Kvarken
Kvarken | |
---|---|
Norra Kvarken, Merenkurkku | |
Location | Finland, Sweden |
Coordinates | 63°30′N 21°00′E / 63.5°N 21°E |
Type | strait |
Part of | Gulf of Bothnia |
Max. length | N-S: 60 km (37 mi)[1] |
Max. width | E-W: 70 km (43 mi)[1] |
Max. depth | 25 m (82 ft)[1] |
Salinity | 4 |
Max. temperature | 16 °C (61 °F)[1] |
Min. temperature | 0 °C (32 °F)[1] |
Islands | 6,550[1] |
Kvarken (Swedish: Kvarken, Norra Kvarken (as opposed to South Kvarken); Finnish: Merenkurkku, lit. 'throat of the sea') is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Swedish mainland to the Finnish mainland is around 80 km (50 mi), while the distance between the outermost islands is only 25 km (16 mi). The water depth in the Kvarken region is only around 25 metres (82 ft). The region also has an unusual rate of land rising at almost 10 mm (0.39 inches) a year.[1]
Several attempts to cross the strait swimming have been made, but cold water and currents have usually been insurmountable obstacles. The first successful crossing was carried out by Lennart Flygare, Pavio Grzelewski and Tore Klingberg, who on 24 July, 2018, swam from Valassaaret (Valsörarna) on the Finnish side to Holmöarna in Sweden. It took them 12 hours 2 minutes to cross the strait.[2]
Kvarken Archipelago
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
---|---|
Location | Gulf of Bothnia, Finland |
Part of | High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago |
Includes |
|
Criteria | Natural: (viii) |
Reference | 898bis |
Inscription | 2000 (24th Session) |
Extensions | 2006 |
Area | 194,400 ha (751 sq mi) |
Website | http://www.kvarken.fi |
Coordinates | 63°18′N 21°18′E / 63.300°N 21.300°E |
On the Finnish side of Kvarken, there is a large archipelago, the Kvarken Archipelago, which includes the large islands Replot, Björkö and over 5,600 smaller islands.[3] Most of it belongs to the municipality of Korsholm. Most of the small islands are inhabited. The archipelago is smaller on the Swedish side of the region, and the islands, part of Umeå Municipality, have much steeper shores. The Kvarken region was historically important also, because mail was delivered across Kvarken when the sea was completely frozen from the Swedish to the Finnish coast. This mail route was used frequently during the period when Finland was a part of Sweden.
During the
In 2006, parts of the Kvarken Archipelago were added as an extension to the World Heritage Site of the High Coast (located on the western shore of the Gulf of Bothnia) in Sweden, because of its outstanding demonstration of isostatic uplift, and the influence of glacial retreat on the evolution of landforms and topography.[3] The most Finnish parts of the High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago World Heritage Site are situated in the Korsholm municipality.
In the group of islands in the “middle” of the Kvarken region, in Swedish called Valsörarna – Finnish Valassaaret, is a 36-metre-high (118 ft) lighthouse designed by Henry Lepaute who worked for Gustave Eiffel's engineering bureau. The structural similarity between the lighthouse (built in 1885) and the Eiffel Tower (built in 1889) is quite obvious. The lighthouse is now automated as are most lighthouses in Finland.
Bridge
There have been proposals for a bridge across the strait, at a cost of about 1.5 to 2 billion
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Metsähallitus (Forest and Park Services) (16 July 2006). The Kvarken Archipelago (PDF). WHC Nomination Documentation (Report). Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ Krainer, Patrick (2018-07-25). "De simmade 26 kilometer over kvarken". Västerbottenskuriren. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ a b c d "High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ Tikkanen, Matti; Oksanen, Juha (2002). "Late Weichselian and Holocene shore displacement history of the Baltic Sea in Finland". Fennia. 180 (1–2). Retrieved 22 December 2017.
External links
- High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago World Heritage Site's official website
- Kvarken World Heritage Site
- UNESCO World Heritage profile
- "The black islands rising from the sea", BBC Travel, 14 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.