What is a fathom line in geography?
It is an imaginary line passing through the points of equal depth of water in the ocean. It is very similar to contour line, the only difference is that contour line is measured above the sea surface while fathom line is measured below the sea surface. Fathom is also used for depth.
What is Fathom Cruise Line?
Fathom was initially established by Carnival as a cruise line on June 4, 2015 to operate "social impact travel" journeys lasting seven days from PortMiami, Florida, to the Dominican Republic. The journeys included volunteer activities with established organizations on the ground. Carnival reassigned the MV Adonia to Fathom as its first ship.
What is the meaning of Fathom?
fath·om | \ ˈfa-t͟həm \. (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a unit of length equal to six feet (1.83 meters) used especially for measuring the depth of water —sometimes used in the singular when qualified by a numberfive fathom deep.
What is the difference between fathom line and contour line?
It is very similar to contour line, the only difference is that contour line is measured above the sea surface while fathom line is measured below the sea surface.
What is the 30 fathom line?
From New York to New Jersey, the thirty fathom line rests in 180 feet of water and is a place where you can catch a variety of fish, everything ranging from wahoo, marlin and tuna to tilefish, cod and pollock.
Why is it called a fathom?
The longest of many units derived from an anatomical measurement, the fathom originated as the distance from the middle fingertip of one hand to the middle fingertip of the other hand of a large man holding his arms fully extended. The name comes from the Old English faedm or faethm, meaning outstretched arms.
Why do ships use fathoms?
To measure the depth of shallow waters, boatmen used a sounding line containing fathom points, some marked and others in between, called deeps, unmarked but estimated by the user.
How deep is the ocean in fathoms?
The mean height of the land is 2250 feet; the mean depth of the whole ocean is 12,480 feet (2080 fathoms).”
How deep is a phantom in the ocean?
six feetFathom: The common unit of depth in the ocean for countries using the English system of measurement. It is six feet or 1.83 meters. It can also be used in expressing horizontal distance, since 120 fathoms is nearly equal to one-tenth of a nautical mile.
Why is a nautical mile longer than a mile?
Nautical Miles A nautical mile is slightly longer than a mile on land, equaling 1.1508 land-measured (or statute) miles. The nautical mile is based on the Earth's longitude and latitude coordinates, with one nautical mile equaling one minute of latitude.
Why is it called knots?
The term knot derives from its former use as a length measure on ships' log lines, which were used to measure the speed of a ship through the water. Such a line was marked off at intervals by knots tied in the rope.
How many miles is a knot?
A knot is a unit of speed based on the nautical mile. One knot is the same as one nautical mile per hour. Therefore, one knot is equal to 1.1508 statute miles per hour (1.1508 mph).
How many fathoms are in a setline?
The rope called a groundline, used to form the main line of a setline, was usually provided in bundles of 300 fathoms. A single 50-fathom (300 ft; 91 m) skein of this rope was referred to as a line. Especially in Pacific coast fisheries the setline was composed of units called "skates", each consisting of several hundred fathoms of groundline, with gangions and hooks attached. A tuck seine or tuck net about 70 fathoms (420 ft; 130 m) long, and very deep in the middle, was used to take fish from a larger seine .
What is the Greek measure of fathom?
The Ancient Greek measure known as the orguia ( Greek: ὀργυιά, orgyiá, lit. "outstretched") is usually translated as "fathom". By the Byzantine period, this unit came in two forms: a "simple orguia" ( ἁπλὴ ὀργυιά, haplē orguiá) roughly equivalent to the old Greek fathom (6 Byzantine feet, c. 1.87 m) and an "imperial" ( βασιλικὴ, basilikē) or "geometric orguia" ( γεωμετρικὴ ὀργυιά, geōmetrikē orguiá) that was one-eighth longer (6 feet and a span, c. 2.10 m).
How deep is a fathom?
The British Admiralty defined a fathom to be a thousandth of an imperial nautical mile (which was 6080 ft) or 6.08 feet (1.85 m). In practice the "warship fathom" of exactly 6 feet (1.8 m) was used in Britain and the United States. No conflict between the definitions existed in practice, since depths on Imperial nautical charts were indicated in feet if less than 30 feet (9.1 m) and in fathoms for depths greater than that. Until the 19th century in England, the length of the fathom was more variable: from 5#N#+#N#1⁄2 feet on merchant vessels to either 5 or 7 feet (1.5 or 2.1 m) on fishing vessels (from 1.7 to 1.5 or 2.1 m).
