Tyrrhenian Sea


The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people, identified since the 6th century BCE with the Etruscans of Italy.

Geography

The sea is bounded by the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, the Italian peninsula to the east, and the island of Sicily. The Tyrrhenian Sea also includes a number of small islands like Capri, Elba, Ischia and Ustica.
, Positano
, Baunei, Sardinia
The maximum depth of the sea is.
The Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and Eurasian Plates meet; therefore mountain chains and active volcanoes such as Mount Marsili are found in its depths. The eight Aeolian Islands and Ustica are located in the southern part of the sea, north of Sicily.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Tyrrhenian Sea as follows:
There are four exits from the Tyrrhenian Sea :
ExitLocationWidthConnected Sea
Corsica Channelbetween Tuscany and Corsica about Ligurian Sea
Strait of Bonifaciobetween Corsica and SardiniaMediterranean Sea
no namebetween Sardinia and Sicilyabout Mediterranean Sea
Strait of Messinabetween Sicily and Calabria on the toe of ItalyIonian Sea

Basins

The Tyrrhenian Basin is divided into two basins, the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the undersea ridge known as the Issel Bridge, after Arturo Issel.

Geology

The Tyrrhenian Sea is a back-arc basin that formed due to the rollback of the Calabrian slab towards South-East during the Neogene. Episodes of fast and slow trench retreat formed first the Vavilov basin and, then, the Marsili basin. Submarine volcanoes formed because trench retreat produces extension in the overriding plate allowing the mantle to rise below the surface and partially melt. The magmatism here is also affected by the fluids released from the slab.

Name

Its name derives from the Greek name for the Etruscans, who were said to be emigrants from Lydia and led by the prince Tyrrhenus. The Etruscans settled along the coast of modern Tuscany and referred to the water as the "Sea of the Etruscans".

Islands

Islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea include:
The main ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy are: Naples, Palermo, Civitavecchia, Salerno, Trapani and Gioia Tauro. In Corsica the most important port is Bastia.
Note that even though the phrase "port of Rome" is frequently used, there is in fact no port in Rome. Instead, the "port of Rome" refers to the maritime facilities at Civitavecchia, some to the northwest of Rome, not too far from its airport.
Giglio Porto is a small island port in this area. It rose to prominence, when the Costa Concordia ran aground a few metres off the coast of Giglio and sank. The ship was later refloated and towed to Genoa for scrapping.

Winds

In Greek mythology, it is believed that the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea housed the four winds kept by Aeolus. The winds are the Mistral from the Rhône valley, the Libeccio from the southwest, and the Sirocco and Ostro from the south.

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