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Abra Channel
Abra Channel (Spanish ''Canal Abra'', formerly ''Sea Shell Channel'') is one of the three channels which connects Magellan Strait with the Pacific Ocean (Others are Bárbara Channel and Magdalena Channel). It is located between the Santa Inés Island and the ''Jacques Island'' and ends at the Otway Bay. An incomplete examination by the ''Sylvia'' showed it to be a fine navigable passage, but no anchorages were found. It may possibly be of service to a vessel embayed in Otway Bay, enabling her to run into the strait. Abra Island, which stands in the center of the eastern entrance, is 300 feet high and covered with vegetation. The entrance is 2 miles wide, but it soon narrows to 1 mile. A rock with a depth of 1.5 fathoms on it, and well marked with kelp, lies in the fairway of Abra Channel, with center of Maycock Island bearing 305°, distant 0,75 mile, and summit of Francis Island 32°. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote: :''We called it the opening (Abra) because we can't see its t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magellan Strait
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the strait is approximately long and wide at its narrowest point. In 1520, the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the strait is named, became the first Europeans to discover it. Magellan's original name for the strait was ''Estrecho de Todos los Santos'' ("Strait of All Saints"). The King of Spain, Emperor Charles V, who sponsored the Magellan-Elcano expedition, changed the name to the Strait of Magellan in honor of Magellan. The route is difficult to navigate due to frequent narrows and unpredictable winds and currents. Maritime piloting is now compulsory. The strait is shorter and more sheltered than the Drake Passage, the often stormy open ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), the Pacific Ocean is the largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere and covers approximately 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area ().Pacific Ocean . ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the Land and water hemispheres, water hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere, as well as the Pole of inaccessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bárbara Channel
Bárbara Channel (Spanish ''Canal Bárbara'') is one of the three channels which connects Magellan Strait with the Pacific Ocean (Others are Abra Channel and Magdalena Channel). It is located between the Santa Inés Island and the Clarence Island and ends at the Otway Bay, having the same entrance into the Pacific as Cockburn Channel, runs in a north direction along the west side of Clarence Island. The United States Hydrographic OfficeSouth America Pilot(1916) states: :''Barbara Channel, leading into Magellan Strait at English Reach, has its southern entrance so encumbered with islands and rocks that no one direct channel can be specially recommended, and the chart must be referred to as the best guide for its navigation. For small vessels there is neither danger nor difficulty; and there are numerous anchorages that they may reach without trouble. The rocks off the entrance of this channel should be passed only during daylight and in clear weather, so that a vessel may be stee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magdalena Channel
350px, The channel is visible in the lower left corner. Magdalena Channel () is a Chilean channel joining the Strait of Magellan with the Cockburn Channel and is part of a major navigation route which ultimately connects with the Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I .... It separates Capitán Aracena Island from the westernmost portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, and crosses Alberto de Agostini National Park. It is flanked by mountains, the chief of which is Monte Sarmiento. Like the Abra Channel and the Bárbara Channel farther west, it joins the western part of the Strait of Magellan directly to the Pacific Ocean. It is located at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage: . See also * Fjords and channels of Chile * List of fjords, ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Inés Island
Santa Inés Island () is an island in southern Chile, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and of Punta Arenas municipality, lying south west of the Brunswick Peninsula, from which is separated by the Strait of Magellan and minor islands. It is the largest island of Punta Arenas municipality and the third largest of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, after Isla Grande and Hoste Island. Its shoreline in this area is part of the Francisco Coloane Marine and Coastal Protected Area. The rest of the island is a part of the Alacalufes National Reserve, equalling that Desolación Island and the ''Córdova Peninsula''. This latter is located in front of the island on the other side of the Strait of Magellan and is a peninsula of Riesco Island. The island belongs to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The island hosts a small ice field named Grandes Ventisqueros. It has a deeply indented coastline with several fjords, one of which hid the German light cruiser Dresden following the bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fathom
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. Historically it was the maritime measure of depth in the English-speaking world but, apart from within the US, charts now use metres. There are two yards (6 feet) in an imperial fathom. Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms, the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard. Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around . Etymology The term (pronounced ) derives (via Middle English ''fathme'') from the Old English ''fæðm'', which is cognate with the Danish word ''favn'' and means "embracing arms" or "pair of outstretched arms". It is maybe also cognate with the Old High German wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pedro Sarmiento De Gamboa
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish adventurer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. He was named the governor of the Strait of Magellan by King Philip II of Spain, Philip II in 1580. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, where his paternal family originated, or Alcalá de Henares in Castile (historical region), Castile, where he later is known to have studied . His birth year is also uncertain however it is believed that he was born between 1530 and 1532. His father Bartolomé Sarmiento was born in Pontevedra and his mother María Gamboa was born in Bilbao, Basque Country (historical territory), Basque Country. Biography Early life At the age of 18, Sarmiento de Gamboa entered the royal military in the European wars. Between 1550 and 1555 the future navigator fought in the armies of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Charles V. In 1555 he began his exploring career, sailing across the Atlant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office (USHO) prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transferred to the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949. The office was abolished on 10 July 1962, replaced by the Naval Oceanographic Office. Objectives Before the hydrographic office was established in 1866, U.S. navigators were almost entirely dependent on British charts. A few private enterprises had prepared and published charts, but had not been able to do so profitably. The Hydrographic Office was established "for the improvement of the means for navigating safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine, by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators and manuals of instructions for the use of all vessels of the United States, and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straits Of Chile
A strait is a body of water, water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the flow somewhat. In some straits there is a dominant directional current. Most commonly, the strait is a narrowing Channel (geography), channel that lies between two land masses. Straits are loci for sediment accumulation, with sand-size deposits usually occurring on the two strait exits, forming subaqueous fans or deltas. Some straits are not navigable because, for example, they are too narrow or too shallow, or because of an unnavigable reef or archipelago. Terminology The terms ''channel (geography), channel'', ''pass'', or ''passage'' can be synonymous and used interchangeably with ''strait'', although each is sometimes differentiated with varying senses. In Scotland, ''firth'' or ''Kyle'' are also sometimes used as synony ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
