Hawk Channel is a shallow, elongated basin and navigable passage along the Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys. The channel makes up a smaller portion of the Florida Platform from Key West to the southernmost point of Key Biscayne and lies between the Keys and the Florida Reef Tract to the southeast.[1] It connects the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean through tidal exchanges crossing from the Florida Bay to the Straits of Florida. [2][3][4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Key_West-Marathon%2C_FL%2C_FL%2C_USA_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg/293px-Key_West-Marathon%2C_FL%2C_FL%2C_USA_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg)
It extends roughly 230 km (200 nautical miles; 143 statute miles) from Fowey Rocks, off Key Biscayne, to Sand Key, off Key West. Its width ranges from approximately 10 km (5 nautical miles; 6 statute miles) to ¼ of a mile wide at its narrowest part.[5][6] It varies in depth from 7 to 8 meters off the Upper Keys along the center of the channel to 12 to 15 meters off the Middle and Lower Keys. A course in Hawk Channel roughly 2 miles offshore is partially protected by the deepwater of the Straits of Florida and allows vessels drawing roughly 7 to 10 feet to avoid the adverse currents of the Gulf Stream while crossing through the Keys.[7][8][9]
See also
edit- Florida Reef
- Moser Channel; one of four predominant passages in the Florida Keys which allow exchange of waters to the north and west of the Keys.
- Straits of Florida
References
edit- ^ Young, Stinemetz, Claiborne, Morgan (June 30, 2006). Cruising the Florida Keys (in 639-1) (2nd ed.). Arcadia Publishing (published 2006). p. 33. ISBN 9781455603206.
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: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Smith, Pitts, Ned P., Patrick A. (December 1, 1998). "Final Report: Hawk Channel Transport Study: Pathways and Processes" (PDF). Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution: 2–11.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Williams, John Lee (1837). The Territory of Florida: Or Sketches of the Topography, Civil and Natural History, of the Country, the Climate, and the Indian Tribes, from the First Discovery to the Present Time (in 639-2) (Digitized ed.). A. T. Goodrich. p. 40.
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: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Porter, Porter, James, Karen G. (2001). The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys (in 639-2). CRC Press. pp. 354–772. ISBN 9781420039412.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/coast-pilot/files/cp4/CPB4_C11_WEB.pdf
- ^ Dean, Love (1998). Lighthouses of the Florida Keys (in 639-2). Pineapple Press. p. 150. ISBN 9781561641659.
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: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ "Waterway Guide | Hawk Channel, FL | Marinas & Navigation". www.waterwayguide.com. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ Reilly, Benjamin (2005). Tropical Surge: A History of Ambition and Disaster on the Florida Shore (in 639-2). Pineapple Press. p. 36. ISBN 9781561643301.
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: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ and Geodetic Survey, U.S. Coast (1913). Table of Depths for Channels and Harbors Coasts of the U.S. Including Porto Rico ... and the Philippine Islands (in 639-2) (Digitized ed.). p. 162.
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