Bering strait
The Bering Strait (English: Bering Strait; Russian: Берингов пролив, romanized or transliterated as Beringov proliv) is an inlet located between the eastern tip of Asia (Siberia) (Uelen) and the northwestern tip of America (Alaska) (Tin City). Its waters connect the Chukotka Sea, to the north, with the Bering Sea, to the south. Its width is 82.7 km between the vicinity of Cape Dezhnev on the Chukchi Peninsula in Russia, which is the easternmost point (169° 39' W) of the Asian continent, and the vicinity of Cape Prince of Wales, in Alaska, United States, which is the westernmost point (168° 07' W) of the North American subcontinent.
The name was given in honor of Vitus Bering, the Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Empire who crossed it in 1728.
Since at least 1562, European geographers suspected that an Anian Strait existed between Asia and North America. In 1648 Semyon Dezhnev probably passed through the strait, but his story did not reach Europe. The region in which it is found is called Beringia. According to the most accepted theory, human beings migrated from Asia to America passing through this strait, due to the low level of the oceans possibly caused by glaciation, where the glaciers -perhaps by retaining a large amount of water masses- left exposed a extensive part of the seabed, both in the current strait and in the shallow waters located to the north and south of it. This view of how paleoamericans entered the Americas has been the dominant one for several decades and remains the most widely accepted. Since the early XX century, numerous successful voyages without the use of a ship have been recorded.
Since 2012 the Russian coast of the Bering Strait has been a closed military zone. Through organized trips and the use of special permits, it is possible for foreigners to visit. All arrivals must be through an airport or cruise port, near the Bering Strait only in Anadyr or Provideniya. Unauthorized travelers who reach shore after crossing the strait, even those with visas, can be arrested, temporarily imprisoned, fined, deported, and barred from future visas.
Geography
The Bering Strait connects the Bering Sea (an arm located in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean) with the Chukotka Sea (an arm located in the southern part of the Arctic Ocean). It has a width of about 82.7 km, with a depth of between 30 and 50 meters.
The narrowest part, about 82 km, is between Cape Dezhneva, the eastern tip of the Chukchi Peninsula in Russia, and Cape Prince of Wales, the western tip of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. Between both capes are the Diomede Islands: Greater Diomede belongs to Russia and Lesser Diomede belongs to the US. Between the two islands passes the international date line, which is located in the middle of the strait.
Population
This area is sparsely populated.
The east coast belongs to the US state of Alaska. Notable cities straddling the strait include Nome (pop. 3,788) and the small settlement of Teller, Alaska (pop. 229).
The western coast belongs to the Chukotka Autonomous District, a federal subject of Russia. The main towns that straddle the strait include Lorino (pop. 1,267) and Lavrentiya (pop. 1,459).
The Diomede Islands lie halfway in the strait. The community in Diómedes Lesser has a school that belongs to the Bering Strait School District (BSSD) in Alaska.
History
Bering Bridge
The Bering Strait is part of a region called Beringia, populated by ancient cultures from Northwest Alaska and Far East Siberia, which, although separated by water and belonging to different continents, have a common language and traditions, and depend on the same environmental setting.
According to the most currently accepted theory, the Amerindians descend from groups of hunter gatherers of Siberian origin who migrated to America through the Beringia bridge, formed during a brief period of the last ice age (Würm or Wisconsin), due to the descent of the ocean level. It is also fully proven that, at that time, many animals from both continents crossed the bridge in both directions.
Discovery and exploration
The first consensus-based crossing of the Bering Strait by a European was made by the Russian navigator Semyon Dezhnev in 1648 during his voyage along the Arctic coast, although he did not document it or make it public in his moment.
In 1728 the strait was discovered, explored and studied by the Danish navigator in the service of Russia, Vitus Bering.
Later, it was further explored by British navigators James Cook (1778) and Frederick William Beechey (1826).
There are several theories that consider some earlier crossings of the strait, based on the supposition of the existence of the Strait of Anián —in itself, part of a myth— reinforced with written testimonies, sometimes late, other times exaggerated, but which they shed light on the possibility that such voyages did take place. the time when they drew the maps of the region.
