Benham Rise

The landform was presumably named after Admiral Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham (1832–1905) by American surveyors who probably studied the geological feature. He was a United States Navy officer, who served with both the South Atlantic and West Gulf Blockading Squadrons during the American Civil War.{{Cite web |date=March 8, 2008 |title=Benham One-Name Study |url=http://www.one-name.org/profiles/benham.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908015723/http://www.one-name.org/profiles/benham.html |archive-date=September 8, 2009 |access-date=September 27, 2009 |publisher=Guild of One-Name Studies}}

There has been speculation in the scientific community about the nature of the landform. Following the major July 16 1990 Luzon earthquake, scientists reconsidered their fault models and decided it likely that Philippine Plateau has similarly displaced the Philippine Fault System to the west.Pinet and Stephan (1989) in Tectonics of Circum-Pacific Continental Margins {{ISBN|90-6764-132-4}} p.179 After analyzing older models such as that of Pinet and Stephan (1989), scientists reconsidered their fault models. They thought it highly likely that the Philippine Plateau is still displacing the Central Luzon and the Philippine Fault System to the west, which may have been a factor in such a catastrophic earthquake. The 20- to 50-second wave of the 1990 quake that developed a new east–west sub-fault was so strong that it terminated disastrously in the city of Baguio in Benguet, Cordillera. Several scientific surveys, conducted between 2004 and 2008, collected hydrographic data that determined the morphology of the seabed in the region.{{Cite web |last=Tessa Jamandre |date=April 12, 2009 |title=RP files claim over Benham Rise with UN |url=http://www.verafiles.org/index.php/focus/211-rp-files-claim-over-benham-rise-with-un |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426082054/http://verafiles.org/index.php/focus/211-rp-files-claim-over-benham-rise-with-un |archive-date=April 26, 2009 |access-date=September 27, 2009 |publisher=verafiles.org}}

File:Benham Rise (Philippine Rise) NAMRIA layout 2 May 24 2017.jpg

Despite its proximity to the archipelago, the plateau was previously not included in charted territory of the country. On April 8, 2009, the Republic of the Philippines lodged a partial territorial waters claim with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in relation to the continental shelf in the region of the Philippine Rise.{{Cite web |date=May 28, 2009 |title=Submissions, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, pursuant to article 76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_phl_22_2009.htm |access-date=May 29, 2009 |publisher=United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf}} It was submitted as part of petition expanding the archipelago's baselines and exclusive economic zone through a law that also included other claims involving disputed territories of the Kalayaan Islands (Spratly Islands) and Scarborough Shoal.

Congress then enacted the bill of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, now known as Republic Act No. 9522, or the Archipelagic Baselines Law, as the basis of the claim. It asserted that, according to scientific data based on seismic, magnetic, other geological features, the Philippine Rise is an extension of the Philippines’ continental shelf. The claim is only partial since the law that allows the Philippines to expand its territorial boundaries to also include islands in the South China Sea.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The Philippines filed its claim for Benham Rise in 2008 in compliance with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. The UN officially approved the claim in April 2012 under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. It was the first claim of the Philippines approved by an international body since the colonial era.[http://www.philstar.com/headlines/716909/un-decide-phl-claim-13-m-hectare-benham-rise UN to decide on Phl claim on 13-M hectare Benham Rise], August 16, 2011, Philippine Star.[http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise UN approves PH territorial claim to Benham Rise], April 28, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer.DOE to assess resource potential of Benham Rise:http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/06/09/1332626/doe-assess-resource-potential-benham-rise

