{{Short description|Waterway in southern Greece}} thumbnail|upright|View of the Kythira Strait in the distance of southern Greece '''Kythira Strait''' (also '''Kythirian Straits''', '''Kythira–Antikythira Strait''' or '''Kithera Channel''') is a waterway off Kythira in Southern Greece. The Kythira–Antikythira Strait is situated within the Western Hellenic arc. It measures approximately {{convert|100|km}} in length and is situated between the Peloponnese and the island of Crete.<ref name=KokinouKamberis2009>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1144/SP311.14|title = The structure of the Kythira–Antikythira strait, offshore SW Greece (35.7°–36.6°N)|journal = Geological Society, London, Special Publications|volume = 311|pages = 343–360|year = 2009|last1 = Kokinou|first1 = Eleni|last2 = Kamberis|first2 = Evangelos|s2cid = 129436795}}</ref>{{sfn|Peters|1985|p=225}}{{sfn|Kensetsushō Kenchiku Kenkyūjo|1993|p=38}}
Many ships have sunk in the area, including {{HMS|Greyhound|H05}}, {{HMS|Gloucester|62}}, and {{SS|Ivernia}}.<ref name="Service1984">{{cite book|title=Guides to the microfilmed records of the German Navy, 1850–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtQnAQAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=National Archives and Records Service, U.S. General Services Administration|page=53}}</ref>
==Navigational hazard== The Kythira Strait represents one of the most dangerous navigational hazards in the Mediterranean.{{Sfn|Freely|2008|p=210}}<ref name="Campbell2009">{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Joan Cecelia|title=Phoebe: Patron and Emissary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0iEsqXM8N7sC&pg=PA40|year=2009|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5281-7|page=40}}</ref> The strait between Kythera and Cape Maleas was found dangerous in ancient days by the Greek mariners.{{Sfn|Freely|2008|p=210}} Most sea-traffic from Athens, Istanbul, and the Black Sea to the central and western Mediterranean passes through the strait and are often subject to strong winds and shipwreck on Cape Maleas. To circumvent this, the shorter and safer route via the Isthmus of Corinth has been used since classical antiquity, first through the use of the overland Diolkos pathway<ref name="Campbell2009"/> and in modern times, through the Corinth Canal.
==Earthquakes and tsunami== The Kythira Strait, located within the Western Hellenic arc, is subject to submergence on account of normal faulting which results in "extensional deformation and rotation" between two major segments of the external arc.{{Sfn|Hebenstreit|2013|p=119}} According to Papadopoulos and Kijko, the Western Hellenic arc has high seismic activity, resulting in deformations in the strait which are active. Here the "seismic slip" recorded is on the order of 0.3 cm/year. Also reported in the strait are earthquakes at shallow and intermediate depths, with surface-wave magnitudes of up to 8.0.{{Sfn|Hebenstreit|2013|pp=119–20}}
The Kythira Strait's Tsunami Warning System (TWS) comprises two interrelated elements. One is based on the seismographic observations and the other is related to tide-gauge recordings.{{Sfn|Soloviev|Solovieva|Go|Kim|2013|p=174}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last= Freely |first=John |title=The Ionian Islands: Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaka and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ma0TAQAAIAAJ&q=cape+maleas|date=15 May 2008|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-696-5}} *{{cite book|last= Hebenstreit |first=Gerald T. |title=Tsunami Research at the End of a Critical Decade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBWzBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120|date=14 March 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-017-3618-3}} *{{cite book|author=Kensetsushō Kenchiku Kenkyūjo|title=Individual Studies by Participants to the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thVOAQAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering}} It is considered to be a "dextral wrench zone". *{{cite book|last=Peters|first=Jeroen Martien|title=Neogene and Quaternary vertical tectonics in the south Hellenic arc and their effect on concurrent sedimentation processes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQUbAAAAIAAJ|year=1985}} *{{cite book |last1=Soloviev |first1=Sergey L. |last2=Solovieva |first2=Olga N. |author3=Go |first3=Chan N. |author4=Kim |first4=Khen S. |author5=Shchetnikov |first5=Nikolay A. |title=Tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea 2000 B.C.-2000 A.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Abu2BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 |date=14 March 2013 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-015-9510-0}}
{{coord|35|50|34|N|23|13|57|E|display=title}} Category:Kythira Category:Straits of Greece Category:Landforms of Crete Category:Landforms of Islands (regional unit) Category:Landforms of Attica