TheBellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of theAntarctic Peninsula between 57°18'W and 102°20'W, west ofAlexander Island, east ofCape Flying Fish onThurston Island, and south ofPeter I Island (there the southernVostokkysten).[1] The Bellingshausen Sea borders theEights Coast, theBryan Coast, and the west part of theEnglish Coast inAntarctica. To the west of Cape Flying Fish it joins theAmundsen Sea.
Bellingshausen Sea has an area of 487,000 km2 (188,000 sq mi) and reaches a maximum depth of 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi).[2] It contains the undersea plainBellingshausen Plain.
The Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) is thought to originate in the Bellingshausen Sea as the result of a density front at the shelf break, rather than being wind-driven.[3]
It takes its name fromFabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who explored in the area in 1821.
In the earlyPleistocene Epoch, about 2.15 million years ago, theEltanin asteroid (about 1-4 km in diameter) impacted at the edge of the Bellingshausen sea (at theSouthern Ocean). This is the only known impact in adeep-ocean basin in the world.[4]
References
edit- ^Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Antarctic Gazetteer: Bellingshausen Sea
- ^Gazetteer «About countries»: Bellingshausen (sea)
- ^Thompson, Andrew F.; Speer, Kevin G.; Schulze Chretien, Lena M. (2020-08-28)."Genesis of the Antarctic Slope Current in West Antarctica"(PDF).Geophysical Research Letters.47 (16).Bibcode:2020GeoRL..4787802T.doi:10.1029/2020GL087802.ISSN 0094-8276.
- ^Gersonde, Rainer; F. T. Kyte; T. Frederichs; U. Bleil; H.-W. Schenke; G. Kuhn (2005)."The late pleistocene impact of the Eltanin asteroid into the Southern Ocean – Documentation and environmental consequences"(PDF).Geophysical Research Abstracts.7. 1607-7962/gra/EGU05-A-02449. Retrieved2008-06-22.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from"Bellingshausen Sea".Geographic Names Information System.United States Geological Survey.