Yucatán Channel
The Yucatán Channel or Straits of Yucatán is a strait between Mexico and Cuba. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. The strait is 217 kilometres (135 mi) across between Cape Catoche in Mexico and Cape San Antonio in Cuba.[1] and reaches a maximum depth of 2,779 metres (9,117 ft).[2]
Geography
The Yucatán Channel links the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. Water flows through the Caribbean Sea from east to west. The flow consists of 5 Sv of water from the North Equatorial Current flowing through the Windward Passage and 12 Sv of water from the South Equatorial Current which flows along the coast of Brazil. The total flow is about 17 Sv at a temperature of at least 17°C. When this water flows past the Yucatán Peninsula it becomes the Yucatán Current.[3] This current provides most of the inflow of water into the Gulf of Mexico as the amount of water entering by the Straights of Florida is small and intermittent. The Yucatán Current flows strongly on the western side of the channel while the Cuban Countercurrent flows in the opposite direction on the easterly side of the channel. Underneath the Yucatán Current there is a southward-flowing Yucatan Undercurrent which takes water away from the Gulf of Mexico.[4]
As the water flowing through the Yucatán Channel enter the Gulf of Mexico, it passes over the Campeche Bank, a shallow area of sea. Here there are coral reefs on the outer fringes of the Yucatan shelf about 100 kilometres (62 mi) offshore. The main reef-building corals here are Acropora cervicornis, Acropora palmata and Montastraea annularis and in the late 1990s many of these died. Some recolonisation has since taken place.[5] The Campeche Bank is heavily fished by artisan fishermen who converge on the area from along the coast of Mexico. These reefs are threatened by over exploitation.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Britannica
- ^ Free Dictionary
- ^ Gyory, Joanna; Mariano, Arthur J.; Ryan, Edward H. "The Caribbean Current". Ocean surface currents. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Gyory, Joanna; Mariano, Arthur J.; Ryan, Edward H. "The Yucatan Current". Ocean surface currents. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cortés, J. (ed.) (2003). Latin American Coral Reefs. Gulf Professional Publishing. pp. 134–147. ISBN 9780080535395.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Jord, E. "Mexico". Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean. World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
21°34′42″N 85°54′27″W / 21.57833°N 85.90750°W
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