Washington Strait
| Washington Strait | ||
|---|---|---|
| Connects waters | Scotia Lake | |
| with water | Weddell Sea | |
| Separates land mass | Fredriksen Island and Powell Island ( South Orkney Islands ) | |
| of land mass | Laurie Island and several smaller islands ( South Orkney Islands ) | |
| Data | ||
| Geographical location | 60 ° 42 ′ 0 ″ S , 44 ° 54 ′ 58 ″ W | |
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| Smallest width | 5 km | |
The Washington Strait is a 5-km wide strait in the archipelago of the South Orkney Islands . It separates Fredriksen Island and Powell Island in the west from Laurie Island and several smaller islands in the east.
The American sealer captain Nathaniel Palmer and his British counterpart George Powell discovered the strait in December 1821 while exploring the South Orkney Islands together. According to the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names and the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee , the likely namesake is George Washington (1732–1799), the first President of the United States .
Web links
- Washington Strait in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
- Washington Strait on geographic.org (English)