeds500kmTheseafloortopographyisflatandinclinessoutheastwardsThegentleinclinationendsattheshelfbreakwherethewaterdepthdeepenssharplyandtheslopeofECSbeginsThegradientoftheslopeofECSisgentleinthenorthandsteepinthesouthThetopographyshowsastep?by?stepdeclineingeneralTheslopeofECSiscorrodedbynumerousseafloorcanyons,andthesedimentscausedbyturbiditycurrentareformedinthefootregionoftheslopeoutboardofthecanyons,leadingtocomplicatedtopographyatthebaseandinthefootregionoftheslopeOkinawaTroughisagenerallyelongateddepressionThelengthofthetroughisabout1,200kmfromnorthtosouthandthewidthis100to150kmfromeasttowestThewaterdepthofthetroughgraduallyincreasesfromnortheasttosouthwest,andthemaximumwaterdepthisover2,300meters(Figure1)

TheshelfofECS,togetherwiththeeasternpartofthemainlandofChina,istectonicallyviewedasawhole,becausebothofthemholdthesameancientcontinentalcoreTheinteractionbetweenthePacificPlateandtheEurasianPlatesincetheMesozoicera,hadgraduallyresultedintheformationofthetectonicframeworkofECSTheOkinawaTroughwasgraduallyformedbybreakupandriftingatthe

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea  

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edgeofthecontinentalshelfofECSTheregionalstructuralfeaturesofECSvaryfromwesttoeastinstripsoftectonicunits,namelytheFujian?Zhejiangrisezone,ECSshelfbasin,theDiaoyuDaoupfoldzoneandtheOkinawaTroughbasin,withthegeologicagesindescendingorderfromwesttoeast

Figure1 GeomorphologicmapofECS

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

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TheFujian?ZhejiangrisezoneconsistsofaseriesofislandsandreefsintheoffshoreandFujianZhejiangmainlandregion,andasawholethezoneshowsNEorientationThebasementofthezoneiscomposedoftworockseries,oneisNEE?trendingpre?Sinianmetamorphicrockseriesdominatedbyplagioclaseamphibolitewithlocalmigmatization,andtheotherisNNE?trendingMesozoicvolcanicanddetritalrockseries.

ECSshelfbasin,totheeastoftheFujian?Zhejiangrisezone,isthemaincomponentofEastChinaSeashelfThebasingenerallymanifestsNNE?NE?trendingdepressionscomposedofaseriesofsags,whichhasinfilledbyextremelythickCenozoicdepositsInthemiddlepartofthebasin,anupliftconsistsofaseriesofNNE?NE?trendinghighsdividedthebasinintoWest?andEastdepressionbeltsThemainpartoftheWestdepressionbeltisaPaleoceneandEoceneeastwarddippingdustpan

?likedepressionwiththebasementofvolcanicrocksandpreSinianmetamorphicrocksfoundalsointhecoastalareaofZhejiangandFujianprovincesTheEastdepressionbelt,withthebasementformedbypre?Mesozoiclow?grademetamorphicrocks,hasreceiveddepositssincetheEoceneeraLateYanshanianandearlyHimalayanvolcanicrockscanbefoundinlocalareaofthesags.

TheDiaoyuDaoupfoldzone,locatedbetweenECSshelfbasinandtheOkinawaTrough,isborderedbyfaultsonbothsidesThezone,extendingfromtheGotoIslandsofJapaninthenorthtotheTaiwanDaoofChinainthesouth,isaNNE?NEEtrendingupfoldbeltwitholdbasementThezonewasupfoldedintheHimalayanperiod,associatedwithlarge?scalemagmaticactivities,andthePaleogenesystemexperiencedintensivefoldingandmetamorphism

