Beagle channel
The Beagle Channel is a channel, strait or maritime passage located in the southern tip of South America, which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It is located at the height of parallel 55° south, between meridians 71° and 66° west. It extends approximately 240 kilometers along the southern coast of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, from its junction with the Cockburn Channel at the western or Pacific entrance to Cape San Pío at its eastern mouth in the Atlantic, separating the island Large of the southern and southeastern islands of the Fuegian archipelago.
The entire western zone of the canal is entirely and totally within Chile, while the eastern zone is shared by Chile and Argentina (Argentina to the north and Chile to the south) forming the border between both countries.
This Fuegian canal, which takes various names along its route, is divided into three parts: the western, central, and eastern parts. The western part is made up of the Brecknock, Ballenero and O'Brien canals and Darwin Sound up to the block of Garibaldi Sound. The central part is made up of the Northwest arm and the Southwest arm and the same from Divide Point to Murray Channel. The eastern part is the one that runs from the Murray Channel to Cape San Pío.
Between the meridians 68°36'38.5" W and 66°25'00" Or the channel constitutes the international border between Argentina and Chile. The boundary runs almost through the center of the canal, making the necessary inflections to ensure navigation through its own waters for each party.
Administratively, the Argentine sector belongs to the Ushuaia department of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida and Islas del Atlántico Sur, while the Chilean sector belongs to the Cabo de Hornos commune of the Chilean Antártica province and to the Reserve of the Cape Horn Biosphere, which is part of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic region. The western sector of the canal is located within the Alberto de Agostini National Park.
History
The Yagan canoers were the primitive inhabitants of the coasts of the Beagle Channel. It was called by them Onashaga channel (in Yagan language: 'channel of the onas')
Discovery
The name Beagle was given in homage to the British ship HMS Beagle, which carried out a hydrographic survey of the coasts of the southern part of South America between 1826 and 1830, integrating the expedition that was Commanded by Phillip Parker King. In April 1830, while HMS Beagle was anchored in Orange Bay, its commander Robert Fitz Roy sent navigation officer Lieutenant M. Murray to inspect the northern part of Nassau Bay. This officer discovered a narrow pass, which was later named after him the Murray Channel, which emptied into a straight channel, about two miles or more in breadth, running from east to west as far as the eye could see. That channel was called Beagle.
On the second voyage of HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, was the naturalist Charles Darwin, who had his first sight of a glacier when he reached the Beagle Channel on the 29th of January 1833, and wrote in his notebook: Many beryl blue glaciers, the most beautiful contrast with the snow.
Beagle Conflict
The controversy between Argentina and Chile regarding the sovereignty of the Beagle Channel islands was resolved by the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1984. The agreement was reached through the mediation of Pope John Paul II after Argentina declared null and void the 1977 British Queen's arbitration award, which had been requested by both countries to resolve the dispute, putting them on the brink of war. Regarding the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel, both countries relied on the writings of its discoverers to affirm their respective positions. Captain King expressed in 1832 in his book Sailing Directions for the coasts of Eastern and Western Patagonia:
To the north of Lennox Island is the eastern opening of the Beagle Channel.
Translation: North of the island Lennox is the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel.
In the Argentine opinion, north King refers to true geographic north, which corresponds from Punta Navarro to Picton Pass, between Navarino and Picton islands, from where the channel emptied in Oglander Bay, located to the geographic north of Lennox.
In the Chilean opinion north refers to magnetic north, then located about 20° east of true north, so the eastern mouth would correspond from Punta Navarro to the bay Moat, located between the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego and the Picton and Nueva islands, until it empties into the open sea on the line that joins Punta Jesse (in Tierra del Fuego) and the Eastern tip of Isla Nueva.
Of the two arms, the Picton arm is deeper than Moat Bay (called Moat Channel by Argentina). The arbitral court considered that it was not its responsibility to establish which of the arms was the true course that its discoverers attributed to the Beagle, but rather that it had to establish which was the course referred to in the 1881 treaty, which it deduced corresponded to the one indicated in the charts. by Captain Fitz Roy, the only cartography of the area at the time, which he demonstrated was the Moat arm, thus granting Chile all the islands located to the south of that arm. The arbitral court interpreted that Argentina was of the opinion that the Beagle Channel from Navarro Point continued through the Picton Pass and then continued southwest through the Goree Channel between Navarino and Lennox Islands, to flow into Nassau Bay on the line that joins María Point. (in Navarino) with a Guanaco point (in Lennox), an interpretation that Argentina mentioned among the reasons why it declared the arbitration award insanely null.
