Laurentian fan

The Laurentian fan or abyss is an underwater depression off the eastern coast of Canada in the Atlantic Ocean.^[1] Not a trench, but more of an "underwater valley", it is estimated to be at most ~19,685 feet (3.7 miles; 6.0 km) in depth. The Laurentian fan is a product of glaciation and water currents from the Saint Lawrence River.^[2] It is part of the Laurentian cone region, bound by the Laurentian Channel and the Sohm Abyssal Plain.

The fan is the site of hydrothermal vents with their own sub ecosystems independent of sunlight.^[3]

The approximate coordinates are 43°40′N 56°10′W / 43.667°N 56.167°W / 43.667; -56.167Coordinates: 43°40′N 56°10′W / 43.667°N 56.167°W / 43.667; -56.167.

In popular culture

• The Laurentian Abyss was the covert rendezvous point for Soviet and American submarines in the 1990 technothriller film The Hunt for Red October. The location, however, was a departure from the original 1984 novel by Tom Clancy.

The Laurentian Abyss was mentioned in the 2007 Transformers movie as the location of where the remains of the dead aliens were to be dumped. It was wrongfully quoted as being the deepest trench in the world with a depth of 7 mi, which is actually the depth of the Marianas Trench; the deepest part of the world's oceans.

See also

• Abyssal plain

References

Notes