San Matías Gulf facts for kids

The San Matias Gulf is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean located off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina. It is surrounded by the Río Negro Province to the north and west, and the Valdes Peninsula of the Chubut Province to the south. This gulf is known as one of the biggest bays in the Patagonia area. The land around the gulf has flat areas and low spots that are similar to the gulf itself but are not currently covered by the sea.

What is the San Matias Gulf?

The San Matias Gulf is a large body of water that extends inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It is shaped like a big curve or a U-turn in the coastline. Scientists have studied this gulf because it has very large sand waves on its seafloor, and they move around a lot.

Animals and Fishing in the Gulf

The San Matias Gulf is home to many different sea creatures. People living nearby rely on fishing for their jobs and food. However, there's a concern that too many animals are being caught, which could harm the ocean's balance.

Some of the animals that are fished here include:

• The purple clam (Amiantis purpurata)
• The Tehuelche scallop (Aequipecten tehuelchus)
• The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis)
• The ribbed mussel (Aulacomya atra)
• The Patagonian octopus (Octopus tehuelchus)

In 2003, the amount of squid caught in the gulf was very high, more than double the amount caught in 2001.

Swimming with Whales

The San Matias Gulf is a special place for tourism. As of 2014, it was the only place in the world where people were allowed to swim with right whales. This unique activity allows visitors to get very close to these amazing marine mammals.

How the Gulf Was Formed

The San Matias Gulf has a long and interesting history related to how the Earth's crust moves, which is called tectonics.

Before the Earth started to warm up and the ice melted after the last glacial period (a time when much of the Earth was covered in ice), the San Matias Gulf area was a dry, flat piece of land. It was even lower than the sea level at that time.

As the ice sheets melted around the world after the Last Glacial Maximum (the coldest part of the last ice age), sea levels began to rise. About 11,000 years ago, the sea level rose enough to flow over a natural barrier, or "sill," that was 60 meters (about 197 feet) below sea level. This caused the entire basin to fill with water, forming the gulf we see today.

Over Earth's history, during different Quaternary ice ages and warmer periods between them, the gulf has dried up and filled with water many times.

Images for kids

See also

In Spanish: Golfo San Matías para niños