How many yards are in an imperial fathom?
There are two yards (6 feet) in an imperial fathom. Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms, the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard.
How many fathoms of water is needed for a burial?
A burial at sea (where the body is weighted to force it to the bottom) requires a minimum of six fathoms of water. This is the origin of the phrase " to deep six" as meaning to discard, or dispose of.
What does "fathom" mean in English?
Fathom comes to us from Old English fæthm, meaning "outstretched arms." The noun fathom, which now commonly refers to a measure (especially of depth) of six feet, was originally used for the distance, fingertip to fingertip, created by stretching one's arms straight out from the sides of the body. In one of its earliest uses, the verb fathom meant to encircle something with the arms as if for measuring and was also a synonym for "embrace." In the 1600s, however, fathom took on the meaning of using a sounding line to measure depth. At the same time, the verb also developed senses synonymous with "probe" or "investigate," and is now frequently used to refer to the act of getting to the bottom of something (figuratively speaking).
What does "fadme" mean?
Noun and Verb. Middle English fadme, from Old English fæth m outstretched arms, length of the outstretched arms; akin to Old Norse fathmr fathom, Latin patēre to be open, pandere to spread out, Greek petannynai. Keep scrolling for more.
What is a fathom line?
It’s a depth measurement. Fathom lines are exactly like contour lines except below sea level. This is useful to consider as continents don’t end at the shoreline but continue underseas for some distance. So the actual edge of a continent, that you would want to fit into another continent, will be at some depth.
What does "not at 1000 fathom line" mean?
It means that Bullard tried to find weather margins of continents ( Atlantic and Africa in this case) ferfectly match or not at 1000 fathom line, instead of current shoreline.
Who is the president of Fathom?
Fathom's president was Tara Russell, an entrepreneur who founded Create Common Good, a nonprofit enterprise that provides food service job training to help at-risk people become self-sufficient. Russell is the global impact lead for Carnival, working with its 10 cruise line brands on social impact strategies.
Is Fathom still around?
On January 8, 2019, the Fathom brand was quietly discontinued. Upon the brand's discontinuation, the website was shut down and redirected visitors to Carnival's Global Impact page until the domain expired. No further announcements have been made about the future of Fathom.
Overview
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to 72 inches (1,828.8000 mm), used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Historically, however, it is the most frequently employed maritime measure of depth in the English-speaking world.
Name
The name (pronounced /ˈfæðəm/) derives from the Old English word fæðm, cognate to the Danish (via the Vikings) word "favn" meaning embracing arms or a pair of outstretched arms. Cognate maybe also via the Old High German word "fadum" of the same meaning. In Middle English it was fathme.
Forms
The Ancient Greek measure known as the orguia (Greek: ὀργυιά, orgyiá, lit. "outstretched") is usually translated as "fathom". By the Byzantine period, this unit came in two forms: a "simple orguia" (ἁπλὴ ὀργυιά, haplē orguiá) roughly equivalent to the old Greek fathom (6 Byzantine feet, c. 1.87 m) and an "imperial" (βασιλικὴ, basilikē) or "geometric orguia" (γεωμετρικὴ ὀργυιά, geōmetrikē orguiá) that was one-eighth longer (6 feet and a span, c. 2.10 m).
Derived units
At one time, a quarter meant one-quarter of a fathom.
A cable length, based on the length of a ship's cable, has been variously reckoned as equal to 100 or 120 fathoms.
Use of the fathom
Most modern nautical charts indicate depth in metres. However, the U.S. Hydrographic Office uses feet and fathoms. A nautical chart will always explicitly indicate the units of depth used.
To measure the depth of shallow waters, boatmen used a sounding line containing fathom points, some marked and others in between, called deeps, u…
See also
• Ancient Greek units of measurement
• Anthropic units
• Bathymetry
• English unit
• Hvat
External links
• An explanation of the fathom marks used at sea (retrieved Sept 2005).
• Hungarian web page that refers to the length of a "bécsi öl"