How is a strait different from a bay? Davis Strait: location, features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

How is a bay different from a strait? At first glance, the difference is seen in the terms themselves. A strait must connect two or more bodies of water separated by a relatively narrow piece of land. The bay, in theory, should not have access to another water area. Is it really? Is this the only difference between Davis Strait and nearby Cumberland Bay? It makes sense to figure it out.

Bays

Depending on the nature of the location, several types are distinguished: harbors and bays, bays and fjords, estuaries, lagoons and estuaries. It should be noted that bays can refer to different water areas: oceans, rivers, seas or lakes. All these objects seem to crash into the mainland and have a different origin. Some are formed by tides and currents, while others arose in the process of the formation of continents: the movement of tectonic plates, rock formation, volcanic activity.

Depending on the relief, climatic conditions, tides, currents of the feeding rivers, bays can have different characteristics. Their water regime, depth, flow rate, water composition can differ significantly. Bays are sometimes separated from the main body of water by alluvial spits and embankments.permanent or temporary.

Straits

These objects are conditionally distinguished from the "body" of the seas and oceans. A strait is a relatively narrow part of a water body that separates land areas: two continents or one part of it and a nearby island. Another feature is that the strait connects neighboring seas or oceans.

If you compare the location of Cumberland Bay and Davis Strait, you can clearly see the difference between them. The first has no other outlet to the water body, except for the border with the Labrador Sea. At the same time, the compared Davis Strait connects 2 oceans. In one part of the water area, it borders on the Labrador Sea, which is located in the Atlantic. And the Baffin Sea, with which the Davis Strait connects with its other border, belongs to the Arctic Ocean.

Classification and features

Despite the fact that the straits are compared with narrow paths from one water body to another, this characteristic is very conditional. The Davis Strait in its narrowest part is 338 km wide, which is almost 5 times the parameters of Cumberland Bay. But this indicator is not decisive. It is the flow of the water body in question that plays the leading role (it must connect two different basins).

Strait, as a rule, is of natural origin. If the land between two adjacent reservoirs was "opened" artificially for the passage of water, then it is customary to call such "paths" channels. An important characteristic of the straits is their navigability. And thisdepends on depth. The Davis Strait is quite accessible for this indicator, but icebergs and drifting ice floes are often found in it, which can pose a threat to ships. In addition to the depth, the largest and smallest widths, the direction of the current and its speed are also taken into account when characterizing.

Davis Strait: history and features

The name was given in honor of the outstanding navigator. Back in 1583, the Englishman John Davis discovered and explored part of the coast of Baffin Island and the territory of Greenland. At that time, he made several dangerous journeys between the two coasts in a harsh climate. Currently, there is evidence that there are deposits of natural gas and oil in the strait.

Where is the Davis Strait relative to the maritime boundaries has already been determined. It remains to find out which shores it shares? On the one hand, this is Baffin Island (the east coast, the territory of Canada), and on the other hand, the Southwestern part of Greenland.

The height of the tidal wave in the region under consideration can be in the range of 9–18 m. What else do you need to know about the Davis Strait? Its length, according to statistics, is 1170 kilometers. The greatest width reaches 950 km. The deepest place has been determined - this is a mark of 3660 m (according to other sources 3730 m) below sea level, the shallowest section of the strait is 104 meters.