ITK IPB Developed the Sound Wave Technology for the Measurement of Sea Boundaries

Sound wave technology with multibeam echosounder was very good to be used to detect the object of underwater and the topography of the bottom of the sea in determining the slope edge of continent. The working principle of the technology was the  emission pattern of sound wave to become wider and lie athwart toward the ship body. Every beam would get one point of depth. If the points of debt were related, it would form the profile of the topography of the bottom of the sea.

It was La Elson, Student of the Study Program of Marine Technology, Postgraduate Programof IPB, under guidance of Henry M. Manik, Ph.D (Lecturer of SI/S2 Program of Science and Marine Technology FPIK IPB) and Dr. Udrekh (Researcher of Geophysics and Marine Geology of BPPT). He tried to detect the position of slope edge of continent in the northern Papua especially on the part of Eauripikrise relating to the determination of limit of the continental shelft of Indonesia of more than 200 NauticalMile (NM), as the area limit of three countries (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia).

La Elson made use of the batimetri data of the result of survey of BPPT and Japan Agency for Marine-EarthScience and Technology (JAMSTEC) in 1998-2012 in the northern waters of Papua. Based on the data, it was obtained the information that the existence of slope edge of continent located on the depth of 3,506-4,298 m with the distance of 116-347 km from the peak of Eauripikrise. The position of slope edge of continent was divided in three locations in the western and eastern parts from the peak of Eauripikrise of the nothern waters of Papua.

According to Henry M. Manik, Ph.D, the important finding from this study was based on the stipulation of the hedberg line on one of the drop edges of the slope at Eauripikrise closing to the area of the continental shelf of Indonesia. Besides that, the data of the additionnal area of continental shelf of Indonesia of more than 200 NM in the northern waters of Papua of 61,547 km2 was also obtained. The  the Expert in Marine Acoustics of IPB stated, “Hopefully the result of this study can be useful for the people of Indonesia mainly in determining the limit of the area of NKRI.”