Drake Passage: Where is Drake Passage on the world map. Which strait is the widest in the world? Which strait is the widest?

A strait is a body of water that is located in such a way that it separates two land areas and connects adjacent water basins (as well as their parts). Thus, two oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific - have a peculiar border in the form of the widest strait in the world, which is called the “Drake Passage”.

Where is it located and what are its dimensions?

The world's widest strait, which acts as a kind of connecting element between the two above-mentioned oceans, is limited on the northern part by Tierra del Fuego (archipelago), and on the southern part by the Southern Scottish Islands. The narrowest part of this strait is 820 km, and the widest is 950 km. The Drake Passage reaches a depth of 5249 meters (and this is the greatest point of depth from the surface of the water). The world's widest strait is home to Cape Horn, which represents the southernmost point of South America. The current in this body of water, or rather in its northern part, reaches a speed of 4 m/s.


Historical facts of the opening of the strait

This world's widest strait is named after the famous navigator Francis Drake, who was also a pirate. However, it is quite curious that this navigator is not the discoverer of this place. The Spaniard Francisco Oses managed to swim to the strait and make its discovery (in 1526). But this discovery of an excellent navigator and captain went unnoticed.

Drake entered the strait fifty-two years later when he set out on his famous voyage around the world in 1577-1580. According to his plans, he was supposed to pass through the Strait of Magellan from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. However, the navigator’s plans were somewhat disrupted, since the ocean “pleased” with a strong storm. As a result, Drake's ship was thrown to the south, where it passed through this strait, which was later named after Drake. This is how the circumstances arose due to which the captain managed to make an important discovery in geography and pave a new path for making bright and daring sea voyages.


Weather Features

The world's widest strait has long been characterized by rather unfavorable weather conditions. Often in this body of water there are incredible storms and terrible winds blow, the speed of which sometimes reaches 35 m/s. The wind, blowing with enormous power, creates the highest waves, which can reach a height of at least 15 meters. Many sailors note that being in the waters of this strait is a very dangerous matter, but if you manage to swim to the designated place, then you can be proud of your courage, courageous character and courage.


Even in summer, the water temperature is at the same limit - plus 6 degrees. The water is not getting warmer. In winter, there is a lot of floating ice in the strait; icebergs can even be seen in the summer. The storms that await sailors in this strait cannot be found in any other water areas of the world's oceans. And seasickness affects even the most avid sailors in this strait.

For sailors who were able to overcome the rather dangerous Drake Passage, Queen Elizabeth I of England even approved unique rewards - she gave the daredevils a copper earring and granted the right to visit all restaurants in the world completely free of charge.

Diversity of birds in the strait area


Every sailor who has sailed through the Drake Passage at least once notes how many birds accompany the ship. There really are a great variety of them here in a variety of forms. The explanation for this is quite simple - the border with Antarctica passes here, and cold and warm waters mix. As a result, the waters of the strait are rich in various marine life, which are the main products in the diet of petrels, albatrosses, storm petrels, skuas and many other birds living in this part of the world. And if they have food, it means they live here well and freely.

The widest strait in the world is the Drake Passage. It connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
General information. The Drake Passage is located between the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in the north and the South Shetland Islands in the south. The width of the strait at its narrowest point is about 820 kilometers, and at its widest part it is up to 950 kilometers. The depth of the strait reaches 5249 meters. The southernmost point of the continent of South America, namely the famous Cape Horn, is located in the strait. The current speed in the northern section of the strait reaches 4 meters per second.
Weather. The Drake Passage has long been famous for its harsh, unfavorable weather conditions. Strong storms are frequent here, with very high wind speeds (up to 35 meters per second) and high waves. The water temperature, even in summer, practically does not rise above 6°C. In winter, a significant part of the strait is covered with floating ice, but in summer icebergs are often found in the strait. Due to extremely difficult weather conditions, Queen Elizabeth I of England ordered that all sailors who passed the Drake Passage be awarded a copper earring and were given the right to visit all pubs and restaurants in the world for free.
History of discovery. The strait bears its name in honor of the famous navigator and pirate Francis Drake. It is curious that Drake is not the discoverer of the strait. Back in 1526, the strait was discovered by the Spanish captain Francisco Oses. However, then this discovery went unnoticed. Only 52 years later, in 1578, Francis Drake passed through the strait during his circumnavigation of 1577 - 1580. It is known that Drake's plans included going to the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic through the Strait of Magellan. The implementation of the plans of the famous pirate was prevented by a powerful storm. Drake's ship "Golden Hind" was carried to the south and fell into the strait, which later received the name of the captain. Thus, thanks to a fortuitous coincidence, a major geographical discovery was made, and the way was paved for new travels.

