Messier Channel is a

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

located in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It trends north–south between Wellington Island and other Pacific islands and the continent, and is bounded on the north by the

Gulf of Penas The Gulf of Penas (''Golfo de Penas'' in Spanish, meaning "gulf of distress") is a body of water located south of the Taitao Peninsula, Chile. Geography It is open to the westerly storms of the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the la ...

. Southward the name of this inside passage changes first to ''

Angostura Inglesa English Narrows (Spanish ''Angostura Inglesa'') is a contracted passage in Messier Channel in the southwestern coast of Chile. Here it is only wide, but it presents no great difficulty or danger (excepting to very long vessels) unless a vessel go ...

'' (English Narrows) and then to '' Paso del Indio''. The channel is named after

Charles Messier Charles Messier (; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the ''Messier objects''. Messier's purpose f ...

, who was a French astronomer. It is a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

in the Scandinavian sense of the word. A depth of 1,358 m has been measured in the north part of this channel, making it one of the deepest fjords in the world. Messier Channel is surrounded by the

Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Bernardo O'Higgins National Park () is the largest of the protected areas in Chile, covering an area of in both the Aysén and Magallanes and Antártica Chilena regions. Management of this and other national parks in Chile is entrusted to the ...

and the

Katalalixar National Reserve Katalalixar National Reserve is a natural reserve located in an archipelago between Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and Northern Patagonian Ice Field in Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region of Chile. The reserve was created in 1983 ...

. The Fallos- Ladrillero-

Picton Channel ''Picton Channel'' (Spanish: ''Canal Picton'') is a waterway in the Magallanes Region of Chile that continues southward the Ladrillero Channel, and it runs between the Chipana Island (east) and Mornington Island (Chile) (west). With the Ladrille ...

combination is an optional route to the Messier-

Grappler Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a Grappling position, position or causing ...

Wide Channel Wide Channel is an inside passage of the Chilean Patagonia. It is long, extending northward from the junction of Concepción Channel and Trinidad Channel, to Saumarez Island. The channel is located at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage ...

s route between the

Golfo de Penas The Gulf of Penas (''Golfo de Penas'' in Spanish, meaning "gulf of distress") is a body of water located south of the Taitao Peninsula, Chile. Geography It is open to the westerly storms of the Pacific Ocean, but it affords entrance to several nat ...

and the

Trinidad Channel Trinidad Channel is a channel in Chile that leads to seaward from the northern end of Concepción Channel, is exceedingly useful to pass out to the Pacific ocean from the Patagonian Channels in case it is desirable to avoid the possible delay occ ...

. Just north of Angostura Inglesa (English Narrows), is the wreck of MV ''Capitán Leonidas'', a small freighter that ran aground on the Bajo Cotopaxi (Cotopaxi Bank) in 1968. The hulk provides warning as both a shipwreck and

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

(NGA-nr: 2068, Adm.: G 1552).

References

Past Glaciations and "Little Ice Ages"Multilingual substratum and superstratum in the toponymy of the south of Chile
(Spanish)
Piret et al. (2017) - Gridded bathymetry of the Baker-Martinez fjord complex (Chile, 48°S) v1
Straits of Chile Bodies of water of Aysén Region Bodies of water of Magallanes Region {{MagellanAntarctic-geo-stub

See also

References