After Chinese survey ships were spotted in the region in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte suggested the plateau be renamed to emphasize Philippine sovereignty over the area. Soon after, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced plans for a new name,{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=April 2, 2017 |title=Duterte wants to rename Benham Rise |url=https://filipinotimes.ae/news/2017/04/02/phl-plans-to-rename-benham-rise/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403113128/https://filipinotimes.ae/news/2017/04/02/phl-plans-to-rename-benham-rise/ |archive-date=April 3, 2017 |access-date=April 2, 2017 |publisher=Filipino Times}} and in May 2017, the government officially adopted the name “Philippine Rise” for the feature designating the area as a “protected food supply exclusive zone” and banning mining and oil exploration. This angered China, which maintained the Philippines has no sovereign rights or sovereignty over the Philippine Rise, despite the UN-backed 2012 international ruling saying otherwise.{{Cite news |last=Santos |first=Eimor |date=May 12, 2017 |title=Benham Rise is now Philippine Rise, and a protected food supply zone – Piñol |work=CNN Philippines |url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/12/Benham-Rise-Philippine-Rise-protected-food-supply-zone-Pi%C3%B1ol.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515125721/http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/12/Benham-Rise-Philippine-Rise-protected-food-supply-zone-Pi%C3%B1ol.html |archive-date=May 15, 2017}}

{{OSM Location map

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| mark-coord1 = {{coord|18|18|30|N|123|16|36|E}}

| mark-title1 = Jinghao Seamount

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| mark-coord2 = {{coord|17|54|6|N|123|17|12|E}}

| mark-title2 = Tianbao Seamount

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|16|46|1.4|N|124|34|5.8|E}}

| mark-title3 = Cuiqiao Hill

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|17|7|22.4|N|124|58|6.2|E}}

| mark-title4 = Jujiu Seamount

| mark-coord5 = {{coord|19|0|0|N|126|0|0|E}}

| mark-title5 = Haidongqing Seamount

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In January 2018, Philippine Congressman Gary Alejano revealed how the Department of Foreign Affairs had approved a scientific survey of the Rise by the Chinese Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines.{{Cite news |last=Amurao |first=George |date=January 18, 2018 |title=China eyes Philippines' strategic eastern shores |publisher=Asia Times |url=https://asiatimes.com/article/china-eyes-philippines-strategic-eastern-shores/}}

In February, Duterte‘s Secretary of Agriculture Emmanuel Piñol told media the President had ordered the halting of all foreign research in the Philippine Rise;{{Cite news |title=Duterte orders no more foreign explorations in Benham Rise —Piñol |language=en-US |work=GMA News |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/642291/duterte-orders-no-more-foreign-explorations-in-benham-rise-pinol/story/ |access-date=December 8, 2018}} however, that conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences was already finished two days before the order.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

On February 12, 2018, the International Hydrographic Organization approved the names proposed by China for five features in the Philippine Rise, after China had submitted its findings to the organization. The names given by China were all in Chinese, namely, Jinghao Seamount (some 70 nautical miles east of Cagayan), Tianbao Seamount (some 70 nautical miles east of Cagayan), Haidonquing Seamount (east at 190 nautical miles), Cuiqiao Hill, and Jujiu Seamount, the last two forming the central peaks of the Philippine Rise undersea geological province. The Chinese naming of the features was met public protests in the Philippines.{{Cite news |title=China named 5 undersea features at PH Rise, says expert |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/02/12/18/china-named-5-undersea-features-at-ph-rise-says-expert |access-date=December 8, 2018}}{{Cite news |title=China named 5 undersea features at PH Rise – expert {{!}} Inquirer Globalnation |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://globalnation.inquirer.net/164127/breaking-china-named-5-undersea-features-ph-rise-expert |access-date=December 8, 2018}} Malacañang Palace announced its objection and non-recognition of the Chinese names, adding it will appeal for their deletion with the International Hydrographic Organization. The government also said the Philippine embassy in Beijing will coordinate with the Chinese government on the issue.{{Cite news |last=Ranada |first=Pia |title=Philippines rejects Chinese names for Benham Rise features |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/196018-philippines-rejects-chinese-names-benham-rise-features}}{{Cite news |title=Palace: PH won't recognize Chinese names of Benham Rise features |work=CNN Philippines |url=https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/14/Philippines-wont-recognize-Chinese-names-of-Benham-Rise-features.html |access-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124121646/https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/14/Philippines-wont-recognize-Chinese-names-of-Benham-Rise-features.html |url-status=dead }} The Palace announced the following day that government intended to give Philippine names to the features of the Philippine Rise.{{Cite news |title=Gov't to give PH names to Benham Rise features named by China |language=en |work=CNN Philippines |url=http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/15/benham-rise-features-philippines-name-harry-roque.html |access-date=December 8, 2018 |archive-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615151323/https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/15/benham-rise-features-philippines-name-harry-roque.html |url-status=dead }} However, a few hours later, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified that China’s renaming of sea features “was a scientific process and not a political one”, adding “Whoever made the discovery gets to decide what these are called.”{{Cite news |title=Chinese names in PH rise? No problem, says Palace {{!}} Inquirer Globalnation |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://globalnation.inquirer.net/164266/chinese-names-ph-rise-no-problem-says-palace |access-date=December 8, 2018}}