OkinawaTroughbasinissituatedtotheeastoftheDiaoyuDaoupfoldzoneDuetomantleupwellingandcrustextension,aNNE?NE?trendingcentralriftedzonewasformedalongthebaseofthetroughbasinThegeologicalcharacteristicsoftheOkinawaTroughbasinaredistinctlydifferentfromthoseofadjacentEastChinaSeashelf,e.g.,sharplythinnedcrust,magneticanomalylineationandhighheatflowvalueSeismicrefractionindicatesthatthecrustalthicknessofthemiddleandsouthernpartoftheOkinawaTroughhasbeensharplythinnedwiththeminimumcrustalthicknessofabout13km,andthestrippedmagneticanomalieswereidentifiedTheOkinawaTroughisoneofthehighheatflowregionsintheworld,withintensivemodernvolcanismandseafloorhydrothermalactivitiesOlivinetholeiitefoundinthesouthernpartofthetroughbearsthecharacteristicsofoceanictholeiite,whichoriginatesfromhighextentpartialmeltingofsourcerockandisresultedfromrapidmantleupwellingunderthetectonicsettingofextremelythinnedcrustcausedbyextension

Inconclusion,theshelfofECSisofstablecontinentalcrustAttheOkinawaTrough,however,duetotheupwellingoftheuppermantleandthesharpthinningofthecontinentalcrust,thecrustistransformedfromthinnedcontinentalcrusttotransitionalcrustNascentoceaniccrustoccursinthecentralriftedzoneofthesouthpartoftheOkinawaTroughTheshelfofECS,theslopeofECSandtheOkinawaTroughformapassivecontinentalmarginTheOkinawaTroughisthenaturalterminationofthecontinentalshelfofECS.

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea  

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6DescriptionoftheOuterLimitsofContinentalShelfinPartofECS

6.1 TheFootoftheSlope(hereinafterreferredtoas“FOS”)andtheouterenvelopeof60nauticalmilesfromFOS

  Article76(4)(b)oftheConventionprovidesthat“intheabsenceofevidencetothecontrary,thefootofthecontinentalslopeshallbedeterminedasthepointofmaximumchangeingradientatitsbase”Accordingtoparagraph5.1.3oftheScientificandTechnicalGuidelinesoftheCommission,thefundamentalrequirementsforthedeterminationofthefootofthecontinentalslopeare:first,identificationoftheregiondefinedasthebaseoftheslope;andsecond,determinationofthelocationofthepointofmaximumchangeinthegradientatthebaseoftheslope

Accordingtothegeomorphologicalfeaturesoftheseafloorandparagraph5.4.5oftheScientificandTechnicalGuidelinesoftheCommission,theslopebaseregionreferredtointhisSubmissionaredefinedastheareaofsuddentopographicalchangebetweenthebaseofthesteepslopeofECSandtherelativelysmoothupperriseoftheOkinawaTrough.

Basedonthemultibeam bathymetricfielddataatagridof200m ×200m andthegeomorphologicalfeaturesandtrendsoftheseafloor,aseriesofprofilesareselectedfromtheslopeofECStotheOkinawaTroughand12pointsofmaximumchangeofgradientonthebaseoftheslopearedefinedasFOSTheouterenvelopeof60nauticalmilesfromFOSisformedbasedonthe12FOS(Figure2).

6.2 MaximumwaterdepthpointsandouterlimitsofECS’scontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmiles

  Thedeterminationoftheouterenvelopof60nauticalmilesfromFOSaccordingtoarticle76(4)(a)(ii)oftheConventionconfirmsthatECS’scontinentalshelfhasnaturallyprolongedtotheOkinawaTrough’saxisConsideringthegeographicalconditionsandbasedonthetopographicalchangeoftheseafloor,theouterlimitsofECS’scontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesisdefinedasthelineconnectingofthemaximumwaterdepthpointsontheaxialareaoftheprofilewhichisverticaltothetrendoftheOkinawaTrough(hereinafterreferredtoasthe“maximumwaterdepthpoints”)

