It is about 7 km (4.3 mi) across at its narrowest point, mostly less than about 20 m (66 ft) in depth and opens towards the west (into the Torres Strait) and towards the east (into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon). Submarine dunes (sand waves) up to 5 m (16 ft)tall migrate along the Adolphus Channel seabed, posing a potential risk to safe navigation.[3]
Adolphus Channel is a major shipping route for traffic passing from the eastern (Coral Sea) coast of Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Arafura Sea and regions further west.[3]
History
On the night of 28 February 1890, the Royal Mail Ship RMS Quetta struck a rock and sank in Adolphus Channel, sending 134 of her passengers to their deaths.[4]
Islands
Adjacent to the channel are a group of islands, part of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, comprising:
^Harris, P. T.; Schneider, P. M.; Baker, E. K. (1988). Currents, sedimentation and sandwave migration in the Great North East Channel and Adolphus Channel areas of Torres Strait: report on measurements taken during HMAS Cook cruises. Sydney, NSW: The University of Sydney. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ abcTaranto; Jacobs; Long. "Map 4: Adolphus channel"(PDF) (Map). Torres Strait Atlas – Report MR-GIS 97/6. CSIRO Marine research. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 December 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
^ abHarris, P.T., 1989. Sandwave movement under tidal and wind-driven currents in a shallow marine environment: Adolphus Channel, northeastern Australia. Continental Shelf Research 9, 981-1002
^"Eborac Island gecko". The Australian Reptile Online Database. Stewart Macdonald. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
Further reading
Gadke, Christopher (2001). The architecture of the Torres Strait Islands : from the vernacular to the 'South Sea' type [St. Lucia, Qld.]
