Discovery of William Baffin - the sea of the Arctic Basin, washing the western coast of Greenland

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

An interesting and important discovery was made in the 17th century by the naval expedition of William Baffin. The sea, discovered by the researchers, received the official name in honor of the conqueror of the northern waters. William Buffin and Robert Bylot carefully described their find. Somewhat later, W. Buffin undertook 4 more expeditions to the reservoir he discovered. Where is the Baffin Sea and what is it, now let's try to figure it out.

A bit of history

The first mention of the harsh and mysterious sea appeared in the 16th century. They were left by an explorer from Britain D. Davis in 1585. But the name of the reservoir was given in 1616 after the expedition of another British navigator Baffin. The sea, as already mentioned, bears this name because he did not just visit the indicated latitudes, but conducted a whole scientific study, became the discoverer of Baffin Island, and proved that the Northwest Passage through the Hudson Bay, which was sought by the expedition of John Davis, does not exist.

In 1818, another Englishman, John Ross, continued the development of the northwestern route. He walked the Baffin Way. The sea, the island and the western coast of Greenland were described during the new expeditionagain. In addition, adjustments were made to geographical maps.

Entertaining geography

The impregnable Baffin Sea is still poorly understood. Its shores are considered sparsely populated, since the population density here is the lowest on the planet. To understand why this is so, you need to answer yourself a simple question: why is the Baffin Sea so harsh, which ocean does this body of water belong to?

This is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Such bodies of water are also called inland seas. The boundaries of the sea are defined by Baffin Island, the southwestern coast of Greenland and the eastern coast of the Arctic archipelago.

The inland body of water described by the Baffin expedition is a sea with an area of 630,000 km². Its average depth is almost 860 m. But the maximum depth is more than 2400 m. The approximate length along the coasts from north to south is about 1100 km.

The coast that washes the Baffin Sea is completely cut by mountains, bays and fjords. In addition, glaciers come close to them.

Straits and currents

The Baffin Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. The Nares Strait leads to the Arctic Ocean. There are two noticeable currents in the sea: Canadian and Greenland.

Because of the Greenland-Canadian Sea Rise (threshold), warm water masses from the Atlantic do not enter the Baffin Sea. This is the main reason that one of the seas of the Atlantic Ocean is so cold in wintercompletely covered with a layer of ice.

Climate and hydrology

The Baffin Sea is located in the arctic climate zone. Storms and low temperatures are often observed here. So, in winter it can be 20-28 ° frost, and in summer only 7 ° heat. Because of this, the water temperature in winter is only -1 °С, in summer it is not higher than +5 °С.

The salinity of water in the Baffin Sea is 30-32 ppm, but in the deep layers it is slightly higher and is more than 34 ppm.

In particularly severe winters, the surface of the sea freezes completely, in normal - by 80%. In summer, ice blocks and flat ice floes often float in the waters.

The sea has surprisingly high tides. Their minimum height is 4 meters, the maximum is 9 m. The winds are dominated by northwestern.

The area is seismically active. Registration has been conducted since 1933, the maximum earthquakes were 6 points. The last one above 5 was in 2010.

Vegetation and wildlife

The flora of the Baffin Sea is represented by brown and red algae that accumulate off the coast.

The fauna is much richer. It is inhabited by benthic animals such as cephalopods and clams, echinoderms, coelenterates (jellyfish) and several types of crustaceans: shrimps, crabs and crustaceans. A couple of species of marine worms have been discovered.

Despite the cold waters, about 60 different species of fish can be counted in the sea. These are various herring fish, cod, that is, navaga, polar cod andother. There are smelt, haddock, flounder, capelin and many more representatives. However, commercial fishing is hampered by harsh conditions and ice. Only small fishing boats can occasionally be found here.

Frequent cases of ice shark entering the Baffin Sea have been recorded. This is a large cartilaginous fish. Its length can reach six meters, but this species is not dangerous for humans.

Because human access to the wildlife resources of the Baffin Sea is limited, a large number of beluga whales and walrus live here.

The shores are inhabited by birds. These are numerous bird colonies, consisting of cormorants, gulls, terns, guillemots, ducks and geese.

To preserve natural resources, the coast and waters are protected by the state. The shooting of large mammals such as polar bears is limited. In addition, Baffin Island National Park has conservation efforts throughout.