TheaxialareaoftheOkinawaTroughisdeterminedbasedontheregionalgeologicalstructure,thecrustalstructure,thepetrologiccharacteristics,andthetopographicalandgeomorphologicalfeaturesoftheseafloorBasedonthemultibeambathymetricfielddataoftherelevantseaareathatChinaobtainedin1996—2002andwithreferencetoGEBCO30″×30″bathymetricdata,aseriesofmorphologicalprofileswhichareperpendiculartothetrendingoftheOkinawaTrough’saxis,arechosenAmaximumwaterdepthpointisselectedfromeachprofileThisSubmissionhasselected8maximumwaterdepthpointsasthefixedpointsfordeterminingtheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesinpartofECSAlinecomprisingstraightlinesconnectingthesepoints

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

7    Figure2 MapdepictingtheouterlimitsofthecontinentalshelfinpartofECS

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea  

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formstheouterlimitsofECS’scontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmiles,whichdoesnotexceedtheouterenvelopeof60nauticalmilesfromFOSor350nauticalmilesfromthebaselinesfromwhichthebreadthoftheterritorialseaismeasured.

TheouterlimitsofECS’scontinentalshelfbeyond200nauticalmilesiscomposedof10fixedpoints(FP1-FP10)inthepresentSubmission,allofwhicharethemaximumwaterdepthpointsoftheOkinawaTrough(Figure2)Thestraightlinesconnectingthefixedpointsdonotexceed60nauticalmilesinlengthSeeTable1forthecoordinatesofthesepoints

Table1 Coordinatesdefiningthefixedpointscomprisingthelineoftheouterlimitsofthecontinental

shelfinpartialareaofECS,descriptionofanddistancebetweenthefixedpoints

FixedPointLatitude

(°N)

Longitude

(°E)DescriptionofFixedPoint

FromFixed

Point

ToFixed

Point

Distance

(M)

FP1 30.8991 129.1708maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTrough— — —

FP2 30.6679 129.1588maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP1 FP2 13.85

FP3 30.4867 129.2928maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP2 FP3 12.88

FP4 30.1781 129.2767maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP3 FP4 18.49

FP5 29.6552 128.8008maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP4 FP5 39.94

FP6 29.2286 128.6608maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP5 FP6 26.56

FP7 28.9953 128.5228maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP6 FP7 15.73

FP8 28.4127 128.2528maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP7 FP8 37.66

FP9 28.1746 127.8888maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP8 FP9 23.97

FP10 27.9931 127.6248maximumwaterdepthpointontheaxisofthe

OkinawaTroughFP9 FP10 17.73

7MaritimeDelimitations

Paragraph2ofAnnexItotheRulesofProcedureoftheCommissionprovidesthatincasethereis

adisputeinthedelimitationofthecontinentalshelfbetweenoppositeoradjacentStates,orinothercasesofunresolvedlandormaritimedisputes,relatedtothesubmission,theCommissionshallbe:(a)InformedofsuchdisputesbythecoastalStatesmakingthesubmission;and(b)AssuredbythecoastalStatesmakingthesubmissiontotheextentpossiblethatthesubmissionwillnotprejudice

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

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mattersrelatingtothedelimitationofboundariesbetweenStates

Inaccordancewiththeprovisioninparagraph2ofAnnexItotheRulesofProcedureoftheCommission,theChineseGovernmentherebyinformstheCommissionthatChina,theRepublicofKoreaandJapanareyettocompletethedelimitationofthecontinentalshelfintheareainvolvedinthisSubmissionAccordingtoarticle76(10)oftheConvention,recommendationsoftheCommissionwithregardtothisSubmissionwillnotprejudicefuturedelimitationofthecontinentalshelfbetweenChinaandthestatesconcerned.

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      SubmissionbythePeople’sRepublicofChinaConcerningtheOuterLimitsoftheContinentalShelfbeyond200NauticalMilesinPartoftheEastChinaSea                                        

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Contents

1Introduction (1)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2MapsandCoordinates (2)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3CommissionMembersWhoProvidedAdviceduringthePreparationoftheSubmission (2)!!!

4ProvisionsofArticle76InvokedinSupportoftheSubmission (2)!!!!!!!!!!!!

5NaturalProlongationofLandTerritory (3)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6DescriptionoftheOuterLimitsofContinentalShelfinPartofECS (6)!!!!!!!!!!

7MaritimeDelimitations (8)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!