View source for Bransfield Strait

{{Short description|Strait in Antarctica}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Bransfield Strait
| other_name         = Fleet Sea
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| image              = Bransfield-Strait.jpg
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| caption            = The strait from [[Livingston Island]], with [[Antarctic Peninsula]] seen on the horizon
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| location           = [[South Shetland Islands]], Antarctica
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| coordinates        = {{Coord|63|S|59|W|source:GNIS}}
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| etymology          = [[Edward Bransfield]], who chartered the [[South Shetland Islands]]
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| length             = {{convert|300|mi|-2}}
| width              = {{convert|100|km|-1}}
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| pushpin_map             = Antarctic Peninsula#Antarctica
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'''Bransfield Strait''' or '''Fleet Sea''' ({{langx|es|Estrecho de Bransfield, Mar de la Flota}}) is a body of water about {{convert|100|km|-1}} wide extending for {{convert|300|mi|-2}} in a general northeast – southwest direction between the [[South Shetland Islands]] and the [[Antarctic Peninsula]].

==History==
[[File:Decepcion u.png|thumb|right|240px|Location of the Bransfield Strait]]
The strait was named in about 1825 by [[James Weddell]], Master, [[Royal Navy]], for [[Edward Bransfield]], Master, RN, who charted the South Shetland Islands in 1820. It is called ''Mar de la Flota'' by [[Argentina]]. On 23 November 2007, the [[MV Explorer (1969)|MS ''Explorer'']] struck an [[iceberg]] and sank in the strait; all 154 passengers were rescued and no injuries were reported.

==Description==
{{See also|Bransfield Basin}}
The undersea [[trough (geology)|trough]] through the strait is known as '''Bransfield Trough''' ({{Coord|61|30|S|54|0|W|}}).  The basin is about 400&nbsp;km long and 2&nbsp;km deep, between the South Shetland Island Arc and the Antarctic Peninsula.  It was formed by [[rift]]ing behind the islands, which began about 4 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Yi | first1 = S. | last2 = Batten | first2 = D. J. | last3 = Lee | first3 = S. J. | year = 2005 | title = Provenance of recycled palynomorph assemblages recovered from surficial glaciomarine sediments in Bransfield Strait, offshore Antarctic Peninsula | journal = Cretaceous Research | volume = 26 | pages = 906–919 | doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2005.06.004}}</ref> Ongoing rifting has caused recent earthquakes and volcanism. The Strait hosts a chain of submerged [[seamount]]s of volcanic origin, including the presently inactive [[Orca Seamount]].<ref>Hatzky, Jörn (2005): The Orca Seamount Region, Antarctica (Sect. 5.5.2). In: Peter C. Wille (ed.), Sound Images of the Ocean in Research and Monitoring, Springer-Verlag Berlin.</ref> However last volcanic activity at Orca Seamount is judged to have occurred in the recent past as there are temperature anomalies in the seawater around the seamount.<ref name=Rodrigoetal2018>{{cite journal |last1=Rodrigo |first1=Cristian |last2=Blamey |first2=Jenny M.|last3=Huhn |first3=Oliver|last4=Provost |first4=Christine |date=2018 |title=Is there an active hydrothermal flux from the orca seamount in the Bransfield Strait, antarctica? |url=http://www.andeangeology.cl/index.php/revista1/article/view/3086 |journal=[[Andean Geology]] |volume=45 |issue=3 |page= 344|doi=10.5027/andgeov45n3-3086 |doi-access=free }}</ref>  [[thermophile|Thermophilic]] and hyperthermophilic microorganisms have been found at the seamount.<ref name=Rodrigoetal2018/> Thermophiles found on the seafloor outside Orca Seamount may indicate that thermal waters of Orca Seamount may travel laterally through [[structural geology|geological structures]] or that currents bring in thermal water from [[Deception Island]], an active volcano.<ref name=Rodrigoetal2018/>

=== Geographic features ===
Nomad Rock is an isolated rock in the strait, {{Cvt|5|nmi|km}} off the north coast of [[Trinity Peninsula]] and {{Cvt|9|nmi|km}} northeast of [[Cape Legoupil]]. So named by [[United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee]] (UK-APC) because of confusion about the identity of geographic points along this coast, and because of the wandering of features and names on charts of this vicinity.<ref name=gnis-NR>{{cite gnis | type = antarid |  access-date = 2015-12-01 | id = 10786 | name = Nomad Rock}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

The Zélée Rocks are a group of rocks, some of which are above water and others near the surface, lying in Bransfield Strait {{Cvt|17|nmi|km}} north of [[Prime Head]], the north tip of [[Antarctic Peninsula]]. They were discovered by the [[Jules Dumont d'Urville#Second voyage of Astrolabe|French expedition]] of 1837–40, under Captain [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]], and named by him after one of the expedition's ships, the [[corvette]] ''Zélée''.<ref name=gnis-ZR>{{cite gnis | type = antarid |  access-date = 2015-12-01 | id = 16931 | name = Zélée Rocks}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Antarctic Specially Protected Area==
[[File:Chaenocephalus aceratus.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Blackfin Icefish]]
An area of relatively shallow marine waters of about 1021&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, off the western and southern coasts of [[Low Island (South Shetland Islands)|Low Island]], has been designated an [[Antarctic Specially Protected Area]] (ASPA 152) because it is one of only two known sites near the [[United States]]’s [[Palmer Station]] suitable for [[bottom trawling]] for fish and other [[benthos|benthic organisms]]. Fish have been collected from the site by scientists from Palmer Station since the early 1970s, and it is recognised as an important [[Spawn (biology)|spawning ground]] for several species, including [[Notothenia coriiceps|Black Rockcod]] and [[Chaenocephalus aceratus|Blackfin Icefish]].<ref name=ats>{{cite web |url= http://www.ats.aq/documents/recatt/Att428_e.pdf|title= Western Bransfield Strait |access-date=2013-10-02 |work=Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 149: Measure 10, Annex|publisher=Antarctic Treaty Secretariat |year=2009}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{usgs-gazetteer|id=1839}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bransfield Strait}}
* [http://media.marine-geo.org/image/ocean-floor-map-rifting-within-bransfield-strait-2008 Bathymetric map of the Bransfield Straight, Antarctic Peninsula, showing zone of active rifting and volcanism].

{{South Shetlands}}
{{Antarctic Specially Protected Areas}}
{{Antarctica topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Straits of Graham Land]]
[[Category:Landforms of Trinity Peninsula]]
[[Category:Antarctic Specially Protected Areas]]