Bellingshausen Sea
The Bellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, west of Alexander Island, east of Cape Flying Fish on Thurston Island, and south of Peter I Island (there the southern Vostokkysten).[1] In the south are, from west to east, Eights Coast, Bryan Coast and English Coast (west part) of West Antarctica. To the west of Cape Flying Fish joins Amundsen Sea.
Bellingshausen Sea has an area of 487,000 km² and reaches a maximum depth of 4470 meters.[2]
It takes its name from Admiral Thaddeus Bellingshausen, who explored in the area in 1821.
In the late pliocene, about 2.15 million years ago, the Eltanin asteroid impacted here. This is the only known impact in a deep-ocean basin in the world.[3]
References
- ^ Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Antarctic Gazetteer: Bellingshausen Sea
- ^ Gazetteer «About countries»: Bellingshausen (sea)
- ^ Gersonde, Rainer (2005). "The late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin asteroid into the Southern Ocean – Documentation and environmental consequences" (PDF). Geophysical Research Abstracts. 7. 1607-7962/gra/EGU05-A-02449. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
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External links
This article incorporates public domain material from "Bellingshausen Sea". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
71°S 85°W / 71°S 85°W
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