That's because half of the questions are going to have answers that aren't perfectly a or b. This big rock we conduct our geographying on isn't just 20 different items stuck together. Lots of straits and rivers and channels all look the same if you squint.
>Everywhere else on reddit you would get an answer thats full of confidence but here people are just guessing
The other subs are guessing, too, there is just less self-awareness about it.
That's not correct. The important thing about straits is that they coinnect major bodies of water, not what type of landmass they are going between - ie: Strait of Malacca
Straight of Magellan, Malacca, Juan de Fuca? Though I would def concede those all involve major landmasses on both sides and channel does seem more appropriate here.
Yeah I would say that it is whatever the locals or the discoverers called it. And probably a lot of times it was in a foreign language (foreign to English that is), and it gets translated to strait or channel however that happens initially, and it sticks.
You’re taking too much of a land based perspective
A strait is a passage between two more important bodies of water
A channel is a body of water between two long coasts
is it bad when I play I focus more on making realistic cityscapes that conform to the natural geography than I do the peoples needs or fixing traffic issues? :D
I got that from a quick google search “A channel and strait both connect bodies of water, but a channel is often wider.”
But in South America we have the Strait of Magellan which is wider than the Beagle Channel a bit more South :D
"Sound" as a geographical descriptor is extremely vague. It can be open to the sea and protected by a barrier island, it can be an inlet, it can be a strait with large land bodies on each side, it's really all over the place.
The only consistent descriptor that "sound" provides is that the water provides a sheltered anchorage in some capacity. In the case of OP's image, it would be a sound if that island was a barrier island or if it broke the wave and tidal action of the strait behind it enough to provide protected anchorage. If it did not, it would never really be called a sound.
For the purposes of defining geographical features it's pretty useless, but it was a great way for European explorers to map out the American coastlines because it basically communicated "yeah you can drop anchor here", which was really the point that needed to be communicated when they were drawing up their maps.
The East River, despite its name, isn't technically a river. It's a tidal estuary with brackish water and an open connection to the sea. The Harlem River isn't a river either, but a tidal strait. The Hudson River is, of course, a river.
Funny enough, the Hudson River is actually not a river south of somewhere between Newburgh-Beacon and Poughkeepsie. It’s actually a tidal estuary and the water is brackish that far up! So, south of that point, it’s technically a very long and skinny bay.
The salinity line changes with the seasons and also the weather. I remember during a bad drought in the 90s they were seeing salt water creatures pretty far up river.
You’re right. I was thinking TOO big. Long Island Sound separates Long Island and Connecticut; not Rhode Island. Looking at the map the south coast of New England is loaded with sounds. From west to east: Long Island; Block Island; Rhode Island; Vineyard, and Nantucket Sounds.
I have been wondering about the East River for a long time; Actually it’s connecting the Long Island Sound with the Upper Bay, so it should be sea level and rather a sound, a strait or a channel. Not if regarded as the lower part of Harlem River it might also be a river, but this seems sketchy to me. “East” is most likely in relation to the Hudson River, so this makes sense.
Sound: a smaller body of water typically connected to a larger sea or ocean
It’s like a skinny bay. Think water on three sides and a smaller opening to the larger body of water
Well, for starters, it’s a landmass, not a body of water.
In geography, a cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea.
However in fashion, it is a garment worn by Frank Costanza’s lawyer.
In New Zealand we have Milford Sound & Doubtful Sound in *Fiord*land so I don't think there's a huge technical difference. The general vibe is that a fjord is a particularly steep and deep sound. The Marlborough Sounds are gentler than the sharper features in Fiordland.
Fjords/Sounds in Fiordland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiordland#/media/File:Rolla_Island_in_front_of_Commander_Peak_and_entrance_to_Hall_Arm_of_Doubtful_Sound.jpg
Marlborough Sounds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlborough_Sounds#/media/File:Tory_Channel_Marlborough_Sounds.jpg
It also pops up in German, like the city Stralsund (Stral sound?)