On February 16, the Philippine government announced they have sent military personnel into the Cagayan Valley to guard the Rise.{{Cite news |last=Gagalac |first=Ron |title=Gov't deploys troops to guard Philippine Rise |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/16/18/govt-deploys-troops-to-guard-philippine-rise |access-date=December 8, 2018}} Two days later, it was revealed that China intended to name a total of 142 features.{{Cite news |title=China wants to name 142 ocean features |work=The Philippine Star |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/18/1788981/china-wants-name-142-ocean-features |access-date=December 8, 2018}} On February 26, the Department of Foreign Affairs stated during a Senate investigation that China actually surveyed the Rise in 2017, without any Philippine-issued permit, citing the lack of capability to detect illegal entry.{{Cite news |last=Elemia |first=Camille |title=Gov't admits China surveyed Benham Rise without permit |language=en |work=Rappler |url=http://www.rappler.com//nation/196933-senate-hearing-benham-rise |access-date=December 8, 2018}}

{{main|Apolaki Caldera}}

The world’s largest caldera, with a diameter of 150 kilometers was discovered by Jenny Anne Baretto, a Filipino marine geophysicist. It was named after Apolaki, a precolonial Tagalog solar and war deity.{{Cite news |last=Mangosing, Frances |date=October 21, 2019 |title=Filipina scientist discovers 'world's largest caldera' in Philippine Rise |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |url=https://technology.inquirer.net/91590/filipina-scientist-discovers-worlds-largest-caldera-in-philippine-rise |url-status=dead |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210195303/https://technology.inquirer.net/91590/filipina-scientist-discovers-worlds-largest-caldera-in-philippine-rise |archive-date=December 10, 2019}}{{Cite news |date=October 21, 2019 |title=Filipina scientist discovers world's largest caldera on Benham Rise |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/10/21/19/filipina-scientist-discovers-worlds-largest-caldera-on-benham-rise |access-date=October 21, 2019}}

File:Philippine Sea plate.JPG.]]

Philippine Rise is a submerged extinct volcanic ridge located at 16.5°N, 124.7°E off the coast of Luzon, with the size of about 250 km in diameter and rises over 2,000 meters (2 km.) above the sea floor, from below 5,000 meters (5 km.) below sea level to above 3,000 meters (3 km.) below sea level. Its area is close to the Philippine Seamount, located at 15.8°N, 124.2°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,Hashimoto, M, ed., (1981) Accretion Tectonics in the Circum-Pacific Regions, {{ISBN|90-277-1561-0}} p299 a collage of large blocks of that crust that amalgamated prior to the collision of the Philippine Sea Plate with the Eurasian Plate.Rangin and Pubellier (1990) in Tectonics of Circum-Pacific Continental Margins {{ISBN|90-6764-132-4}} p149

The origin of the landform, along with the nearby Urdaneta Plateau (a remnant of a mantle plume), is identified in one study as at least five sequences of propagating rifts, probably triggered by mantle flowing away from the mantle thermal anomaly.{{Cite journal |last1=Ryuichie |first1=Shinjo |last2=Ni Xianglonga |last3=Wu Shiguoc |date=2008 |title=Tectonics in the Northwestern West Philippine Basin |journal=Journal of China University of Geosciences |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=191–199 |doi=10.1016/S1002-0705(08)60038-2|bibcode=2008JCUG...19..191X }} Its presence of the landform disrupts the continuity of this region (known as the Philippine-East Luzon Trench) by continuously colliding with the Sierra Madre mountain range of eastern portion of the island of Luzon. Though it is generally thought that the Philippine Sea Plate is being subducted under the Philippine Mobile Belt, under the rules of tectonic subduction, there appears to be a resistance to this because of the presence of the landform, and instead, the plate is being displaced into the northern portion of Luzon to the west.Rangin and Pubellier (1990) in Tectonics of Circum-Pacific Continental Margins {{ISBN|90-6764-132-4}}, p149Deschamps and Lallemand (2003) in Intra-Oceanic Subduction Systems: Tectonic and Magmatic Processes {{ISBN|1-86239-147-5}} p165

