Yatsushiro lake

Yatsushiro Lake Shiranuhi Lake
Yatsushiro lake
Waters	East China Sea
Land mass	Kyushu
Geographical location	32 ° 21 ′  N , 130 ° 26 ′  E Coordinates: 32 ° 21 ′  N , 130 ° 26 ′  E
width	15 km
length	70 km
Greatest water depth	50 m

The Yatsushiro Sea ( Japanese 八 代 海 Yatsushiro-kai ) is a bay in the Pacific Ocean near the Japanese island of Kyūshū .

Another name is Shiranuhi Lake ( 不知 火海 , Shiranuhi-kai ), also called Shiranui Lake , which refers to the nocturnal luminous phenomena - the characters mean "unknown lights". These come from mirages of lights that are used to attract fish ( isaribi ).

The chemical company Chisso discharged industrial waste containing mercury into the water, which in 1956 led to the occurrence of Minamata disease .

geography

In the west there are two straits with the East China Sea , where the sea area is also called Amakusa-nada ( 天 草灘 ) at this point :

• Kuro-no-seto ( 黒 之 瀬 戸 , 32 ° 5 ′ 50 ″  N , 130 ° 10 ′ 20 ″  E ) between Kyūshū and Nagashima, which is 350 m wide at its narrowest point, as well
• Nagashima-kaikyō ( 長島 海峡 ) or Nagashima-seto ( 長島 瀬 戸 , 32 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  N , 130 ° 5 ′ 0 ″  E ) between Nagashima and Shimoshima.

In the northwest, the bay is bounded by the Amakusa Islands and in the north by the Uto Peninsula ( 宇 土 半島 , Uto-hantō ). Beyond these two lies the Ariake Sea , to which there is a connection via the following straits:

• Hondo-seto ( 本 渡 瀬 戸 , 32 ° 26 ′ 15 ″  N , 130 ° 12 ′ 30 ″  E ) between Shimoshima and Kamishima, which is 50 m wide at its narrowest point;
• Michigoe-no-seto ( 満 越 ノ 瀬 戸 , 32 ° 32 ′ 50 ″  N , 130 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  E ) between Kamishima and Ōyano-jima;
• Sankaku-no-seto ( 三角 ノ 瀬 戸 , 32 ° 37 ′ 0 ″  N , 130 ° 27 ′ 20 ″  E ) between Ōyano-jima and the Uto Peninsula.

In the northeast is the Yatsushiro plain ( 八 代 平野 , Yatsushiro-heiya ), in which the city of Yatsushiro is located, otherwise the east coast is characterized by the Kyūshū Mountains ( 九州 山地 , Kyūshū-sanchi ). There is another level in the south.

The extension is 15 kilometers in east-west and 70 kilometers in north-south direction. In addition, the bay is comparatively shallow with a depth of 50 meters.

Communities

The prefectures and parishes on the coast counted clockwise from the west are:

• Kumamoto Prefecture
  • Amakusa
  • Kami-amakusa
  • Uki
  • Hikawa
  • Yatsushiro
  • Ashikita
  • Tsunagi
  • Minamata
• Kagoshima Prefecture
  • Izumi
  • Akune
  • Nagashima

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 熊 本 古今 東西 ・ 天 草 地域 編 . (No longer available online.) Kumamoto Prefecture, formerly the original ; Retrieved October 24, 2011 (Japanese).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
2. ↑ 不知 火 . In: kotobank.jp, Hyakka Jiten Mypedia, Digital Daijisen. Retrieved October 24, 2011 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ 1. 八 代 海 の 概況 、 海域 特性 に つ い て . (PDF; 243 kB) Ministry of the Environment , accessed on October 13, 2013 (Japanese, names according to the national land surveying authority , the names of which differ from those in the linked document.). 
4. ↑ In the real sense (to which the coordinates refer), Michigoe-no-seto refers to a narrow 200 m wide waterway between Ōyano-jima and the offshore island of Nagaura-jima. In the document of the linked Ministry of Environment, however, the entire 2–4 km wide body of water between Ōyano-jima and Kamishima is referred to.
5. ↑ ^{a b} 産業 技術 総 合 研究所, 地域 地盤 環境 研究所, 東海 大学 : 沿岸 海域 に お け る 活 断層 調査 布 田 川 - 日 奈 久 断層 帯 ／ 中部 ・ 南 西部 （海域 部） 成果 報告 書 . (PDF) May 2011, p. 9 , accessed on October 24, 2011 .