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Davis Strait

 
Dictionary: Davis Strait
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A strait of the northern Atlantic Ocean between southeast Baffin Island and southwest Greenland.

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Davis Strait
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Strait, northern Atlantic Ocean. Lying between southeastern Baffin Island and southwestern Greenland, it separates Baffin Bay to the north from the Labrador Sea to the south, and forms part of the Northwest Passage. About 400 mi (650 km) north to south and 200 – 400 mi (325 – 650 km) wide, it was explored in 1585 by the English navigator John Davis. Along the coast of Greenland, the Greenland Current carries relatively warm water northward, while the cold Labrador Current transports icebergs southward along Baffin Island's eastern shore.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: Davis Strait
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Davis Strait, c.400 mi (640 km) long and c.180 mi (290 km) wide at the narrowest point, between Greenland and Baffin Island, NE Canada, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Baffin Bay. Large amounts of ice and icebergs move south through the strait. The British explorer John Davis sailed through it in 1587.

Wikipedia: Davis Strait
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Davis Strait, lying between Greenland and Nunavut, Canada.     Nunavut     Quebec     Newfoundland and Labrador     Regions outside Canada (Greenland, Iceland)

Davis Strait (French: Détroit de Davis) is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis (1550–1605), who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage.

Contents

Geology

It is underlain by complex geological features of buried grabens (basins) and ridges, probably formed by strike-slip faulting during Paleogene times about 45 million to 62 million years ago. The strike-slip faulting transferred plate-tectonic motions in the Labrador Sea to Baffin Bay. It is the world's broadest strait.

Depth

With a water depth of between one and two thousand meters the strait is substantially shallower than the Labrador Sea to the south or Baffin Bay to the north.

Tides

The strait is famous for its fierce tides that can range from 30 to 60 ft (9.1 to 18 m), which discouraged many earlier explorers.[citation needed]

Further reading

  • Boertmann, David. Mapping of Oil Spill Sensitive Areas in the Davis Strait, West Greenland A Review of Biological Data in Relation to Oil Spill Sensitivity Mapping, with an Identification of Data Gaps. Copenhagen, Denmark: Greenland Environmental Research Institute, 1992.
  • Crawford, R. E. Life History of the Davis Strait Greenland Halibut, with Reference to the Cumberland Sound Fishery. Winnipeg: Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, 1992.
  • Dr̐ưue , C., and G. Heinemann . 2001. "Airborne Investigation Of Arctic Boundary-Layer Fronts Over The Marginal Ice Zone Of The Davis Strait". Boundary-Layer Meteorology. 101, no. 2: 261-292.
  • Heide-Jorgensen, M P, H Stern, and K L Laidre. 2007. "Dynamics of the Sea Ice Edge in Davis Strait". Journal of Marine Systems : Journal of the European Association of Marine Sciences and Techniques. 67, no. 1: 170.
  • Jones, A G E, and Arthur Credland. 1998. "The Greenland and Davis Strait Trade, 1740-1880". The Polar Record. 34, no. 189: 162.
  • J̐ưrgensen, O, C Hvingel, P M̐ưller, and M Treble. 2005. "Identification and Mapping of Bottom Fish Assemblages in Davis Strait and Southern Baffin Bay". Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 62: 1833-1852.
  • Mallory ML, GJ Roberston, and A Moenting. 2006. "Marine Plastic Debris in Northern Fulmars from Davis Strait, Nunavut, Canada". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 52, no. 7: 813-5.
  • Ross, W. Gillies. Arctic Whalers, Icy Seas Narratives of the Davis Strait Whale Fishery. Toronto, Canada: Irwin Pub, 1985. ISBN 0772515247

External links

Coordinates: 67°00′38″N 058°01′44″W / 67.01056°N 58.02889°W / 67.01056; -58.02889 (Davis Strait)


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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Davis Strait".  Read more