English Channel

• 1. Geological Origins And Formation

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  The English Channel first developed as an arm of the Atlantic Ocean during the Pliocene period, which spanned from 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago. This formation resulted from differential tectonic uplift along pre-existing weaknesses in the Earth's crust. During this early era, Britain and Ireland remained part of continental Europe, linked by an unbroken ridge known as the Weald, Artois anticline. The ridge ran between the Dover and Calais regions and acted as a natural dam holding back a large freshwater pro-glacial lake. This lake existed in the Doggerland region, now submerged under the North Sea. Meltwater from the Baltic and ice sheets from Caledonia and Scandinavia fed the lake while blocking its exit. The sea level was about 100 meters lower than it is today.

  Between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago, at least two catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods breached the Weald, Artois anticline. These events contributed to creating some of the deepest parts of the channel such as Hurd's Deep. The first flood occurred 450,000 years ago and would have lasted for several months. It released as much as one million cubic metres of water per second. The flow started with large but localised waterfalls over the ridge which excavated depressions now known as the Fosses Dangeard. The flow eroded the retaining ridge causing the rock dam to fail and releasing lake water into the Atlantic. After multiple episodes of changing sea levels during which the Fosses Dangeard were largely infilled by various layers of sediment, another catastrophic flood some 180,000 years ago carved a large bedrock-floored valley called the Lobourg Channel. This valley was some 500 meters wide and 25 meters deep from the southern North Sea basin through the centre of the Straits of Dover and into the English Channel.

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• 2. Historical Invasions And Naval Wars

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  The most significant failed invasion threats came when the Dutch and Belgian ports were held by a major continental power. Examples include the Spanish Armada in 1588, Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars, and Nazi Germany during World War II. Successful invasions include the Roman conquest of Britain, the Norman Conquest in 1066, and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The concentration of excellent harbours on Britain's south coast made possible the largest amphibious invasion in history, the Normandy Landings in 1944. Channel naval battles include the Battle of the Downs in 1639, the Battle of Dover in 1652, the Battle of Portland in 1653, and the Battle of La Hougue in 1692.

  From the reign of Elizabeth I, English foreign policy concentrated on preventing invasion across the Channel by ensuring no major European power controlled potential Dutch and Flemish invasion ports. Her climb to pre-eminent sea power began in 1588 as the attempted invasion of the Spanish Armada was defeated. This defeat resulted from outstanding naval tactics by the English and Dutch under command of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham with Sir Francis Drake second in command. Stormy weather also played a role in the outcome. Over the centuries the Royal Navy slowly grew to be the most powerful in the world. During the Seven Years' War, France attempted to launch an invasion of Britain but was thwarted following the British naval victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759.

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• 3. Modern Shipping And Economic Traffic

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  The English Channel is the busiest shipping area in the world with over 500 ships per day. Following an accident in January 1971 and a series of disastrous collisions with wreckage in February, the Dover TSS was set up by the International Maritime Organization. The Dover TSS became the world's first radar-controlled traffic separation scheme. The scheme mandates that vessels travelling north must use the French side while those travelling south use the English side. There is a separation zone between the two lanes. In December 2002 the MV Tricolor carrying £30 million worth of luxury cars sank northwest of Dunkirk after collision in fog with the container ship Kariba.

  The shore-based long-range traffic control system was updated in 2003 and there are now several traffic separation systems in operation. Though the system is inherently incapable of reaching safety levels obtained from aviation systems such as the traffic collision avoidance system, it has reduced accidents to one or two per year. Marine GPS systems allow ships to be preprogrammed to follow navigational channels accurately and automatically. However, following the fatal collision between Dutch Aquamarine and Ash in October 2001, Britain's Marine Accident Investigation Branch issued a safety bulletin stating that GPS use had actually contributed to the collision. A combination of radar difficulties near cliffs and failure of CCTV systems led to the MV Willy running aground in Cawsand Bay, Cornwall, in January 2002.

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• 4. Technological Crossings And Innovation

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  As one of the narrowest and most well-known international waterways lacking dangerous currents, the Channel has been the first objective for numerous innovative sea, air, and human powered crossing technologies. The first aircraft to cross the Channel was a balloon in 1785 piloted by Jean Pierre François Blanchard and John Jeffries. Louis Blériot piloted the first aeroplane to cross in 1909. On the 26th of September 2008 Swiss Yves Rossy became the first person to cross with a Jet Powered Wing. He jumped from a Pilatus Porter over Calais and deployed his parachute before landing in Dover.

  The sport of Channel swimming traces its origins to the latter part of the 19th century when Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover. He swam from England to France on 24, the 25th of August 1875 in 21 hours 45 minutes. As of 2023, 1,881 people had completed 2,428 verified solo crossings under the rules of the CSA and the CSPF. The fastest verified swim of the Channel was by Australian Trent Grimsey on the 8th of September 2012 in 6 hours 55 minutes. The female record is held by Yvetta Hlavacova of Czechia who completed it in 7 hours 25 minutes on the 5th of August 2006.

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• 5. Coastal Demographics And Urban Centers

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  The English Channel coast is far more densely populated on the English shore than the French side. The most significant towns and cities along both sides each have more than 20,000 inhabitants according to census data from 1999 for France and 2001 for the UK. Brighton-Worthing-Littlehampton has 461,181 inhabitants while Portsmouth has 442,252 including Gosport. Bournemouth & Poole contains 383,713 people and Southampton holds 304,400 residents. Plymouth has 258,700 inhabitants and Torbay has 129,702.

  On the French side Le Havre has 248,547 inhabitants and Calais has 104,852. Saint-Malo contains 50,675 people while Lannion-Perros-Guirec has 48,990. Boulogne-sur-Mer has 42,537 inhabitants and Cherbourg has 77,789. The Channel Islands include Saint Helier in Jersey with 28,310 inhabitants and Saint Peter Port in Guernsey with 16,488. Sark has only 600 inhabitants and Herm has just 60. The northern English coast is more populous than the southern French coast.

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