Cabot Strait

Cabot Strait

Cabot Strait ( _fr. détroit de Cabot) is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, the others being the Strait of Belle Isle and Strait of Canso. It is named for the Genoese explorer Giovanni Caboto.

The strait's bathymetry is varied, with the Laurentian Channel creating a deep trench through its centre, and comparatively shallow coastal waters closer to Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island. These bathymetric conditions have been known by mariners to cause rogue waves. The steep slope of the Laurentian Channel was the site of a disastrous submarine landslide at the southeastern end of the strait, triggered by the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake and leading to a tsunami that devastated communities along Newfoundland's south coast and parts of Cape Breton Island.

A strategically important waterway throughout Canadian and Newfoundland history, the strait is also an important international shipping route, being the primary waterway linking the Atlantic with inland ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.

The strait is crossed daily by the Marine Atlantic ferry service linking Channel-Port aux Basques, and North Sydney. Ferries have been operating across the strait since 1898 and a submarine telegraph cable was laid in 1856 as part of the transatlantic telegraph cable project.

An infamous location in the strait for shipwrecks during the age of sail, St. Paul's Island, came to be referred to as the "Graveyard of the Gulf" (of St. Lawrence)".

On a very clear day, both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland can be seen from the middle of the strait.


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  • Cabot Strait — Die Cabotstraße Die Cabotstraße (engl. Cabot Strait, frz. Détroit de Cabot) ist eine im atlantischen Kanada gelegene Meeresstraße. Sie liegt zwischen Neufundland und der Kap Breton Insel und ist der mit Abstand breiteste der drei Ausgänge, die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cabot Strait — Sp Kãboto sąsiauris Ap Cabot Strait L ŠV Atlante, tarp Keip Bretono s. (N. Škotija) ir Niufaundlando, Kanada …   Pasaulio vietovardžiai. Internetinė duomenų bazė

  • Cabot Strait — a channel in Canada, connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. 68 mi. (109 km) wide. * * * ▪ strait, Canada       channel (60 miles [97 km] wide) between southwestern Newfoundland and northern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,… …   Universalium

  • Cabot Strait — geographical name strait about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide E Canada between SW Newfoundland & Cape Breton Island connecting Gulf of Saint Lawrence with the Atlantic …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Cabot Strait — Cab′ot Strait′ n. geg a channel in Canada, connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. 68 mi. (109 km) wide …   From formal English to slang

  • Cabot Strait — a channel in Canada, connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. 68 mi. (109 km) wide …   Useful english dictionary

  • Cabot, John — orig. Giovanni Caboto born с 1450, Genoa? died с 1499 Italian navigator and explorer. In the 1470s he became a skilled navigator in travels to the eastern Mediterranean for a Venetian mercantile firm. In the 1490s he moved to Bristol, Eng., and,… …   Universalium

  • Strait of Belle Isle — The Strait of Belle Isle ( fr. détroit de Belle Isle (Beautiful Island)), sometimes referred to as Straits of Belle Isle or Labrador Straits) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland,… …   Wikipedia

  • Détroit de Cabot — Die Cabotstraße Die Cabotstraße (engl. Cabot Strait, frz. Détroit de Cabot) ist eine im atlantischen Kanada gelegene Meeresstraße. Sie liegt zwischen Neufundland und der Kap Breton Insel und ist der mit Abstand breiteste der drei Ausgänge, die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot — orig. Elizabeth Cabot Cary born Dec. 5, 1822, Boston, Mass., U.S. died June 27, 1907, Arlington Heights, Mass. U.S. naturalist and educator. She was educated at home, and in 1850 she married Louis Agassiz. She helped organize and manage several… …   Universalium

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