Falkland Sound
Encyclopedia
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
in the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
. Running south west - north east, it separates West
West Falkland
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
and East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
.
Name
The sound was named by John StrongJohn Strong (mariner)
John Strong was an English mariner.During an expedition from London to South America in 1689–91, commanding the HMS Welfare, he discovered the sound between the two main islands in the Falkland Islands. He named it Falkland Sound for Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland, a part-owner in the Welfare...
in 1690 for Viscount Falkland
Viscount Falkland
Viscount of Falkland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1620 for Sir Henry Cary, although he was actually English and had no connection to Scotland. He was made Lord Cary at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland. His son, the second Viscount, was a prominent statesman...
, the name only later being applied to the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
and its two largest islands. The Spanish name "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers to the ship San Carlos which visited in 1768; confusingly the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
name "San Carlos Water
San Carlos Water
Not to be confused with the San Carlos River.San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound.-Name:...
" is a much smaller inlet on East Falkland - and gives its name to San Carlos
San Carlos, Falkland Islands
San Carlos is a settlement in northwestern East Falkland, lying south of Port San Carlos on San Carlos Water. It is sometimes nicknamed "JB" after a former owner, Jack Bonner.-History:...
, Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos is located on the northern bank of the inlet known as Port San Carlos, off San Carlos Water on the Western coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands...
and the San Carlos River.
Captain John Strong of the Welfare made the first recorded landing on either of the main islands (West and East Falkland) on 29 January 1690, at Bold Cove
Bold Cove
Bold Cove is a small inlet on West Falkland near Port Howard on Falkland Sound, notable for its history. It runs parallel to the northern end of Port Howard, and Peake Ridge forms the west coast...
(near Port Howard
Port Howard
Port Howard is the largest settlement on West Falkland . it is in the east of the island, on an inlet of Falkland Sound...
) just off Falkland Sound.
Geography
Islands in the Falkland Sound include Narrows Island, Great IslandGreat Island, Falkland Islands
Great Island is one of the Falkland Islands. It lies to the west of East Falkland in Falkland Sound. To its north are the Tyssen Islands and to its south Ruggles Island....
, the Tyssen Islands
Tyssen Islands
The Tyssen Islands lie in Falkland Sound, between West Falkland and East Falkland. They lie off Lafonia in East Falkland, and between the Swan Islands and Great Island, Falkland Islands....
and the Swan Islands
Swan Islands, Falkland Islands
The Swan Islands are a small group of islands in the middle of Falkland Sound in the Falkland Islands.-Geography and wildlife:The islands are low-lying, and mainly covered in tussac grass, with the birdlife common to most of the Falkland Islands....
. Eddystone Rock
Eddystone Rock, Falklands Islands
Eddystone Rock is a rock and reef located to the north of Falkland Sound in the Falkland Islands. It is 44 m high. There is a lighthouse here, and it is named after a more famous one of the same name in England.-History:...
is at the northern end of the Sound; the Arch Islands
Arch Islands
The Arch Islands are a group of small islands, off Port Albemarle on West Falkland in the Falkland Islands. They are uninhabited, and accessible only by boat...
are at the southern end.
Settlements on it include Ajax Bay
Ajax Bay
Ajax Bay is a settlement on East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, It is on the north west coast, on the shore of San Carlos Water, a few miles from Port San Carlos. It was mainly a refrigeration plant, and was developed by the Colonial Development Corporation in the 1950s, which was also...
, Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos is located on the northern bank of the inlet known as Port San Carlos, off San Carlos Water on the Western coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands...
and San Carlos
San Carlos, Falkland Islands
San Carlos is a settlement in northwestern East Falkland, lying south of Port San Carlos on San Carlos Water. It is sometimes nicknamed "JB" after a former owner, Jack Bonner.-History:...
on East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
and Port Howard
Port Howard
Port Howard is the largest settlement on West Falkland . it is in the east of the island, on an inlet of Falkland Sound...
and Fox Bay
Fox Bay
Fox Bay is the second largest settlement on West Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is located on a bay of the same name, and is on the south east coast of the island...
on West Falkland
West Falkland
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
.
Inlets and bays on the Sound include: Fox Bay, Port Howard (West Falkland); Grantham Sound
Grantham Sound
Grantham Sound is a bay on East Falkland, Falkland Islands, which opens out into the Falkland Sound. At its landward end, it narrows and becomes Brenton Loch . Mount Usborne overlooks it....
, San Carlos Water, Ruggles Bay (East Falkland)
Geology
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
, which broke from what is now Africa and drifted westwards relative to Africa. During the mid-Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
period (about 170 million years ago) the land fragment that was to become East Falklands and the land fragment that was to become West Falklands rotated about 120° relative to each other. As a result, the fold lines in West Falkland
West Falkland
West Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
run almost north-west to south-east, parallel to the Sound. Those in the northern part of East Falkland
East Falkland
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has an area of and a coastline long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island...
run east-west, forming the eastern part of northern entrance to the Sound and bordering on the northern banks of San Carlos Water
San Carlos Water
Not to be confused with the San Carlos River.San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound.-Name:...
. The boundary between these two land fragments, the Falkland Sound Fault, lies close to and parallel with the western shore of the Sound. Lafonia
Lafonia
Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands.-Geography and geology:Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by a 1.5-mile narrow isthmus; were this isthmus to be severed, Lafonia would be the third...
, which is a much newer formation, has no folds.