We explain what the Bering Strait is, its width and depth. Also, who is it named after and the theories about this place.
What is the Bering Strait?
It is known as the Bering Strait (Bering Yestraitin English) to a portion of sea that extends between the eastern end of the Asian territory (Siberia, Russia) and the northwestern end of the American territory (Alaska), serving as a communicating channel between the Chukotka Sea (to the north) and the sea of Bering (to the south). It has a width of 82 kilometers of cold waters and an average depth of 30 to 50 meters.
The Bering Strait It was named in honor of the Danish explorer Vitus Bering. who in the service of the Russian Empire crossed it for the first time in 1728. It is assumed that the Russian explorer Semyon Dezniov had already crossed its waters in 1648, but that news would not have reached Europe. There were later expeditions by the British James Cook (1778) and Frederick William Beechey (1826).
Inside the strait there are two islands known as the Diomedes Islands: the Lesser Diomedes is North American territory and the Greater Diomedes is Russian territory. The international date line passes between both islands, dividing the strait in two.
Various plans have been proposed to build a bridge connecting the two ends of the Bering Strait, allowing land transit from Asia to America. The initial project was abandoned after the success of the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, but resumed in recent years (2011) as a commercial passage project between the United States, Russia and China, which could include a 200 km long underwater tunnel.
Currently, the Bering Strait area It is a closed military zone which is possible to visit with the appropriate safe passage from the Russian government, which is usually very strict in its control of the region. The only Russian towns nearby are the cities of Anadyr and Provideniya.
See also: South America
Bering Strait Theory
Some theories about the migration of humans from Asia to America in ancient times see a possible answer in the Bering Strait: the low level of the oceans caused by an ice age or glaciation would have exposed a stretch of land joining both continents, through which some human ancestor would have migrated. This natural bridge would be known as the Beringia Bridge.
This would have given rise to human colonization of the American continent and, above all, a parallel evolution with respect to its European and Asian cousins, since as global temperature increased and the ice melted, the ocean would have increased its level and become submerged. the natural bridge between the continents, isolating the American settlers. This theory is still under discussion by various specialists in the field.
References
- “Bering Strait.” Entry in Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia.
- Bering Strait Theory.