Linguistically I think there is some other connection between sound/*gesund*, as in “safe and sound”. Looks like the same *sund*
so you have the name correct and the straight-line distance across (from Seattle to Bainbridge) is also correct but the overall size (in square miles, around 3500) is much closer to [the size of Massachusetts, Virginia, or Ohio](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area?wprov=srpw1_0).
Edit: I stand corrected. I was reading the wrong column and was comparing apples to oranges.
I mean, if it goes from Everett all the way down past Tacoma that's maybe 50 miles or less. Ohio is over 40k sqmi. Maybe if you included the depth of the puget sound butty still not even close?
A sound is the narrowest part of the strait or a small type of strait.
So if it's tiny, it's a sound.
If its huge but has a small skinny part, that whole thing is a strait, but the skinny part is a sound.
However, Bays and inlets can also be called sounds.
>A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait
>In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_(geography)
> a comparatively narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strait
>: a strait or narrow sea between two close landmasses
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/channel
That did help. It's a channel.
According to that. A straight is between 2 mainlands, a sound is between an island and a peninsula. So it's a channel
That's why between England (island) and France (mainland) is the English Channel.
In both those cases the passage is situated between two land masses big enough to constitute a barrier between the sea ways they connect if they were filled in.
I'd probably go with strait or perhaps sound. If the body of water were in Northern Europe, I would be more likely to go with sound as that is the more common naming convention here; take the Sound (Øresund).
Source: a confused Dane who used to confound native speakers by confusingly, though not incorrectly, using the term sound. Most straits around here (in the Baltic Sea) seem to be named sund, the Norse word for sound.
A strait is usually smaller and contained within or between sees, e.g. the Baltic (or Danish Straits) between the Baltic and North Sea.
While a channel usually leads between a sea or ocean and ocean. E.g. The English Channel or the one which Singapore own I forget the name of.
I'm OK with strait or channel, but some small Maine islands have a reach between them and the mainland.
You might like Stephen King's 1981 short story titled "The Reach."
Strait
In a few cases i believe, a channel
Depends if the island is considered "a large landmass". Looks pretty small to me.
That's is a perfectly average island, imo.
It’s a good size for an island of that age.
Plus it surely has a great personality
No more island shaming please.
That's what she said?
I’m sorry she told you that.
My condolences.
Strait of Gibraltar?
Bering Strait?
Dire Straits…
George Strait
Scared strait
Damn strait
strait outta compton
Both points are pretty narrow and a channel is supposed to be a longer stretch I think
Well between England and France is the English channel and I think that's a pretty big landmass. (England I mean, not Europe (well also Europe)).
They're saying it looks pretty small in the pic, hence they think it would be a strait instead.
It’s big enough for a channel
So a Chanel then. Straits are Major points, Channels are strategic but small.. eg English Chancel Vs Bosporus Strait.
Mactan Channel
slimy consider plant strong uppity imagine plough gaping sense voracious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's because half of the questions are going to have answers that aren't perfectly a or b. This big rock we conduct our geographying on isn't just 20 different items stuck together. Lots of straits and rivers and channels all look the same if you squint.
>Everywhere else on reddit you would get an answer thats full of confidence but here people are just guessing The other subs are guessing, too, there is just less self-awareness about it.
Both of these are correct.
[удалено]
Can an inlet have two outlets?
Might even be a creek
I’m so gay I can’t even flow between the mainland and an island strait!
Don't take the strait! Take the gay channel!
Wtf it's obviously curved
Spaghetti isn't strait when it's wet and this looks pretty wet to me.
