The Golden Gate

The Golden Gate, looking south towards San Francisco. San Francisco Bay is on the left, and the Pacific Ocean is on the right
This image is from the GIMP photo archive.

The Golden Gate is the strait connecting the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since the 1930s it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge. Golden Gate © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Golden Gate © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (512x768, 57 KB)This image is from the GIMP photo library, who in turn got it from Nasa. ... Download high resolution version (512x768, 57 KB)This image is from the GIMP photo library, who in turn got it from Nasa. ... Simplified diagram A strait is a narrow channel of water that connects two larger bodies of water, and thus lies between two land masses. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining of approximately forty percent of California, flowing in Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. ...

Great tidal flows added with the combined flows of the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River have == scoured a channel several hundred feet deep through the strait. A spring at the Sacramento River headwater The Sacramento River is the longest river in the state of California. ... The San Joaquin River, 330 miles (530 km) long, is the second-longest river in California, United States. ...

Before the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, the area around the strait and the bay was inhabited by the Ohlone people. The strait was surprisingly elusive for early European explorers, presumably due to its persistent summer fog. The strait is not recorded in the voyages of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo nor Francis Drake, both of whom may have explored the nearby coast in the 16th century in search of the Northwest Passage. The strait is also unrecorded in observation by several Spanish galleons returning from the Philippines that laid up in nearby Drakes Bay. These galleons often passed west of the Farallon Islands (27 miles west of the Golden Gate), fearing the possibility of rocks between the Islands and the mainland. == Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Map of the Costanoan languages The Ohlone (formerly Costanoan) are an ethnic group whose members lived in what is now the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Bay areas of California until after the European discovery and settling of this area. ... Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho, (ca 1499–January 3, 1543) was an explorer noted for his exploration of the west coast of North America while sailing for Spain. ... Sir Francis Drake, c. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Popular Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian archipelago This article describes the route through the Canadian Arctic. ... A Spanish galleon A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by the nations of Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries. ... blondes r so crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cuz thier all up in your face and grill???!!111they are dumb peepes they care so much about there looks ... County outline map of California, showing position of the Farallon Islands The Farallon Islands are a group of islands and rocks found in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of mainland San Francisco, California. ...

The first recorded

observation of the strait was nearly two hundred years later in 1769, by Sgt. José Francisco Ortega, the leader of a scouting party sent north along the peninsula of present-day San Francisco. Ortega reported that he could proceed no further because of the strait. On 5th August 1775 Juan de Ayala and the crew of his ship the San Carlos became the first Europeans known to have passed through the strait, anchoring in a bay of California which is now named in Ayala's honour. Until the 1840s the strait was called the "Boca del Puerto de San Francisco" (Mouth of the Port of San Francisco). Sometime in the 1840s, before the discovery of gold in California, the entrance acquired a new name. In his memoirs, John C. Frémont wrote, "To this Gate I gave the name of Chrysopylae, or GOLDEN GATE; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or GOLDEN HORN."^[1] 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... José Francisco Ortega (1734–February 1798) was soldier and early settler of California. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Juan de Ayala (28th December, 1745 - 30th December, 1797) was a Spanish naval officer who played a significant role in the European exploration of California, since he and the crew of his ship the San Carlos are the first Europeans known to have entered the San Francisco Bay. ... Angel Island Angel Island is an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, offering spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. ... John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813–July 13, 1890), born John Charles Fremon, was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the United States Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first Presidential candidate of a major... Byzantium was an ancient Greek city-state, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas. ... View of Golden Horn from Eyup Sultan Cemetery The Golden Horn (in Turkish Haliç, in Greek Khrysokeras or Chrysoceras or Χρυσοκερας) is an estuary dividing the city of Istanbul. ...

During the summer, the heat in the California Central Valley causes the air there to rise. This can create strong winds which pull cool moist air in from over the ocean through the break in the hills caused by the Golden Gate, commonly causing a stream of dense fog to enter the bay. The California Central Valley Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The California Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the state of California. ...

The strait is located at 37°49′N 122°29′W.

References

1. ^ Gudde, Erwin G. "California Place Names" (2004) University of California Press, London, England. 467 pp. ISBN 0-520-24217-3.

External links

• National Park Service: Discovery of the Golden Gate
• Digitally Restored Panoramic Composited View of The Golden Gate, Fort Point, and San Francisco Bay as seen from "Land's End" near Sutro Heights, c. 1895.