GAZ Term "Greenland-Scotland Ridge" (GAZ:00143795)

Term Name	Greenland-Scotland Ridge
Term Accession	GAZ:00143795
Aspect	GAZ
Synonyms (0)	None.
Definition	A ridge that extends from East Greenland to Scotland and below a depth of 840 m it forms a continuous barrier between the North Atlantic and the ocean regions north of the ridge. At higher levels, Iceland and the Faroe Islands divide the ridge into three gaps which have different widths and sill depths. From northwest to southeast the first gap is the fairly wide Denmark Strait with a sill depth of about 620 m. Between Iceland and the Faroe Islands is the Iceland-Faroe Ridge, a broad ridge with minimum depths along the crest of 300-500 m, generally deepening from the Icelandic to the Faroese end. The deepest passages across the Iceland-Faroe Ridge are in the form of four channels, with sill depths between 420 m close to Iceland and 480 m close to the Faroes. Between the Faroes and Scotland the bottom topography is more complex. The relatively broad, deep Faroe-Shetland Channel is blocked at is southwestern end by the Wyville-Thomson Ridge with sill depth around 600 m. The Wyville-Thomson Ridge joins the Scottish shelf at its southern end and at the northern end joins the Faroe Bank rather than the Faroe Plateau and these two are separated by the narrow, deep Faroe Bank Channel with sill depth around 840 m. This channel, which is a continuation of the Faroe-Shetland Channel, thus exceeds all other passages across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge by more than 200 m in sill depth.
Comment	None