Tour
In its journey of approximately 200 miles in which it takes different names, it separates the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego from the South and Southeast islands within the Fuegian archipelago.
The following are the names that the canal takes on its journey from west to east with its main characteristics and the main islands that are in its path.
Western part
Brecknock Canal
It is the westernmost part of the Beagle Channel. It measures about 28 miles long, its course being quite winding. It extends from the western end of Aguirre Island, where it joins Cockburn Channel, to the western entrance to Bahía Desolada.
Its northern shore is formed by the southern coast of the Brecknock peninsula and Aguirre and Brecknock islands. Its southern shore is made up of the islands of the Camden group, the main ones being Astrea, London and Sydney.
For about 6000 years its waters were traversed by the Kawésqar and Yámana people, nomadic canoeists and marine collectors, which lasted until the middle of the century XX, when they had practically been extinguished by the action of the white man.
Whaler Channel
The Whaling channel, at its western entrance, widens forming the great inlet called Bahía Desolada and extends for more than 32 miles in an east-southeast direction. It ends to the east in front of Redondo Islet, which is near the south coast of O'Brien Island, continuing east as O'Brien Channel.
Its north shore is formed by the south coast of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego; in which deep troughs and estuaries are formed. This part is covered by a single and immense sheet of ice that spills over the valleys in gigantic snowdrifts that reach the sea; the spectacle is grandiose, but desolate. Its southern shore is formed for the most part by Stewart Island.
O'Brien Channel
The channel runs between the south coast of O'Brien Island and the north coast of Londonderry Island. From its western entrance as a continuation of the Whaling channel in the Redondo islet, it extends for about 10 miles to its terminus at the American tip, at the eastern end of O'Brien Island, where it begins its passage through Darwin Sound.
The width of the channel at its eastern entrance is 1 mile, which is later reduced to only 3 cables due to the presence of some rocks and islets that remain until its terminus in front of the Redondo islet.
The depth of its waters is considerable, even in the narrowest parts and since the course does not present important changes, nor are the currents significant, its navigation, although it requires attention, is safe for ships.
Sine Darwin
The Darwin Sound is a large body of sea whose limits are to the North the coast of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, between the Ventisquero and Garibaldi Sounds, in an extension of approximately 14 miles; to the south Darwin and Thomson islands and to the west O'Brien Island, the group of Timbales and Londonderry Island. Near the center of the sound is Chair Island.
The following channels flow into its contours: on the west side the O'Brien and Pomar channels, to the east the Northwest arm and to the south the Barros Merino and Thomson channels.
Middle part
Northwest Arm
Its western entrance, where it joins Darwin Sound, is 3 miles wide, tapering to 0.5 miles at its eastern mouth, between Devil's Island and Divide Point, eastern end of Gordon Island. Its length is approximately 30 miles.
Its general direction is successively to the East and to the East-Southeast. It is bordered by high, steep mountains that drop almost vertically into the sea. The waters are deep and clean. The currents are quite sensitive and produce violent reversals when they meet those that come from the Southwest arm.
The ravines and valleys that separate the mountains are covered by immense snowdrifts that descend to the sea. The slopes of the mountains are covered by a dense, vigorous and lush vegetation that contrasts with the whiteness of the snowdrifts. In these forests the ñirre predominates.
Southwestern Arm
The channel runs in a general direction 256° between two parallel mountain ranges about 1000 meters high from Gordon and Hoste Islands. Its width varies between 3 cables and a mile. Its length is approximately 32 miles.
Its eastern mouth is between Devil's Island and Divide Point, eastern end of Gordon Island, and its western outlet is marked by Cape Kekhlao of Hoste Island and empties into Cook Bay, facing open waters of the Pacific ocean.
The tidal currents are very strong and produce numerous ripples and reversals.
Middle part
What is called the central part of the Beagle Channel extends in a general direction 255° - 075° for about 30 miles from Gordon Island eastward to opposite the Ushuaia peninsula. Its width is 1.5 miles and its waters are clean and deep.
