Windward Passage
Template:Short description Template:Infobox body of water Windward Passage (Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti.<ref name="Riley-2006">Template:Cite thesis</ref> Template:Convert wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth of Template:Convert.
With Navassa Island on its southern approach, it connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and is in the direct path of shipping between the Panama Canal and the eastern seaboard of the United States.<ref name="Riley-2006" /> From either the eastern tip of the Guantánamo Province of Cuba, or the western tip of Haiti's Nord-Ouest Department, it is possible to see lights on the other side of the Windward Passage.<ref>Lapidus, Benjamin L. "Stirring the Ajiaco: Changüí, Son, and the Haitian Connection." In Cuban Counterpoints: The Legacy of Fernando Ortiz, edited by Mauricio A. Font and Alfonso W. Quiroz, 237-45. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2005.</ref>
Territorial disputeEdit
For decades, Cuba and Haiti had disputes over where the maritime boundary between the two nations was. In 1977, they settled by signing the Cuba–Haiti Maritime Boundary Agreement setting the official boundary.
GeologyEdit
The Septentrional-Oriente fault zone passes through the Windward Passage from the southern coast of Cuba to the northern coast of Hispaniola. During the Holocene the slip rate between these two islands was Template:Convert/year. The Septentrional Fault extends east at least to the still active Mona Rift in the Mona Passage, where extension occurs between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The last rupture of this fault occurred in 1842; the resulting earthquake and tsunami devastated Cap Haitien. Considerable seismic hazard continues to exist on this fault:
The Windward Passage region was studied in detail by a voyage of the EV Nautilus in August 2014, assisted by the ROV Hercules.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This expedition provided measurements of water circulation through the straight, as well as observations of animal life on the deep continental shelf.