The geophysical features of the plateau may have been the result of an early Miocene collision event between the Philippine Rise and the eastern margin of Luzon, which may have also allowed the inception of the NW striking strand of the Philippine fault.{{Cite journal |last1=Ringenbach, J. C. |last2=N. Pinet |last3=J. F. Stephan |last4=J. Delteil |title=Structural variety and tectonic evolution of strike-slip basins related to the Philippine Fault System, northern Luzon, Philippines |year=1993 |url=http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1993/92TC01968.shtml |journal=Tectonics |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=187–203 |bibcode=1993Tecto..12..187R |doi=10.1029/92TC01968 |access-date=September 27, 2009 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606070607/http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1993/92TC01968.shtml |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }} These forces may have impacted the shape of the island of Luzon because of the basaltic sea floor resisting the subduction that may have also cause the bending of the Philippine Fault.{{Cite web |last=Rantucci, Giovanni |date=Oct 1994 |title=Geological disasters in the Philippines : The July 1990 earthquake and the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo |url=http://www.eird.org/estrategias/pdf/eng/doc13258/doc13258.htm |access-date=September 27, 2009 |website=United Nations |publisher=ISDR}}, Document ID:13258 The active basins in Central Luzon, which trace an asymmetrical V shape, is the best place to observe recent tectonic evolution of the fault system.

The Benham Bank is the shallowest point of the Philippine Rise.

The Philippine Rise has long been part of Filipino culture, particularly of people native to Catanduanes who have explored and fished the area long before the colonial era. Called Kalipung-awan (roughly translated from the Bikol languages as “loneliness in an isolated place”) is celebrated in Catandunganons literature, and a large portion of fish caught in the region come from the waters covering the Philippine Rise. Its poetic name come from fisherfolk who spend days in the vast and lonely waters seldom visited by other ethnic groups. Its location east of Luzon, southeast of Taiwan, and west of the United States territory of Guam also makes gives it strategic geopolitical importance.{{Cite magazine |last=Stashwick |first=Steven |date=March 31, 2017 |title=China May Have Been Surveying Strategic Waters East of Philippines |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/04/china-may-have-been-surveying-strategic-waters-east-of-philippines/ |magazine=The Diplomat |access-date=March 31, 2017 |quote=The Benham Rise is directly south of the eastern approaches to the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines, which is the main access route from the Western Pacific Ocean to the South China Sea. In a conflict, control of that strait would dictate whether China's South Sea Fleet could "break out" of the South China Sea into the Western Pacific to the waters between the first and second island chains, or if the U.S. Navy could move forces into the South China Sea to conduct its own combat operations.}}

In May 2017, the feature was designated by the Philippines as a “protected food supply exclusive zone”, prohibiting mining and oil exploration. To commemorate the first anniversary of the Philippine government’s renaming of the feature, {{convert|500|sqkm|sqmi|sp=us}} of the feature was declared a “Strict Protection Zone” reserved exclusively for scientific research, while about {{convert|3000|sqkm|sqmi|sp=us}} was designated a “Special Fisheries Management Area“.{{Cite news |last=Lopez |first=Virgil |date=May 15, 2018 |title=Duterte declares parts of Benham Rise a marine protected area |work=GMA News |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/653472/duterte-declares-benham-rise-a-marine-protected-area/story/ |access-date=May 16, 2018}}

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Category:Extinct volcanoes

Category:Landforms of the Philippines

Category:Law of the sea

Category:Natural history of the Philippines

Category:Philippine Sea

Category:Philippine tectonics

Category:Plateaus of the Pacific Ocean

Category:Protected areas of the Philippines