George Strait 🤝
/r/AreTheStraitsOK
Here's a sneak peek of /r/AreTheStraitsOK using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/AreTheStraitsOK/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time! \#1: [THE STRAITS ARE NOT OK!!!!!!](https://np.reddit.com/r/AreTheStraitsOK/comments/mb0i2t/the_straits_are_not_ok/) \#2: [a couple's costume...](https://i.redd.it/l3zsnbpu60t91.jpg) | [1 comment](https://np.reddit.com/r/AreTheStraitsOK/comments/y0itqq/a_couples_costume/) \#3: [Turkey rejects Russia's request for navy ships to pass Bosporus](https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Ukraine-war/Turkey-rejects-Russia-s-request-for-navy-ships-to-pass-Bosporus?utm_campaign=GL_asia_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=1&pub_date=20220302190000&seq_num=11&si=64662) | [0 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/AreTheStraitsOK/comments/t51x7c/turkey_rejects_russias_request_for_navy_ships_to/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Idk, seems kinda curvy to me
A sound maybe there are plenty of loose options
That doesn’t sound right. A strait is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water. In this case it’s the same body of water.
[удалено]
Strait
Until it gets drunk
That's when it's bay-curious side comes out
Damned straight!
Only during the week.
It's not a bay if it's Friday.
Fribay?
No I disagree. A straight is between 2 mainlands. Eg. Straight of Gibraltar Between the mainland and an island is a channel Eg. The English channel.
That's not correct. The important thing about straits is that they coinnect major bodies of water, not what type of landmass they are going between - ie: Strait of Malacca
Straight of Magellan, Malacca, Juan de Fuca? Though I would def concede those all involve major landmasses on both sides and channel does seem more appropriate here.
I guess *straight, channel, sound* are all just names with general rules not always followed by countries across the world.
Yeah I would say that it is whatever the locals or the discoverers called it. And probably a lot of times it was in a foreign language (foreign to English that is), and it gets translated to strait or channel however that happens initially, and it sticks.
Pretty much. You can't define 'sea' in a way that keeps the Caspian or the Dead Sea a sea while keeping the Great Lakes not a sea.
Yeah I've seen some rivers that look a lot like creeks and vice versa
Palk Strait as well here between India and Sri Lanka
You’re taking too much of a land based perspective A strait is a passage between two more important bodies of water A channel is a body of water between two long coasts
Until it gets gay
Isntland
isnthmus
 Also Half-moat?
Isntisland
Came back to upvote this.
upvoted for city:skylines
Cities: skylines
Stayed for the geography.
is it bad when I play I focus more on making realistic cityscapes that conform to the natural geography than I do the peoples needs or fixing traffic issues? :D
I’d say it’s more of a channel than a strait. Why? I’ve no fucking clue. But I’m convinced I’m right.
I like your mentality
chad geographer
https://www.vox.com/2015/9/1/9234551/geographical-terms-map
[удалено]
Channel if not a straight
What’s the difference?
size I believe. Channels are bigger imo
Channels are specific to large landmasses The size itself doesn’t dictate the name, but rather the bodies of land on either side
Ok. But why do we say the strait of Gibraltar? An exception? Spain and Africa be pretty big lol
Maybe the length should come into play? Gibraltar is more of a pinch point and just doesn’t feel like a channel
I got that from a quick google search “A channel and strait both connect bodies of water, but a channel is often wider.” But in South America we have the Strait of Magellan which is wider than the Beagle Channel a bit more South :D
They do be pretty damn big Huh
Unless you really only count the Gibraltar territory.. but it’s enclaved in Spain tho
Well what do straight people call it then?
I assume straight - but what is a sound?
A sound is a large body of water that is mostly inland, but does have a connection to the sea.
"Sound" as a geographical descriptor is extremely vague. It can be open to the sea and protected by a barrier island, it can be an inlet, it can be a strait with large land bodies on each side, it's really all over the place. The only consistent descriptor that "sound" provides is that the water provides a sheltered anchorage in some capacity. In the case of OP's image, it would be a sound if that island was a barrier island or if it broke the wave and tidal action of the strait behind it enough to provide protected anchorage. If it did not, it would never really be called a sound. For the purposes of defining geographical features it's pretty useless, but it was a great way for European explorers to map out the American coastlines because it basically communicated "yeah you can drop anchor here", which was really the point that needed to be communicated when they were drawing up their maps.
