/ / Hudson Bay: description, location and history of the study

Hudson Bay: description, location and history of the study

Today we will talk about the Hudson Bay. It is a part of the Arctic Ocean and is also adjacent to the Atlantic.

hudson bay

Geographical position

Гудзонов залив на карте найти совсем не сложно.Enough to know where Canada is located. Hudson's Bay washes the shores of four provinces of this country - Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Nunavut. The bay is connected to the Labrador Sea through the Hudson Strait, and to the Arctic Ocean through Fox Bay. Its water area has an area of ​​1.23 million square kilometers, and the average depth is 100 meters, sometimes reaching 300 meters. Considering the Hudson Bay on the map, it is possible to identify several of the largest islands located in its waters: Southampton, Mansel, Cotes, Salisbury, Notingham and others. A number of rivers flow into the bay: Churchill, Theron, Severn, Nelson, Hayes, Uinisk and others.

hudson bay on map

Hudson Bay: description

Thanks to the fresh rivers that flow into the bay,its surface water salinity is only 27 ppm (for comparison, this indicator in the Arctic Ocean is at 34 ppm). Hudson’s Arctic cold waters circulate in a counterclockwise direction. The height of the tide in the west of the bay often reaches eight meters, in the north is four to six meters, and in the east it does not exceed a couple of meters. The flat and sandy bottom of the water area is a classic shelf, that is, a continental platform filled with water.

Coast

With where is Hudson Bay, wefigured out, now we offer to find out what is its coast. Immediately it should be noted that its landscape is very diverse. So, in the north between Churchill and Inukjuak dominated by the fiord, characterized by a large number of elongated coves and bays deeply cut into the land, the coast. The southern part of the coastline is leveled and belongs to the abrasion type with estuaries and estuaries. As for the James Bay, it is surrounded by very dangerous for ships ships denudation crumbling shores.

where is hudson bay

Origin

Свой современный вид акватория Гудзонова залива received thanks to the huge glaciers, under the weight of which much of the continent in the northeast. After they melted, what happened about eight thousand years ago, the vacant space was flooded by the ocean. As a result of the fact that this process lasted for a very long time, it led to the formation of large reservoir-accumulative plains. The only exception is the Ungava peninsula, located in the northeast of the bay, which is a plateau.

Climate

Virtually the entire Hudson Bay, exceptits southern part, is located in the permafrost zone and is characterized by tundra soils and ice islands emerging outside. In the south, there are peatlands. Hudson Bay refers to the zone of the Arctic and Subarctic deserts of the Circumpolar, turning into the tundra. And only James Bay is located in the zone of temperate continental climate.

The average temperature in January here isminus 30 degrees Celsius, and in July plus 10 degrees. This climatic zone has the following peculiarity: in the northwestern part of the continent an area of ​​increased pressure is formed, and in the North Atlantic a cyclone, as a result, throughout the winter, the strongest icy winds reign over the Hudson Bay.

Hudson Bay washes the shores

History

Первым из европейских мореплавателей, оказавшихся in the Hudson Bay, was Sebastian Cabot. This happened during the expedition of 1506-1509 led by him, the purpose of which was to search for a passage to India. After a hundred years, in 1610, an English mariner named Henry Hudson visited the east coast of the bay, after whom this part of the water area was later named. Two years later, an expedition led by Thomas Button explored the western shore of the bay. Then the Nelson River and a number of geographical features were discovered. Colossal research work conducted and Thomas James in 1931. His name was later called the south-eastern part of the bay. At the same time, the expedition of Lula Fox also visited here. Starting in 1670, the Hudson Bay itself, as well as the adjacent territory, began to be surveyed and developed by the Hudson Bay Company. This corporation today is one of the oldest and largest in the world.

Interesting fact about the Hudson Bay

Scientists who conducted research in 1960gravitational field of the Earth, came to the unexpected conclusion that gravity is not the same throughout our planet. It turned out that there are places where its level is lower, in particular, not far from the coast of Hudson Bay. In this regard, it is safe to say that this geographical feature is unique in all senses of the word.