The north coast of the channel, made up of the southern part of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, is high, with the French peak and the Las Pirámides and Martial mountains standing out. Two large bays are formed on this coast: Yendegaia and Lapataia.
The south coast, made up of the north coast of Hoste Island, is much lower, with hills that jut out from the Sampaio Mountains. The coast is quite indented and sinuous but without significant bays. Its waters are dirty.
This section of the Beagle Channel was discovered in April 1830 by Lieutenant M. Murray, navigation officer of HMS Beagle, a ship that under the command of Commander Robert Fitz Roy was anchored in Orange Bay carrying out survey work Entrusted to the English expedition sent under the command of Commander Parker King to the southern region of America by the British Admiralty.
Eastern part
Canal map - eastern part
Eastern part
The Beagle Channel in its eastern part runs between the south coast of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and the north coasts of the Navarino, Picton and Nueva islands. Its general direction is West-East for 45 miles to the meridian of Snipe Island, when it turns southeast to go out to the sea in the Austral Zone to the east, between Cape San Pío and Punta Orejas on New Island.
The eastern sector of this section, which has an average depth of 70 m and is called Moat pass in some publications, only since the last period of the 19th century has it become the most used by boats, when navigation of the steam, in itself or as a complement to the sail. The Argentine-Chilean international border runs through it, in addition to the fact that maritime traffic passes through it from the Atlantic to the ports of the Beagle or the Pacific.
- Step Picton
The Picton Pass is a sea channel that runs between Navarino Island and Picton Island. It opens to the Southeast from the waters of the Beagle located to the west of the islands and islets that precede the Ganado del Noroeste point of Picton Island. It is deeper than Moat Pass (with averages greater than 100 m). Picton Pass was the arm most used since its discovery and during the days of sailing, as it was more sheltered from the strong local winds than the northern one. Charles Darwin noted it in Diary of a Naturalist's Voyage Around of the world or The Voyage of the Beagle. Today it has fallen into disuse except when, from the middle section of the Beagle Channel, the objective is to reach Lennox Island, the Cape Horn archipelago or Antarctica.
- Industry Islands
Within the channel there are numerous islands that give birth to the slums. In front of the Ushuaia bay there is a large group of islands and islets in which the Bridges Islands and the Eclaireurs islets stand out; further east, Gable Island narrows the width of the channel, forming Mackinlay Pass.
Main bathing islands
Among the main islands with coasts bathed by the Beagle are:
Big Island of Tierra del Fuego
It is the largest island in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. It extends north of the Beagle Channel, from the Cockburn Channel to Cape San Pío. It has the shape of a great triangle, with a height of 140 miles, on the meridian of Punta Anegada, by 240 miles of base.
It is shared by Argentina and Chile. 29,484.7 km² located in its western sector belong to Chile, which represent 61.43% of the total insular surface, while the remaining 18,507.3 km² located in the eastern part belong to Argentina, which They represent 38.57% of the island's total.
London Island
It is the largest of the Camden group and its outline and relief are very irregular. It has a Northwest-Southeast orientation with a length of 8 miles in that direction and a width greater than 2 miles.
In the northwestern part stands the San Pablo peak, with an elevation of 734 m a.s.l. no. m. and in the southeast part the Horacio peak, 488 m s. no. m..
On its northwest side runs the Brecknock Channel, on the east the Pratt Pass that separates it from Sydney Island, on the south and west the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Stewart Island
It has a West-East orientation, with a length of 20 miles in that direction and 7 miles at its greatest width. It is high and has a very irregular relief.
It has some very characteristic summits and peaks, such as Cerro Yunque (551 m a.s.l.), Stewart Peak (871 m a.s.l.), Cerro Puntiagudo (681 m a.s.l.) and Doble Peak (645 m s.n.m.). Between its mountains there are ravines and deep valleys that reach the sea, where they form bays and estuaries that are not suitable as anchorages due to their great depths.
On its north side runs the Ballenero canal; to the West Desolate Bay; Adventure Pass separates it from Londonderry Island to the East and the Gilbert Islands to the South.
Londonderry Island
It has a West-East orientation with a length of 25 miles in that direction and 9 miles at its greatest width. Its coast has very irregular contours. On its periphery are many bays and peninsulas that make it look like a group of islands.
Very irregular relief, it has mountains with altitudes of up to 731 m s. no. m.. In the mountains of the western sector there are several glaciers.