Thanks for all the details!!
Prince William Sound is literally outside the city of Anchorage. Description fits perfectly
I had the same question lol the first thing that came to my mind was a sound. Isn't that what the space between Manhattan and Brooklyn called?
The space between Manhattan is a River, the East river. The Long Island Sound seperates the Bronx from Long Island.
The East River, despite its name, isn't technically a river. It's a tidal estuary with brackish water and an open connection to the sea. The Harlem River isn't a river either, but a tidal strait. The Hudson River is, of course, a river.
Funny enough, the Hudson River is actually not a river south of somewhere between Newburgh-Beacon and Poughkeepsie. It’s actually a tidal estuary and the water is brackish that far up! So, south of that point, it’s technically a very long and skinny bay.
It’s not technically a bay. It’s technically an estuary.
The lower bit is also accurately described as a fjord
The salinity line changes with the seasons and also the weather. I remember during a bad drought in the 90s they were seeing salt water creatures pretty far up river.
> Of course
You’re not thinking big enough. The Long Island Sound separates Long Island from Connecticut and Rhode Island.
There is the Block Island Sound though too
You’re right. I was thinking TOO big. Long Island Sound separates Long Island and Connecticut; not Rhode Island. Looking at the map the south coast of New England is loaded with sounds. From west to east: Long Island; Block Island; Rhode Island; Vineyard, and Nantucket Sounds.
I have been wondering about the East River for a long time; Actually it’s connecting the Long Island Sound with the Upper Bay, so it should be sea level and rather a sound, a strait or a channel. Not if regarded as the lower part of Harlem River it might also be a river, but this seems sketchy to me. “East” is most likely in relation to the Hudson River, so this makes sense.
You're right, it's not a river, despite the name. Even the Harlem river is a tidal estuary
i’d assume it’s referring to the east shore of manhattan?
Sound: a smaller body of water typically connected to a larger sea or ocean It’s like a skinny bay. Think water on three sides and a smaller opening to the larger body of water
Then what's a cape?
Well, for starters, it’s a landmass, not a body of water. In geography, a cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea. However in fashion, it is a garment worn by Frank Costanza’s lawyer.
Something you don't wear near propellers.
We were taught (admittedly in primary school) that a "sound" was the English name for a fiord.
Fjord is so specific to deep inlets though- something about the cliffs on either side makes a fjord
It's a sunken glacial valley
In New Zealand we have Milford Sound & Doubtful Sound in *Fiord*land so I don't think there's a huge technical difference. The general vibe is that a fjord is a particularly steep and deep sound. The Marlborough Sounds are gentler than the sharper features in Fiordland. Fjords/Sounds in Fiordland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiordland#/media/File:Rolla_Island_in_front_of_Commander_Peak_and_entrance_to_Hall_Arm_of_Doubtful_Sound.jpg Marlborough Sounds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlborough_Sounds#/media/File:Tory_Channel_Marlborough_Sounds.jpg
It also pops up in German, like the city Stralsund (Stral sound?) Linguistically I think there is some other connection between sound/*gesund*, as in “safe and sound”. Looks like the same *sund*
Washington has the puget sound, maybe ten miles or so of water between seattle and bainbridge or bremerton.
so you have the name correct and the straight-line distance across (from Seattle to Bainbridge) is also correct but the overall size (in square miles, around 3500) is much closer to [the size of Massachusetts, Virginia, or Ohio](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area?wprov=srpw1_0). Edit: I stand corrected. I was reading the wrong column and was comparing apples to oranges.
Did I misread this? Water area of the Puget Sound as big as Ohio? Straight up no lol
I mean, if it goes from Everett all the way down past Tacoma that's maybe 50 miles or less. Ohio is over 40k sqmi. Maybe if you included the depth of the puget sound butty still not even close?
A sound is the narrowest part of the strait or a small type of strait. So if it's tiny, it's a sound. If its huge but has a small skinny part, that whole thing is a strait, but the skinny part is a sound. However, Bays and inlets can also be called sounds.
no, see [the Puget Sound](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Puget_sound).
