Sagami Bay

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

Sagami Bay (相模湾, Sagami-wan), also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, central Japan, with the Miura Peninsula to its east and the Izu Peninsula to its west. It lies approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Tokyo.

A branch of the warm Kuroshio (Black Current) warms the bay, allowing it to host marine organisms typical of more southerly regions and giving a mild climate to the land bordering the bay. The maximum depth of the bay is about 1500 meters.

Organisms from sub-arctic regions are also advected into the bay by intrusions of the Oyashio Current resulting in a very high [biodiversity] [1]. It is the major study site for research programs at the University of Tokyo (ORI) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

Major cities on the bay include Chigasaki, Fujisawa, Hiratsuka, Ito and Kamakura, including the fictional city of Hinata.

In 2004 soil samples from the bay were found to contain radioactive contamination from the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests that took place from 1946 to 1958 [2].

Image:Sagami Bay-Mt.Tohnodake.JPGde:Sagami-Bucht ja:相模湾 pt:Baía de Sagami