The Ballenero and O'Brien canals run along its north side; to the East the Thomson Channel separates it from Darwin, Thomson and Hoste Islands; to the south it is bathed by the open waters of the Pacific Ocean; and to the west Adventure Pass separates it from Stewart Island.
O'Brien Island
It has a West-East orientation, with a length of 13.5 miles in that direction and 5.5 miles at its greatest width. Like the entire region that surrounds it, it is very mountainous and forested.
The island divides the Beagle Channel into two branches, the Pomar and O'Brien channels, which run the first on its north side and separates it from the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and the second on the south side and that separates it from Londonderry Island.
On its south side there are summits and peaks that measure between 600 and 1000 m s. no. m., being especially notable for its appearance and height Mount Ghost, 677 m s. no. m..
On its north coast are the Almeida port and the Ballenas port. On the south coast is the Canales cove and the Fantasma spout.
Gordon Island
It is located on the eastern side of Darwin Sound, dividing the Beagle Channel into two passages called the Northwest arm and the Southwest arm, which run through the North and South of the island, respectively. The Southwest Arm empties into the open waters of the Pacific Ocean at Cook Bay, which is why this route is not recommended for navigation. On the other hand, the Northwest arm is, which also forms the continuation of the Beagle Channel from Darwin Sound to the east.
It has a West-East orientation, with a length of 28 miles in that direction and 9.5 miles at its greatest width. It resembles an isosceles triangle with its base facing west. It is mountainous and ends in the East at Punta Divide, which, like a wedge, gives rise to the aforementioned channels. In its eastern sector there is an unnamed peak of 1584 m s. no. m..
Two deep inlets are formed on its north coast, the Tres Brazos and Romanche bays. On the south coast only Fleuriais Bay is located.
Hoste Island
This is one of the islands with the largest area of the Fuegian archipelago and one of those with the largest coastline or perimeter, due to its special configuration formed by five main peninsulas: Cloué, Rous, Hardy, Pasteur and Dumas, among which the sea penetrates deeply, forming inlets and bays of various dimensions and directions.
It is very mountainous, with peaks that exceed altitudes of 1000 m a.s.l. no. m., which are covered with ice and snow, also forming large snowdrifts, especially on the Cloué peninsula.
To the west is Cook Bay; on the north side run the Southwest arm and the Beagle channel; to the east the Murray Channel, Ponsonby Sound and Nassau Bay; and, finally, to the south it faces the open waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Navarino Island
This large island is 46 miles long in the West-East direction, and 22 miles wide in the North-South direction. It is mountainous and of irregular relief; in its interior it is covered with forests and its coasts are low, with pastures that allow the raising of sheep.
In it is the Wulaia cove, which in ancient times was a meeting place for the Yámana people. Puerto Williams, on its northern shore, is the capital of the province.
On its north side runs the Beagle Channel, on the east the Picton and Goree Passages separate it from Picton and Lennox Islands, on the south is Nassau Bay and on the west the Murray Channel separates it from Hoste Island.
Picton Island
Picton Island is part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, located in the southern region of Chile. It is about 11 miles long in a northwest-southeast direction by about 4 miles at its widest.
The Beagle Channel runs along its north and east coasts, which separates it from Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and Isla Nueva; to the south, Oglander Bay separates it from Lennox Island; and to the West the Picton Pass separates it from Navarino Island.
Administratively it belongs to the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, of the Chilean Antarctic Province, in the Cabo de Hornos commune.
From approximately 6000 years ago until the middle of the XX century its coasts and interior valleys were inhabited by the Yámana.
New Island
Isla Nueva is part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, located in the southern region of Chile. It measures about 8 miles long in a West-East direction by 5.5 miles from North to South.
It forms the southern part of the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel. Richmond Pass separates it from Picton and Lennox Islands.
Administratively it belongs to the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, of the Chilean Antarctic Province, in the Cabo de Hornos commune.
From approximately 6000 years ago until the middle of the XX century, its coasts and interior valleys were inhabited by the Yámana.
Riverside populations
In Argentina
- Ushuaia. This city is the capital of the Ushuaia Department and the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands.
View of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. - Port Almanza. Small town in front of Puerto Williams.
In Chile
- Port Williams. This city, located on the northern coast of Navarino Island, is the capital of both the Cape Horn and Antarctic Communes Group and the Chilean Antarctic Province.
