In News:

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck the Drake Passage, the stretch of ocean between South America’s Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

About Drake Passage

• Location: Lies between Cape Horn (South America) and the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica).
• Geography: A deep and wide waterway connecting the southwestern Atlantic and southeastern Pacific Oceans; also the narrowest stretch of the Southern Ocean, spanning nearly 800 km between South America and the West Antarctic Peninsula.
• Climatic Role: Marks a climatic transition zone, separating the cool, humid subpolar conditions of Tierra del Fuego from the frigid polar climate of Antarctica.
• Navigation: Considered among the roughest seas in the world due to the collision of cold southern currents and warmer northern waters, which create strong eddies, compounded by powerful westerly winds around Cape Horn.
• Historical Importance: Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it served as a vital maritime trade route in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Naming: The passage is named after Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.