Photo of the widest strait in the world



Bosphorus

“I have never been to the Bosphorus...” Many probably remember these lines from S. Yesenin’s poem. If you haven’t been either, we’ll try to briefly talk about the narrowest strait between the continents. This strait connects the Black and Marmara seas and is part of the border between Europe and Asia. It got its name from the ancient Greeks, who called it “Cow Ford”.

Despite its short length, the strait is very inconvenient for navigation. Over its entire 30-kilometer length, it has about twelve sharp turns, which forces ships to change their course. And the Kanlik turn is located so that oncoming ships cannot see each other.

Strait width

In addition, there are powerful and fast currents and whirlpools in the strait. The minimum width of the strait is 700 m, the maximum is 3700 m, the depth of the navigable part is from 33 to 80 m. Considering that the strait is the only waterway connecting the countries of the Black Sea basin with the countries of the Mediterranean, the intensity of shipping is very high. Up to 45 thousand ships pass through the Bosphorus annually.

The city of Istanbul, formerly called Constantinople, is located on both banks of the Bosphorus. This is probably the only city in the world that is located on two continents. Therefore, ferries have long been used to connect the Asian and European parts of the city. And now about 1,500 ferries operate daily, carrying an average of up to 1.5 million people.

Bridges over the Bosphorus

To meet the growing needs for connecting both parts of the city, and to relieve the strait from ferries, two bridges were built. The first one was put into operation in 1973 and is called the “Bosphorus Bridge” with a length of 1074 meters. The second one was built in 1988 and is called the “Sultan Mehmed Fatih Bridge”, its length is 1090 meters. The Turkish government plans to build another road bridge on the Black Sea side, the length of which will be 1275 meters.

However, it is worth noting that The Bosphorus Strait is the narrowest between continents, and also the shortest strait on Earth.

Little Belt Strait

The most The Little Belt is recognized as a narrow strait on Earth. This strait is located between the islands of Funen and Ørø in the east and the island of Als and the Jutland Peninsula in the west. Connects the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat Strait.

The length of the Little Belt is 50 kilometers, the width varies from 500 meters to 28 kilometers, and the minimum depth on the fairway is 12 meters and the maximum is 75 meters.

Dofuti Strait

In addition to the Little Belt, it competes for the right to be called the narrowest strait on Earth. Dofuti Strait, separating the Japanese islands of Sodo and Mae. This strait is considered the narrowest of all navigable straits on Earth. Indeed, in the place where the two islands are connected by a bridge, the width of the strait is only 9.93 m.

17.02.2014

Today, the widest body of water in the world is considered to be the Drake Passage. This fact is not at all surprising, since its width is about 1,200 kilometers at its widest point, more precisely between the South Shetland Islands and the archipelago called Tierra del Fuego. The Drake Passage is also often called the connection between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The main direction of the powerful current is south. The northern current maintains very low temperatures all year round.

In summer, the water warms up to only 6 degrees, and in winter the level does not rise above 3. Salt for such a stream is not something unique. The salinity level is 34 ppm. Due to the low temperature of the current in winter, the ice that binds the waters can occupy a quarter of the entire territory of the strait. In summer, as it melts, a large number of icebergs appear. Despite its short length, only 460 kilometers, its depth in some places reaches 5 thousand meters. Due to the impressive current speed of 0.4 meters per second, storms often occur and the weather changes.

This body of water received its sonorous name in honor of the famous English navigator, and also a pirate, Francis Drake. The opening of the strait occurred in 1578, when the pirate made another expedition for the riches of other continents. The events that happened to him during this journey can be equated to the well-known phrase “sink or perish.” At times, caught in a storm, many crew members no longer hoped to survive, but in the end, almost all returned rich and received enormous fame and gratitude from the queen.

An interesting fact is the fate of the ship on which Drake made the discovery of the strait. Initially, this ship was called "Pelican". But, in gratitude for withstanding the storm while passing through the Strait of Magellan, Drake decided to rename the ship the Golden Hind. The reason for this was the colossal losses of the fleet. Of the six ships, only the Pelican was able to break into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Francis Drake's court patron was Christopher Hutton, whose coat of arms was a golden hind, which served as inspiration for choosing a new name for the hero ship.

Undoubtedly, the Drake Passage is the widest, because even the strait, located in the second largest place, is almost twice as narrow. The width of the Mozambique Strait is only 422 kilometers. It is also worth noting that in the entire list of the 5 widest water straits, this is the largest difference in indicators, which indicates the undeniable superiority of the famous Drake Strait, which everyone remembers from history as a famous corsair and simply a navigator who pursued the most inhumane goals.

Straits are narrow spaces of water that separate land areas and connect neighboring seas or oceans.

