The Yucatán Channel or Straits of Yucatán (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Canal de Yucatán'') is a strait between

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

with the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. It is just over wide and nearly deep at its deepest point near the coast of Cuba.

Currents

The Yucatán Channel separates Cuba from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and links the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. The strait is across between Cape Catoche in Mexico and Cape San Antonio in Cuba. It has a maximum depth near the Cuban coast of . Water flows through the Caribbean Sea from east to west. This flow consists of 5 Sv of water from the

North Equatorial Current The North Equatorial Current (NEC) is a westward wind-driven current mostly located near the equator, but the location varies from different oceans. The NEC in the Pacific and the Atlantic is about 5°-20°N, while the NEC in the Indian Ocean is v ...

flowing through the

Windward Passage The Windward Passage (french: Passage au Vent; es, Paso de los Vientos) 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. ...

and 12 Sv of water from the

South Equatorial Current The South Equatorial Current are ocean currents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean that flow east-to-west between the equator and about 20 degrees south. In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it extends across the equator to about 5 degr ...

which flows along the coast of Brazil. The total flow is about 17 Sv at a temperature of at least . When this water flows past the Yucatán Peninsula it becomes the Yucatán Current. 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 The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait ( es, Estrecho de Florida) is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between t ...

is small and intermittent. 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.

Coral reefs

As the water flowing through the Yucatán Channel enters the Gulf of Mexico, it passes over the

Campeche Bank Campeche Bank is part of the Gulf of Mexico and extends from the Yucatan Straits in the east to the Tabasco-Campeche Basin in the west.Campeche Bankin Geonames.org (cc-by)/ref> The Campeche ocean bank is from Mexico's geography of Campeche na ...

, a shallow area of sea. Here, there are

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s on the outer fringes of the Yucatán shelf about offshore. The main reef-building corals here are ''

Acropora cervicornis The staghorn coral (''Acropora cervicornis'') is a branching, stony coral with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimetres to over two metres in length and height. It occurs in back reef and fore reef environments from depth. The upper ...

'', ''

Acropora palmata Elkhorn coral (''Acropora palmata'') is an important reef-building coral in the Caribbean. The species has a complex structure with many branches which resemble that of elk antlers; hence, the common name. The branching structure creates habit ...

'', and ''

Montastraea annularis ''Orbicella annularis'', commonly known as the boulder star coral, is a species of coral that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean and is the most thoroughly studied and most abundant species of reef-building coral in the Caribbean to date. It a ...

'', and in the late 1990s many of these died. Some recolonisation has since taken place. 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.

References

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

Currents

Coral reefs

See also

References