Bathymetry and geological setting of the Drake Passage (Antarctica)

The Drake Passage is an oceanic gateway of about 850 km width located between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula that connects the southeastern Pacific and the southwestern Atlantic oceans and is an important gateway for mantle flow, oceanographic water masses, and migrations of biota. This gateway developed within the framework of geological evolution of the Scotia Arc. As a consequence of this and subsequent submarine processes, this region shows a varied physiography. The new detailed map in the Drake Passage region is mainly founded on a compilation of precise multibeam bathymetric data obtained on cruises between 1992 and 2014, and covers the area between parallels 52ºS and 63ºS and meridians 70ºW and 50ºW. The new map that we present is based in a DTM with 200 m cell resolution of the seafloor in Drake Passage that permits identification of the main seafloor features and the map includes additional useful geological information. This work constitutes an international cooperative effort and is part of IBCSO project (International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean), under the SCAR umbrella.