Editing Yucatán Channel

{{Short description|Strait between Mexico and Cuba}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Yucatán Channel
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The '''Yucatán Channel''' or '''Straits of Yucatán''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Canal de Yucatán'') is a [[strait]] between [[Mexico]] and [[Cuba]]. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the [[Caribbean Sea]] with the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. It is just over {{convert|200|km}} wide and nearly {{convert|2800|m}} deep at its deepest point near the coast of Cuba.

==Currents==
The Yucatán Channel separates Cuba from the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] of Mexico and links the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. The strait is {{convert|217|km|mi}} across between [[Cape Catoche]] in Mexico and [[Cape San Antonio, Cuba|Cape San Antonio]] in Cuba.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/654543/Yucatan-Channel Britannica]</ref> It has a maximum depth near the Cuban coast of {{convert|2,779|m}}.<ref>[http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Yucatan+Strait Free Dictionary]</ref> Water flows through the Caribbean Sea from east to west. This flow consists of 5 [[Sverdrup|Sv]] of water from the [[North Equatorial Current]] flowing through the [[Windward Passage]] and 12 Sv of water from the [[South Equatorial Current]] which flows along the coast of Brazil. The total flow is about 17 Sv at a temperature of at least {{convert|17|C|F}}. When this water flows past the Yucatán Peninsula it becomes the Yucatán Current.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/caribbean/caribbean.html |title=The Caribbean Current |author1=Gyory, Joanna |author2=Mariano, Arthur J. |author3=Ryan, Edward H. |work=Ocean surface currents |access-date=2013-08-31}}</ref> This current provides most of the inflow of water into the Gulf of Mexico as the amount of water entering by the [[Straits of Florida]] is small and intermittent.<ref name=Gyory/> The Yucatán Current flows strongly on the western side of the channel while the Cuban Countercurrent flows in the opposite direction on the easterly side of the channel. Underneath the Yucatán Current there is a southward-flowing Yucatán Undercurrent which takes water away from the Gulf of Mexico.<ref name=Gyory>{{cite web |url=http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/caribbean/yucatan.html |title=The Yucatan Current |author1=Gyory, Joanna |author2=Mariano, Arthur J. |author3=Ryan, Edward H. |work=Ocean surface currents |access-date=2013-08-31}}</ref>

==Coral reefs==
As the water flowing through the Yucatán Channel enters the Gulf of Mexico, it passes over the [[Campeche Bank]], a shallow area of sea. Here, there are [[coral reef]]s on the outer fringes of the Yucatán shelf about {{convert|100|km}} offshore. The main reef-building corals here are ''[[Acropora cervicornis]]'', ''[[Acropora palmata]]'', and ''[[Montastraea annularis]]'', and in the late 1990s many of these died. Some recolonisation has since taken place.<ref>{{cite book |title=Latin American Coral Reefs |editor-last=Cortés |editor-first=J.  |year=2003 |publisher=Gulf Professional Publishing |isbn=9780080535395 |pages=134–147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLlwoNsqxi0C&q=Yucat%C3%A1n+Channel+fish&pg=PA131 }}</ref> The Campeche Bank is a biodiverse area, and this and other parts of the Yucatán Channel are heavily fished by artisan fishermen who converge on the area from along the coast of Mexico. The area is threatened by overexploitation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wri.org/publication/content/7893 |title=Mexico |author=Jord, E. |work=Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean |publisher=World Resources Institute |access-date=2013-08-31 |archive-date=2013-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508025300/http://www.wri.org/publication/content/7893 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Cuba|Mexico}}
*[[List of straits]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yucatan Channel}}
[[Category:Straits of the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Cuba]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Mexico]]
[[Category:Gulf Coast of Mexico]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of the Gulf of Mexico]]
[[Category:Yucatán Peninsula]]
[[Category:Borders of Mexico]]
[[Category:Borders of Cuba]]
[[Category:International straits]]