Puerto Williams in 1957. - Puerto Toro. Located on the East Coast of Navarino Island, on the Picton Pass.
Physiographic features
Due to its physiographic features, it has been characterized as a coastal, longitudinal and concordant channel. It extends for 280 km, in a general West-East direction, linking the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, from the end of the so-called Southwest arm, which forms Rafagales Bay, to its north eastern mouth, in the Cape San Pio.
Both in its western and eastern portions, the canal has several entrances, arms or mouths, which make it easier for ships to access it from various directions or to navigate from it to different sources.
- Width
The average width of the Beagle Channel is a little more than 2 nautical miles. It has two maximum narrows: in the eastern area the Mackinlay pass, about 7.5 cables (1.3 km), and in the western area the Punta Divide area, where it is only 3.5 cables wide.
Oceanographic features
The Beagle Channel shares the biological and hydrographic characteristics of the Pacific Ocean, a position that is held by the Chilean government, which considers it an arm of that ocean within the framework of the theory of the natural division of the oceans. According to the official position of the Argentine government, postulated within the framework of the bioceanic principle, the Beagle Channel is an interoceanic passage that does not belong to any ocean. For the International Hydrographic Organization, which does not rule on the actual belonging to a certain ocean of the maritime sectors into which he divided the world, for the purpose of standardizing maritime publications, he attached the maritime straits and channels to the only ocean, implicitly including the Beagle Channel on his maps as part of the Pacific, but without assigning it its own entity as an arm of sea.
- Deep
The greatest depths occur in the western zone, from the Murray channel towards its western arms, where around 300 m were sounded. In the middle zone (in front of Ushuaia) it is between 150 and 200 m. The lowest depths occur in Mackinlay Pass, between Gable Island and Navarino, with only 14 m.
Geological origin
The origin of the channel dates back to the last phases of the Quaternary glaciations, as a result of the advance of a glacier that descended from the Darwin mountain range and advanced through a longitudinal valley; Later, due to the post-glacial retreat, it was invaded by the sea. There are various features that attest to these geological processes; Among them, the "U" shaped cross section stands out, with the berm visible, as well as the presence of lateral moraines and rocky islands polished by ice.
Biodiversity
Its waters are included in the canals and fjords of southern Chile marine ecoregion. becoming the typical culinary dish of the region.
Due to its ornithological richness, the Beagle Channel area is classified as one of the important areas for the conservation of birds in Argentina.
The challenge of crossing the channel
On March 2, 2020, the Chilean Bárbara Hernández became the first woman to swim across the canal: she covered the 9.4 kilometers in 1 hour 55 minutes in waters with an average temperature of 7.9 degrees Celsius.
Used bibliography
- E. Lucas Bridges (1952). The Last Trust of Earth. Buenos Aires - Argentina: Emecé Editores S.A.
- Alberto de Agostini (1956). Thirty years in Tierra del Fuego. Buenos Aires - Argentina: Editions Preuser.
- Military Geographical Institute (1970). Atlas of the Republic of Chile. Santiago - Chile - Instituto Geográfico Militar. Second edition.
- Instituto Hidrográfico de la Armada de Chile (1974). Atlas Hidrográfico de Chile. Valparaíso - Chile - Instituto Hidrográfico de la Armada. First edition.
- Incafo, S.A. (1982). Chile and its national parks. Madrid - Spain - La Naturaleza en Iberoamérica. 84-85389-35-2.
- Isidoro Vázquez de Acuña García del Postigo (2004). Naval History of the Kingdom of Chile 1520-1826. Salesian Printer S.A. 956-12-1664-7.
- Instituto Hidrográfico, Armada de Chile (1958). Derrotero de la Costa de Chile Volume V (4 edition). Navy Hydrographic Institute.
- King, P. P. (1839), FitzRoy, Robert, ed., Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the first expedition, 1826-30, under the command of Captain P. Parker King, R.N., F.R.S. I, London: Henry Colburn.
- FitzRoy, R (1839), FitzRoy, Robert, ed., Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831-36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N. London: Henry Colburn. I, London: Henry Colburn.
- Magellan, Region (2018). Government of Chile - Magellan Region. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
Contenido relacionado
Lulu (opera)
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Symphony No. 1 (Dvořák)