433. The Tribunal further observes that during the Third United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea the notion of natural prolongation was
employed as a concept to lend support to the trend towards expanding
national jurisdiction over the continental margin.
434. Thus the notion of natural prolongation and that of continental margin
under article 76, paragraphs 1 and 4, are closely interrelated. They refer to
the same area.
435. Furthermore, one of the principal objects and purposes of article 76 of
the Convention is to define the precise outer limits of the continental shelf,
beyond which lies the Area. The Tribunal therefore finds it difficult to accept
that natural prolongation referred to in article 76, paragraph 1, constitutes a
separate and independent criterion a coastal State must satisfy in order to be
entitled to a continental shelf beyond 200 nm.