Scotia Sea
| Scotia Sea | |
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Tabular iceberg in the Scotia Sea, 1996.
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| Coordinates | 57°30′S 40°00′W / 57.500°S 40.000°WCoordinates: 57°30′S 40°00′W / 57.500°S 40.000°W |
| Type | Sea |
| Ocean/sea sources | Southern Ocean |
| Surface area | 900,000 km2 (347,500 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 5,576 m (18,294 ft) |
The Scotia Sea is a sea located at the northern edge of the Southern Ocean at its boundary with the South Atlantic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Drake Passage and on the north, east and south by the Scotia Arc, an undersea ridge and island arc system supporting various islands. The sea sits atop the Scotia Plate.
The Scotia Sea is the area of water between the Drake Passage, Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. These island groups all sit atop the Scotia Arc, which frames the sea on the north, east, and south. The Scotia Sea covers an area of about 900,000 km2 (347,500 sq mi). About half of the sea stands above the continental shelf.
Named in about 1932 after the Scotia, the expedition ship used in these waters by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902–04) under William S. Bruce. The most famous traverse of this frigid sea was made in 1916 by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five others in the adapted lifeboat James Caird when they left Elephant Island and reached South Georgia two weeks later.
In Argentina, the Scotia Sea is considered part of an area known as the Mar Argentino, and several territories claimed but not occupied by Argentina, such as South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, lie within this region.
On 20 August 2006 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck at 1:41 a.m. local time (0341 GMT). The exact location was 61.011°S, 34.375°W at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi) with a USGS event ID of "usrqal." On 17 November 2013 at 8:04 a.m. local time (1004 UTC) another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 struck the unpopulated Islands.
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