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Strait of Belle Isle

 
Dictionary: Belle Isle, Strait of
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A channel between southeast Labrador and northwest Newfoundland, Canada. It is the northern entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Strait of Belle Isle
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Channel, eastern Canada. The northern entrance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is 90 mi (145 km) long and 10 – 20 mi (16 – 32 km) wide. It flows between the northern tip of Newfoundland and southeastern Labrador and is the most direct route from the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes ports to Europe. The cold Labrador Current flows through the strait, extending the period of ice cover and limiting shipping to between June and late November.

For more information on Strait of Belle Isle, visit Britannica.com.

US Military Dictionary: Belle Isle
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A Confederate military prison in the James River at Richmond, Virginia. Belle Isle became a prison after First Bull Run (1861). There were no barracks, only tents designed to hold about 3, 000 prisoners, although the prison eventually held more than twice that many. Belle Isle was in the middle of the rapids of the James River, making escape dangerous. Most who tried drowned.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Strait of Belle Isle
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Belle Isle, Strait of (bĕlīl'), c.35 mi (60 km) long and from 10 to 15 mi (16-24 km) wide, between the island of Newfoundland and Labrador-Ungava peninsula, Canada. The northern entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is deep and free of rocks and shoals; ice blocks it from November to June. There is a strong tidal current. The tiny rock island Belle Isle (700 ft/213 m high), at the Atlantic entrance, has a lighthouse and is the first land sighted by ships from Europe.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet duc de Belle-Isle
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Belle-Isle, Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de (shärl lwē ōgüst' fūkā' dük də bĕl-ēl'), 1684-1761, marshal of France and diplomat; grandson of Nicolas Fouquet. His support of the claims of Charles of Bavaria (Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII) was in part responsible for France's entry into the War of the Austrian Succession. The war's outcome made him unpopular, although his masterly retreat from Prague had saved the French army from surrender (1742-43). As minister of war (1758-61) he did much to reorganize the army.
Wikipedia: Strait of Belle Isle
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The Strait of Belle Isle (French: détroit de Belle Isle (Beautiful Island)), sometimes referred to as Straits of Belle Isle or Labrador Straits) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The strait is approximately 125 kilometres long and ranges from a maximum width of 60 km to just 15 km at it narrowest, the average width being 18 km.

Strait of Belle Isle
Strait of Belle Isle

Navigation in the strait can be extremely hazardous with strong tidal currents interacting with the Labrador Current, depths reaching several hundred metres in places, sea ice for 8-10 months of the year, and variable weather conditions including gales and fog.

The strait is the northern outlet for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the other two being the Cabot Strait and Strait of Canso. As such, it is also considered part of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system. While sea ice prevents year-round shipping, the Canadian Coast Guard maintains a vessel traffic service (VTS) to ensure collisions do not occur.

The name is derived from Belle Isle (Beautiful Island), located at the extreme eastern end of the strait and roughly equidistant between Table Head, Labrador, and Cape Bauld, Newfoundland.

A seasonal ferry service operates at the western part of strait between St. Barbe, Newfoundland, and Blanc Sablon, Quebec. New road construction for the Trans-Labrador Highway resulted in the removal of ferry services to outports in the northeastern part of the strait in 2002.

The idea of building a fixed link across the strait between Labrador and Newfoundland, known as the Newfoundland-Labrador fixed link, has been raised numerous times in recent decades following an unsuccessful attempt to build a tunnel carrying electrical wires in the mid-1970s. If such a link were built, it would likely be a 17-km-long submerged rail tunnel. The proposal is meant to reduce the province's reliance upon the Marine Atlantic ferry service to Nova Scotia, but the project's high costs and lack of suitable road network between Labrador and Quebec have been cited as major obstacles. The October 2003 provincial election resulted in the newly elected PC government announcing joint federal-provincial funding for a study of the concept, which was promptly derided by The Economist. [1]

References

Further reading

  • Auger, Réginald. Labrador Inuit and Europeans in the Strait of Belle Isle From the Written Sources to the Archæological Evidence. Collection Nordicana, no 55. Québec, Canada: Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, 1991.
  • Bailey, W. B., and H. B. Hachey. Hydrographic Features of the Strait of Belle Isle. St. Andrews, N.B.: Atlantic Oceanographic Group, 1951.
  • Bock, Allan. Out of Necessity The Story of Sealskin Boots in the Strait of Belle Isle. Shoal Cove East, Nfld: GNP Craft Producers, 1991.
  • Bostock, H. H., L. M. Cumming, and Harold Williams. Geology of the Strait of Belle Isle Area, Northwestern Insular Newfoundland, Southern Labrador, and Adjacent Quebec. Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1983. ISBN 0-660-10608-6
  • Dawson, W. Bell. The Currents in Belle Isle Strait, the Northern Entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, No. 1-2, January-April, 1920. Philadelphia: The Society, 1920.
  • Jeffers, George W. Observations on the Cod-Fishery in the Strait of Belle Isle. Toronto: Biological Board of Canada, 1931.
  • LeGrow, Keith Herbert. Distribution of Marine Birds in Relation to Water Masses and Fronts in the Strait of Belle Isle, Northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. ISBN 0-612-54902-X
  • May, A. W. Biological Data on Cod from the Summer Fishery on the North Shore Strait of Belle Isle. [Ottawa]: Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 1968.
  • McGhee, Robert, and James A. Tuck. An Archaic Sequence from the Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador. Mercury series. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1975.
  • Murphy, Joe. The Strait of Belle Isle Fixed Link. 2004.
  • Ney, C. H. Triangulation in Newfoundland, West Coast and Strait of Belle Isle. Ottawa: Edmond Cloutier, 1948.
  • Sobieniak, J. W. A Study of Air Services Across the Strait of Belle Isle. Ottawa: Canadian Transport Commission, Systems Analysis Branch, 1972.

Coordinates: 51°43′51″N 55°25′25″W / 51.73083°N 55.42361°W / 51.73083; -55.42361


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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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
US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, 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
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 "Strait of Belle Isle".  Read more