A channel is a broad strait joining two larger areas of water, especially two seas. We can also describe it as a waterway between two landmasses that lie close to each other. Furthermore, we usually use the word channel to refer to natural waterways. Figure The English Channel. Sometimes glaciers that carve out deep canyons between two landmasses create channels.
Sometimes, people create channels by deepening shallow waterways so that large ships can pass through them.
We call these navigation channels. For example, Ambrose Channel in New York Harbor has been artificially deepened so that large ships can enter the harbour from the Atlantic Ocean. The English Channel, which serves as a natural barrier between England and the rest of Europe, is perhaps the most well-known channel.
It is about km long and varies in width from km at its widest to 34 km in the Strait of Dover. A canal is an artificial or man-made waterway that allows ships and boats to travel from one body of water to another, while a channel is a broad strait joining two larger areas of water, especially two seas. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society. Dunn, Margery G. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service.
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Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. To geographers, a sea is a division of the ocean that is enclosed or partly enclosed by land. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger landmasses and separates two bodies of water. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.
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Last Updated Oct. Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. On the flipside, a strait is defined as a strip of water bordered by landmasses, which connects to two large water bodies. In essence, a channel is a wide strait. There are instances where a strait is found within an ocean channel, where it represents the narrowest part of the channel.
A good example is the Strait of Dover, situated in the English Channel. The Strait of Dover is the narrowest point of the English Channel where the channel is 21 miles in width.
The most common process through which ocean channels were formed was the erosion of land by glaciation. Glaciation over thousands of years carved out deep gullies and canyons into the land surface which were later filled with water, forming ocean channels. Some ocean channels are artificially formed, through the dredging or deepening of existing waterways. These channels are formed to facilitate the movement of large ocean vessels in areas of the ocean where initially they could not fit, or as a nautical pathway to guide ships into harbors.
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