Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from Cape Columbia, Canada, in the west to Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland, in the east. The northern limit is defined as the great circle line between those two headlands. It is covered with sea ice throughout the year, the thickest sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, which can be up to 15 m (49 ft) thick. Water depths range from 100 m (330 ft) to 300 m (980 ft). Water and ice from Lincoln Sea empty into Robeson Channel, the northernmost part of Nares Strait, most of the time.
The sea was named after Robert Todd Lincoln, then United States Secretary of War, on Adolphus W. Greely's 1881–1884 Arctic expedition into Lady Franklin Bay.[1]
Alert, the northernmost station of Canada, is the only populated place on the shore of Lincoln Sea.
The body of water to the east of Lincoln Sea (east of Cape Morris Jesup) is Wandel Sea.
Dispute [edit]
A disagreement over a 200-square-kilometre section of the Lincoln Sea emerged in the early 1970s when the Arctic Council was first delineating the offshore boundary north of Canada's Ellesmere Island and Danish-controlled Greenland.
From Canada's point of view, the point of focus in the Lincoln Sea dispute has been Denmark's inclusion of tiny Beaumont Island (not to be confused with Beaumont Island off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica) off Greenland's northwest coast in calculating the boundary. The boundary is determined in that region by an "equidistance" principle that draws the line halfway between points along each country's coastline. Canada has basically argued that the Beaumont "rock" poking out of the waves is too insignificant to be used by Greenland to help determine the international boundary.[2]
This issue however has remained a low-profile irritant in Canadian-Danish relations.
Extent [edit]
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Lincoln Sea as follows:[3]
On the North. Cape Columbia to Cape Morris Jesup (Greenland).
On the South. Cape Columbia through Northeastern shore of Ellesmere Island to Cape Sheridan to Cape Bryant (Greenland) through Greenland to Cape Morris Jesup.
References [edit]
- ^ "Lincoln Sea, a sea in the Arctic Ocean". deepseawaters.com, Phoenix, Arizona. 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Canada, Denmark start talks to resolve border dispute". Edmonton Journal. 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition". International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
Coordinates: 83°N 58°W / 83°N 58°W
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