Laurentian Fan
The Laurentian fan or Laurentian abyss is an underwater depression off the eastern coast of Canada in the Atlantic Ocean.[1] Not a trench, but more of an "underwater valley", it is estimated to be at most ~19,685 feet (3.7 miles; 6.0 km) in depth. The Laurentian fan is a product of glaciation and water currents from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.[2] It is part of the Laurentian cone region, bound by the Laurentian Channel and the Sohm Abyssal Plain.
The fan is the site of hydrothermal vents with their own sub ecosystems independent of sunlight.[3]
The approximate coordinates are 43°40′N 56°10′W / 43.667°N 56.167°W.
In popular culture
- The Laurentian Abyss was the covert rendezvous point for Soviet and American submarines in the 1990 technothriller film The Hunt for Red October. The location, however, was a departure from the original 1984 novel by Tom Clancy.
- The abyss appears in the Transformers live-action film where Megatron's dead body is dumped after he was killed by Sam Witwicky. Incorrectly, it states the Laurentian abyss is the deepest point on earth; rather this is Challenger Deep, a part of the Mariana Trench. The abyss is seen again in the sequel Revenge of the Fallen where the Decepticons come to revive Megatron.
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ "Geography of the Ocean and the Structure of Planet Water". The Ocean. MarineBio.org. 2007-05-21. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ^ Information gathered via a phone interview with Dr. Norm Catto of Memorial University - August 15, 2008
- ^ Dover, C. L. V. (2000). The Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. USA: Princeton University Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-691-04929-8. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
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