The largest straits in the world

Name

Length (km)

What connects

Mozambican

Indian Ocean waters

Baffin Sea and Atlantic Ocean

Malaccan

Andaman and South China Seas

Hudson

Hudson Bay and Atlantic Ocean

Makassar

Sulawesi and Java Seas

Tatar

Sea of ​​Okhotsk and Sea of ​​Japan

Florida

Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean

North Sea and Atlantic Ocean

Magellanic

Atlantic and Pacific oceans

Atlantic and Pacific oceans

Beringov

Chukchi and Bering seas

Gibraltar

Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean

Mozambique Channel located between the island of Madagascar and continental Africa. The Mozambique Strait is located in the western Indian Ocean and is considered one of the longest on the planet. The approximate length of the strait is 1670 kilometers, and the width is up to 925 kilometers.

The Mozambique Strait in the north and south has a depth of more than 3 kilometers, and in the middle part it is approximately 2.4 kilometers. The minimum depth of the strait along the fairway is 117 meters.

The Mozambique Channel is characterized by a stable current with a speed of about 1.5 knots, which is directed from north to south. The height of the tides is up to 5 meters. In the northern part of the strait are the Comoros Islands, which have many small islands and reefs along the coastline.

The coastline is very beautiful, with soft sea sand under your feet. The coast is indented in some places by the tides and is bordered by gentle hills from which magnificent panoramas of the Mozambique Channel open up.

The nature of the Mozambique Strait is unique; only here you can find unique specimens of the coelacanth fish, which, as a species, is twice as old as dinosaurs. Here you can meet the largest stingray, which is called the manta ray. It is these unique species of fish that attract a large number of divers here.

Davis Strait- located between Greenland and the Baffin Islands. The strait connects the Baffin Sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The length of the Davis Strait is 632 miles (1170 km), the width is 194.5-577 miles (360-1070 km), the depth of the navigable part is 104 - 3730 m. Drifting ice and icebergs are found in the waters of the Davis Strait. Strait of Malacca

- separates the Malacca Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, which belongs to Indonesia.

The northern and northeastern shores of the Strait of Malacca and the islands located near them belong to the Kingdom of Thailand. All other shores belong to the state of Malaysia, and the already mentioned island of Sumatra and the islands adjacent to it belong to Indonesia.

The length of the strait is very large, it is 1000 km, the width exceeds 40 km, and the depth in the shipping channel is not less than 25 m.

Navigation in the Strait of Malacca is complicated by the fact that there are shoals near the shores. Everything is complicated by the fact that shoals sometimes occur far from the coast, and reefs can be hidden in the shoals.

The Strait of Malacca region is volcanically active. Most of the islands in the strait are of volcanic origin. The largest of them include Phuket, Lankawi, Penang and others. Hudson Strait

- located between Baffin Island and the Labrador Peninsula off the northeastern coast of Canada. Connects Hudson Bay to the Atlantic Ocean.

The length of the Hudson Strait is 432 miles (806 km), width 62 - 219 miles (115 - 407 km). The depth of the navigable part is 141 - 988 m. The surface current is in the South-East at a speed of 0.4 knots (0.7 km/h). The highest tide height reaches 7.7 m. Makassar Strait

- located between the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi. This strait connects the Sulawesi Sea with the Java Sea. The length of the Makassar Strait is 383 miles (710 km), the smallest width is 65 miles (120 km), the smallest depth of the navigable part is 930 m. Currents in the Makassar Strait are of a monsoon nature. Strait of Tartary

The Tatar Strait has a length of 633 kilometers, the maximum width of the strait is 342 kilometers, and the minimum is 7.3 km. The depth of the fairway of the Tatar Strait in most cases is quite significant already near the shore; the minimum depth on the fairway of the strait is 7.2 meters, which is why the Tatar Strait is considered one of the shallowest straits.

The shores of the Tatar Strait are mostly mountainous in the south, while in the north they are flat. The average water temperature in the strait in summer fluctuates around 11 degrees Celsius. During the winter months, the Tatar Strait is covered with ice in the north, while in the southern part the strait is covered with drifting ice. There are no large islands in the strait, except Moneron Island.

The shores of the Tatar Strait are decorated with emerald coniferous forests, in which spruce, fir and larch grow, with a small admixture of birch and alder.

The waters of the Tatar Strait are rich in fish; herring, flounder and halibut live here in large numbers.

Straits of Florida- located between the Florida Peninsula and the islands of Cuba and the Bahamas, connecting the waters of the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. The length of the Strait of Florida is 350 miles (648 km), width -43-97 miles (80-180 km), depth of the navigable part 150-2085 m, surface current (the beginning of the Gulf Stream) - in the Northeast at a speed of 2.4-3 .8 knots (4.4-7 km/h). Hurricanes are possible in the Straits of Florida from April to October.