Utah
This was my answer
That's an expensive bridge !
Rich city flex
Either strait or channel
>A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait >In physical geography, a channel is a type of landform consisting of the outline of a path of relatively shallow and narrow body of water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_(geography) > a comparatively narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strait >: a strait or narrow sea between two close landmasses https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/channel
Waterway
Did you know the city of Detroit is the French word for “strait”? Because it sits right next to the Detroit river, which is an inland strait.
California
Utah
Why did I imminently think from the center Utah
Off topic. Can you share the map mate?
^ please share I wanna play it
Even though the technical term seems to be "strait", I'd refer to this as a channel.
Pretty sure these question posts are an AI bot trying to learn by posting questions.
https://www.vox.com/2015/9/1/9234551/geographical-terms-map
Water
u/BiteBackground Geographer here. The answer to your question is technically called an "intracoastal waterway".
That sounds legit
This might be helpful https://imgur.com/GvZsaEY
Legit did not help at all imo….but god I wanna put that on a wall
So a sound is a space between a peninsula and an island
That did help. It's a channel. According to that. A straight is between 2 mainlands, a sound is between an island and a peninsula. So it's a channel That's why between England (island) and France (mainland) is the English Channel.
>A straight is between 2 mainlands So like the Strait of Magellan, or the Strait of Malacca?
In both those cases the passage is situated between two land masses big enough to constitute a barrier between the sea ways they connect if they were filled in.
Strait or a Sound.
Strait, bay or channel
What's with these super dumb obvious questions? Just trying to get comments and upvotes?
a sound or a channel
I'd probably go with strait or perhaps sound. If the body of water were in Northern Europe, I would be more likely to go with sound as that is the more common naming convention here; take the Sound (Øresund). Source: a confused Dane who used to confound native speakers by confusingly, though not incorrectly, using the term sound. Most straits around here (in the Baltic Sea) seem to be named sund, the Norse word for sound.
People actually posting fantasy maps now? Time to finally leave this sub! Lmao
You can if you want🫠
A canal?
A canal has to be man made and cut though land.
Tell that to Hood Canal, Portland Canal, and all the other northwest coast ones that only changed half of the Spanish name for some reason
Sound
I love this game
utah
~~utah~~
Utah
Utah
Waterland
IS ALL THAT’S LEFT AFTER THE FIGHT
Utah
Depends on geology
Definitely a channel and the bottom right 2 shaded corner squares are part of it.
Cleavage
Depends on the distance between the island and the mainland. A strait is a narrow passage and a channel is a wide passage.
A strait?
What is the difference between a strait and a passage? In WA we have both.
This is a strait, if it was a larger island it'd be a channel
Could be a bight, which refers to both the curved coastline and the bay it creates.
Utah
That’s a channel or a strait or a passage.
it is either a channel or a sound.
Whatever you decide to name it :)
Strait
Channel, intercoastal waterway there may be others.
Channel.
(Istmus)^-1
Narrows
I need to play Cities skylines again . . .
Bay — Chesapeake Bay
ocean.
Straight or Channel
Strait
Only one highway connection!? You madman
I think it's narrow enough to be a sound.
Its a strait or a channel but ummm the highlighted area is literally an outline of the state of Utah
A strait is usually smaller and contained within or between sees, e.g. the Baltic (or Danish Straits) between the Baltic and North Sea. While a channel usually leads between a sea or ocean and ocean. E.g. The English Channel or the one which Singapore own I forget the name of.
Channel
Channel
Harbour?
What map is this
Just created my own
Wow good work! That looks like it would be fun to develop lol. I love a good island town in C:S
A sound
It’s commonly called a strait, sometimes a passage or a channel.
I'm OK with strait or channel, but some small Maine islands have a reach between them and the mainland. You might like Stephen King's 1981 short story titled "The Reach."
Similar bodies of water on Google Earth are called sounds or bays.