Talk:Gulf of California

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There is no sea between California and the Mexican mainland; there is one between Baja California and the mainland; BTW isn't that called the Gulf of California? --Maveric149 (copied from the changelog by TMC)

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Hi Mav, you made two points which I will respond to separately.

First, California' can be used in both a geographical sense and a political sense, although this explanation belongs (if anywhere) in the entry for California and not for Sea of Cortez. Geographically, California consists of (from the south), the modern states of Baja California Sur, Baja California, California, and southern Oregon. Saying that the Sea of Cortez divides California from the Mexican mainland is sort of like saying that the Atlantic Ocean divides America from Europe. It is correct geographicaly, but ignores the reality of the division of California (much like the Atlantic example ignores Canada).

Having said that, most people don't understand this distinction, so the entry does read more clearly as you wrote it, and I will keep that flavor in any subsequent rewrites.

Your second point was whether the body of water should be refered to as the Sea of Cortez or the Gulf of California. Both names are in current usage today, and I can't fully explain the politics between what people choose to call the body. I will share what little I know.

Sea of Cortez is the historical name (since 1540), and is also the most common name used in popular speech and text to refer to this body of water. At some point in the twentieth century, some started referring to it as the "Gulf of California". The reasons for this are twofold. First, it is scientifically more accurate to call it a sea, although the line between a sea and a gulf is fuzzy. Second, there is a effort to remove the names of "european imperialists" from geographic place names.

For what it is worth, the Mexican government uses both terms to refer to this body of water. On a personal (and anecdotal) note, I have visited the peninsula three times, and have driven the complete length of it once. Among the rural mexicans I met "mar de cortez" was used almost exclusively, although "golfo de california" was used by the more affluent. --TMC

(obs) "Sea of Cortez" seems to be the preferred term among sportspeople (divers, fishermen, boaters) and others from within the State of California, both for those historical reasons and on account of there's really no effective direct access to the gulf from the U.S. state that doesn't involve crossing a line or two on a map. (/obs) knoodelhed 16:19, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Locally used name

The name "Sea of Cortés" is the one preferred by most local residents - howcome the Mexicans prefer a name in English? That should probably be rephrased. // Habj 07:13, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Creation of Grand Canyon

I removed the sentence That event led to the creation of the Grand Canyon. [1] since this seems to controversial. According to the article Grand Canyon, there is no authoritative theory on the formation of Grand Canyon. If this is wrong, then that event should be expanded in that article, rather than here. // Habj 07:25, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

The 5.3 million year reference should be removed too, as it reflects evolutionary dogma which is increasingly unpopular. The "young earth" concept is now advocated by tens of millions of people, including over 500 scientists.

What do You mean? feydey 01:00, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a church, religious BS has no place in an educational setting. 189.130.17.30 (talk) 07:55, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Depth

Any bathymetry about the sea? depth, etc?? is it deep or shallow? --Kvuo 22:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Done. knoodelhed 16:19, 27 January 2007 (UTC)