Strait of the English Channel- English Channel, a strait between the northern coast of Western Europe and the island. Great Britain. Together with the Pas de Calais Strait (Strait of Dover), it connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. The length is about 520 km, the width in the west is about 180 km, in the east - 32 km. The depth in the fairway is 35 m, the greatest depth is 172 m. There are many shallows, especially in the eastern part of the strait.

Western winds cause a stable eastern current in the strait at a speed of up to 3 km/h (in narrow areas). The tides are semidiurnal, their magnitude in some places reaches 12.2 m (Gulf of Saint-Malo). Fogs are frequent. It has important transport significance. One of the largest routes in terms of cargo turnover from the countries of the North and Baltic Seas to the countries of North and South America, as well as to Africa, Asia and Australia passes through the strait. Main ports: Portsmouth, Southampton, Plymouth (UK). Le Havre, Cherbourg (France).- a strait between the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the continent of South America. Both banks of the Strait of Magellan are located on the territory of the state of Chile.

The length of the strait is 575 km, and the depth everywhere exceeds 20 m.

The shores in the northeastern part of the Strait of Magellan are very steep, winding, rocks hang over the waters, and glaciers are possible.

The northeastern shores, on the contrary, are flatter. The waters in the northwest are deeper than in the northeast.

Sailing in the Strait of Magellan is not very common, this is due to the dangers hidden in its depths. There are shoals and underwater rocks in the middle of the strait. Powerful westerly winds also blow in the strait. The speed of currents created by tides reaches 25 km/h. The strait was first passed in 1520. Magellan is considered the discoverer; it was he who became the historical pioneer. Although there are versions according to which the strait was opened much earlier. Then Tierra del Fuego belonged to the Unknown Southern Land, and the Strait of Magellan was called the “Strait of All Saints.”

Drake Passage

The northern coast of which is the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and the southern coast is the South Shetland Islands, which belong to Antarctica, unites the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The width of the strait everywhere exceeds 820 km. This allowed the Drake Passage to receive the title of the widest strait in the world.

The Drake Passage is incredibly dangerous for sailors for several reasons. Firstly, icebergs are common in the strait, especially in the south.

Secondly, there are storms of unprecedented strength, often wave heights exceed 15 m, and squally winds blow at a speed of 35 m/s. Thirdly, a very strong current flows in the Drake Passage - the “Western Wind Current”, which is circumpolar. The southernmost point of South America with an incredibly cold climate is located in the Drake Passage. These are the Diego Ramirez Islands. But since they are not so easy to get to, tourists usually visit Cape Horn.

It is probably difficult to find a landscape in the Far North with more severe weather conditions than the Bering Strait. In summer, the temperature here almost never rises above zero degrees. Strong winds blow here, bringing drizzle and snow from the ocean, and ice floes move along the strait.

At its narrowest point, the width of the Bering Strait is 86 kilometers, and the minimum depth of the fairway is 36 meters. The Bering Strait is where waters exchange between the Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea) and the Pacific Ocean (Bering Sea). In the center of the Bering Strait are the Diomede Islands. This is where the border of time zones and the date line pass.

On the lifeless shores of the Bering Strait lies inhospitable tundra and permafrost. The shores of the Bering Strait are mostly high rocky, very indented, and there are a large number of coves.

The cold, clear waters of the Bering Strait are home to 60 species of fish, the most common being flounder, halibut, pink salmon, cod, chum salmon and chinook salmon. Mussels, balanuses, octopuses, crabs and shrimp live here in large numbers.

The Bering Strait is home to fur seals, seals, gray whales and sperm whales. Birds live on the rocky shores of the strait, uniting in bird colonies. strait of Gibraltar
- located between the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula (Europe) and northwestern Africa; connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea. The length of the Strait of Gibraltar is 32 miles (59 km), the width is 7.5 - 23.7 miles (14 - 44 km), the depth of the navigable part is 338 m. In the Strait of Gibraltar, at different depths, the current is directed in opposite directions. The surface current directed to the Mediterranean Sea receives an average of 55,198 km of Atlantic water per year (average temperature 17 °C, salinity above 36 ‰). In the deep current directed to the Atlantic Ocean, 51,886 km of Mediterranean water flows away (average temperature 13.5 °C, salinity 38 ‰). The difference of 3312 km is mainly due to evaporation from the surface of the Mediterranean Sea.
Due to its convenient geographical location, the Strait of Gibraltar is of great economic and strategic importance and is under the control of the English fortress and naval base of Gibraltar. In the area of ​​the strait there are the Spanish ports of Ceuta, La Linea, Algeciras, as well as the Moroccan Tangier.

 

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