Gulf of California - Golfo de California

Japanese: カリフォルニア湾 - カリフォルニアわん（英語表記）Golfo de California

An inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the northwest coast of Mexico. It is a long, narrow bay that runs from northwest to southeast between the Mexican mainland and the Baja California Peninsula, with a length of about 1,200 km and a width of 100 to 200 km. Its area is about 160,000 ^km2 . The bay is divided into two by the islands of Ángel de la Guarda and Tiburon, which are located slightly north of the center. The northern inner part of the bay is shallow, with few areas deeper than 180 m, but there are several deep abysses in the southern part, the deepest of which reaches a depth of 3,000 m. There are two theories about its origin: one is that it is structurally part of the Pacific Ocean, and the other is that it was formed when the mountain range that makes up the Baja California Peninsula moved north along the San Andreas Fault and slowly collapsed. In addition to the Colorado River, which flows into the inner part of the bay, the Yaqui, Mayo, Fuerte, and Sinaloa rivers flow into the bay from the mainland. The main coastal ports are La Paz on the peninsula side and Guaymas on the mainland side. Pearl fishing is carried out along the southwest coast. During the Spanish colonial period, the area was called the "Sea of Cortez" after H. Cortez, who crossed the bay and reached the peninsula in 1535, and was also called the "Scarlet Sea" because of the abundance of red plankton.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

メキシコ北西岸にある太平洋の入り海。メキシコ本土とバハカリフォルニア半島にはさまれた北西－南東方向の細長い湾で，長さ約 1200km，幅 100～200km。面積約 16万 km²。湾は中央部よりやや北寄りにあるアンヘルデラグアルダ島とティブロン島により2つに分けられる。北の湾奥部は浅く，水深 180mより深いところは少いが，南部にはいくつかの深淵部があり，最深部は水深 3000mに達する。成因については，構造的に太平洋の一部とする説と，バハカリフォルニア半島をなす山脈がサンアンドレアス断層に沿って北へ移動しながら，ゆっくりと陥没して形成されたとする説がある。湾奥に注ぐコロラド川のほか，本土側からヤキ，マヨ，フエルテ，シナロアなどの川が湾に流入。沿岸主要港は半島側のラパス，本土側のグアイマス。南西部沿岸では真珠採取が行われる。スペイン植民地時代には，1535年湾を横切って半島側に達した H.コルテスにちなんで「コルテスの海」と呼ばれ，また赤色のプランクトンが多かったことから「朱色の海」とも呼ばれた。

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