Today we will talk about the Hudson's Bay. It is part of the Arctic Ocean and is also adjacent to the Atlantic.
Geographical position
Hudson Bay on the map is not at all difficult to find. It is enough to know where Canada is located. The Hudson Bay is washed by 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 the 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, you can select several of the largest islands located in its waters: Southampton, Mansel, Cotes, Salisbury, Nottingham and others. A number of rivers flow into the bay: Churchill, Theron, Severn, Nelson, Hayes, Unisk and others.
Hudson Bay: Description
Thanks to fresh rivers flowing into the bay, the salinity of its surface water is only 27 ppm (for comparison, this indicator in the Arctic Ocean is at 34 ppm). Hudson's Arctic cold waters circulate counterclockwise. The tide in the west of the bay often reaches eight meters, in the north it 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
We figured out where the Hudson's Bay is located, now we offer to find out what its coast is. It should immediately be noted that its landscape is very diverse. So, in the north between the cities of Churchill and Inukjuak, the fjord dominates, characterized by a large number of elongated bays and bays that 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 James Bay, it is surrounded by denudation landslide shores, which are very dangerous for ships.
Origin
The waters of the Hudson's Bay got its modern look thanks to the huge glaciers, under the weight of which a part of the mainland in the northeast was much bent. After they melted, which happened about eight thousand years ago, the vacant place turned out to be a flooded ocean. As a result of the fact that this process lasted a very long time, it led to the formation of large reservoir-accumulative plains. The only exception is the Ungawa Peninsula, located in the northeast of the bay, which is a plateau.
Climate
Practically the entire Hudson's Bay, with the exception of its southern part, is located in the permafrost zone and is characterized by tundra soils and ice islands extending outward. In the south, peat bogs are spread. Hudson Bay belongs to the Arctic and subarctic deserts of the Subpolar region, passing into the tundra. And only James Bay is in the zone of temperate continental climate.
The average temperature in January is minus 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 high pressure is formed, and in the North Atlantic - a cyclone, as a result, strongest icy winds reign over the Hudson Bay throughout the winter.
History
The first of the European mariners who ended up in the Hudson Bay was Sebastian Cabot. This happened during the expedition headed by him in 1506-1509, the purpose of which was to search for a passage to India. After a whole hundred years, in 1610, an English navigator named Henry Hudson visited the eastern coast of the bay , after which this part of the water area was later named. Two years later, an expedition led by Thomas Button explored the west coast of the bay. Then the Nelson River and a whole series of geographical objects were discovered. Colossal research work was carried out by Thomas James in 1931. His name was later named the southeastern part of the bay. At the same time, the expedition of Lul Fox was also here. Starting in 1670, the Hudson Bay itself, as well as the surrounding area, began to be surveyed and developed by the Hudson's Bay Company. This corporation today is one of the oldest and largest in the world.
An interesting fact about the Hudson's Bay
Scientists conducted a study in 1960 of the gravitational field of the Earth, have come to an unexpected conclusion that gravity is not the same throughout the planet. It turned out that there are places where its level is lower, in particular, not far from the coast of the Hudson's Bay. In this regard, it is safe to say that this geographical object is unique in all senses of the word.