The M'Clure Strait (sometimes rendered McClure Strait) is a strait on the edge of the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Northwest Territories. It forms the northwestern end of the

Parry Channel The Parry Channel ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᐅᑉ ᐃᒪᖓ, ''Tallurutiup Imanga'') is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its eastern two-thirds lie in the territory of Nunavut, while its western third (west of 110� ...

which extends east all the way to Baffin Bay and is thus a possible route for the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

. The strait was named for

Robert McClure Vice-Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish explorer of Scots descent who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the Northwest Passage by boat and sledge, and was the first to ci ...

, an Irish Arctic explorer serving in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. He was the first man to traverse the North-West Passage (by boat and sledge). The strait connects the Beaufort Sea in the west with

Viscount Melville Sound Viscount Melville Sound is an arm of the Arctic Ocean in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and the Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Forming part of the Parry Channel, it separates Victoria Island and Prince of Wales Island from the Qu ...

in the east. It is bounded by

Prince Patrick Island A member of the Arctic Archipelago, Prince Patrick Island is the westernmost of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Northwest Territories of Canada, lying northwest of Melville Island. The area of Prince Patrick Island is , making it the 55th la ...

Eglinton Island Eglinton Island an uninhabited island of the Arctic Archipelago in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Eglinton is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Located at 75°48'N 118°30'W, it measures in size, long and wide in measurements. It lies on ...

and Melville Island on the north and

Banks Island Banks Island is one of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago. Situated in the Inuvik Region, and part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, of the Northwest Territories, it is separated from Victoria Island to its east by the Prince of Wa ...

on the south. As the strait is chronically blocked with thick ice, it is usually impassable to ships; in 1969, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

-registered tanker SS ''Manhattan'' was freed from the ice by a Canadian

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

, and forced to travel through Canadian territorial waters to complete its westward passage. Ice prevented ''Manhattan'' from going through McClure Strait so the vessel sailed through the

Prince of Wales Strait The Prince of Wales Strait is a strait in the Northwest Territories of Canada separating Banks Island to the northwest from Victoria Island to the southeast. It extends from Viscount Melville Sound in the northeast to Amundsen Gulf in the south ...

. There is a dispute between Canada and the United States over the waters of the Arctic Islands, other than those within of shore. The M'Clure Strait became fully open (ice-free) in early August 2007, and again in August 2008. The European Space Agency reported that the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

's Northwest Passage opened up fully sea ice free, clearing a lane through the northern section of the historically impassable route between Europe and Asia. At 15.33Z on August 29, 2012, the purpose-built ''Polar Bound'' under the command of

David Scott Cowper David Scott Cowper is a British yachtsman, and was the first man to sail solo round the world in both directions and was also the first to successfully sail around the world via the Northwest Passage single-handed. Biography Born in 1942, Dav ...

with Jane Maufe as crew, was the first private yacht to pass through the strait. Shortly thereafter, the Hallberg-Rassy sailboat ''Belzebub II'', with three sailors aboard, became the first sailboat to travel the route. The M'Clure Strait lies within the M'Clure Rift which forms the western end of the Parry Submarine Rift Valley. It is considered an incipient

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...

zone because little extensional tectonism has taken place on it and no

oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramafic ...

occurs in the middle of the strait.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:M'clure Strait Straits of the Northwest Territories Straits of the Arctic Ocean Parry Channel

See also

References