A recent investigation by the Institute of Almerian Studies, published in 2021, maintains, however, that Ferrer Maldonado from Virgitano indeed crossed the strait in 1588, although he did not report his crossing until years later. The investigation, carried out by Alfonso Viciana Martínez-Lage and Valeriano Sánchez Ramos, has compared data provided by Maldonado, such as the description of geographical features, reports of fauna, flora and specific routes, with the data currently known.
There are also theories about crossings of the strait by different Russian navigators and even Vikings, but none would be considered a discovery, since it is from Bering when it is reported, explored and drawn by cartographers, leading to its inclusion on the world map and, therefore, to its subsequent use for maritime navigation between the two continents.
Proposal for a tunnel
Main article Bering Strait Union Project.
The physical link between Asia and North America across the Bering Strait almost came to fruition in 1864, when a Russian-American telegraph company began preparations for a land telegraph line linking Europe and America across the east. It was abandoned due to the success of the transatlantic telegraph cable.
In 1906 the French engineer Baron Loicq de Lobel made a new proposal to build a bridge-and-tunnel link between Siberia and Alaska. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issued an order authorizing a Franco-American union represented by de Lobel to begin work on the Alaskan Trans-Siberian Railroad project, but no work on the construction of the railroad was ever started.
Suggestions have been made to build a Bering Strait bridge between Alaska and Siberia. However, despite unprecedented engineering, political, and financial challenges, Russia gave the green light to the $65 million TKM-World Link tunnel project in August 2011. If completed, the 103-kilometre project would be the longest in the world. China is considering the construction of a China-Russia-Canada-America railway line, which would include the construction of a 200 km-long underwater tunnel that would cross the Bering Strait.
Proposal for a dam
In 1956, the then-Soviet Union proposed to the United States a joint binational project to warm the Arctic Ocean and melt part of the ice cap. As designed by Petr Borisov, the Soviet project called for a 90 km wide dam across the Bering Strait. It would prevent the cold Pacific current from entering the Arctic. By pumping cold, low-salinity surface water through the dam into the Pacific, warmer, saltier water from the Atlantic Ocean would be introduced into the Arctic Ocean. However, citing national security concerns, CIA experts and the FBI opposed the Soviet plan, arguing that while the plan was feasible, it would endanger NORAD and therefore the dam could only be built at great cost. Soviet scientist D. A. Drogaytsev also opposed the Soviet plan. the idea, stating that the sea north of the dam and the north-flowing rivers in Siberia would become unnavigable year-round and would extend the Gobi and other deserts to the northern coast of Siberia.
American Charles Proteus Steinmetz proposed widening the Bering Strait by removing St. Lawrence Island and parts of the Seward and Chukotka peninsulas. A 200-mile-wide strait would allow the Kuroshio Current to join the Arctic Ocean.
Another dam was also proposed in the 21st century century, but the goal of the proposal was the preservation of the Arctic polar cap against global warming.
Cold War
During the Cold War, the Bering Strait marked the border between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Diomede Islands – Greater Diomede (Russia) and Lesser Diomede (USA) – are only 3.8 km away. Traditionally, the area's indigenous peoples had frequently crossed the border back and forth for "routine visits, seasonal festivals, and subsistence trade," but were prevented from doing so during the Cold War. The border became known as the "Cortina de Hielo". It was completely closed and there was no regular passenger traffic by air or ship. In 1987 American swimmer Lynne Cox helped symbolically ease tensions between the two countries by swimming across the border, and she was congratulated jointly by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Air, tourist and maritime traffic has resumed since 1990, but is hampered by the need for visas (and special permits for military visits) requested by the US authorities and their Russian counterparts.
Additional bibliography
- Bathsheba Demuth (2019) Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-35832-2.
- Oliver, James A. (2007). The Bering Strait Crossing (in English). Information Architects. ISBN 978-0-9546995-6-7. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- «Russia Plans World's Longest Undersea Tunnel» (in English). Daily Tech. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Consultation on 11 January 2008.
Several authors (1910-1911). «Encyclopædia Britannica». In Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Encyclopædia Britannica. A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, and General information (in English) (11th edition). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; currently in public domain.