Beaufort's Dyke

Beaufort's Dyke, highlighted in blue, on a 1969 Admiralty chart
Map showing the size and location of Beaufort's Dyke, in red, between the coasts of Northern Ireland and Scotland

Beaufort's Dyke is a natural glacial formed trench within the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland. The dyke is 50 km (30 miles) long, 3.5 km (2 miles) wide and 200 m (700 ft) - 312 metres (1,024 ft) deep. The Dyke is one of the deepest areas of the European continental shelf.[1]

The trench is recorded in 1856 as having been discovered "some years ago" by a Captain Beechey.[2]

  1. ^ "The formation and evolution of an isolated submarine valley in the North Channel, Irish sea: an investigation of Beaufort's Dyke - NERC Open Research Archive".
  2. ^ Bryce, James (1856). A Cyclopaedia of Geography, Descriptive and Physical, Forming a New General Gazetteer of the World and Dictionary of Pronunciation. R. Griffin.