Congressmen from Argentina and Chile on Friday set aside past differences between their own countries to join in rejecting British claims over Antarctic territory and seabed.
Britain announced in 2007 that it planned to claim sovereignty over a slice of Antarctic seabed that overlaps with areas claimed by Argentina and Chile.
Eight Chilean and two Argentine lawmakers met together at their Antarctic bases and issued a statement saying they "do not recognize the basis" of the British claim.
They expressed support for their governments' efforts "to preserve our rights over the Antarctic continental shelf."
Chile and Argentina have a long history of territorial disputes in the southernmost reaches of South America. The neighboring nations were on the brink of war in 1978 over three mall islands when mediation by Pope John Paul II helped defuse the tensions.
Sovereignty claims over Antarctic territory have been suspended since the signing in 1959 of the Antarctic Treaty that protects the white continent's environment.
The UN's Convention of the Law of the Sea would expand each coastal nation's sovereignty over its continental shelf from 230 miles (370 kilometers) to 380 miles (610 kilometers) off shore. But the claims must first be approved by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which faces a May deadline to announce its decisions.
Offshore rights have become more important recently given the global race to secure future energy sources, and 11 countries have made claims over parts of Antarctica _ Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Russia, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, France, Spain and Norway.
However, the Antarctic Treaty bans the exploitation for gas and oil in the continent.
The lawmakers first met Thursday at the Chilean President Eduardo Frei base and then moved Friday to the Argentine Lt. Jubany station.
