The Bransfield Basin is a back-arc rift basin located off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The basin lies within a Northeast and Southwest trending strait that separates the peninsula from the nearby South Shetland Islands to the Northwest. The basin extends for more than 500 kilometres (310 miles) from Smith Island (South Shetland Islands) to a portion of the Hero Fracture Zone. The basin can be subdivided into three basins: Western, Central, and Eastern. The Western basin is 130 kilometres (81 miles) long by 70 kilometres (43 miles) wide with a depth of 1.3 kilometres (1,400 yards), the Central basin is 230 kilometres (140 miles) long by 60 kilometres (37 miles) wide with a depth of 1.9 kilometres (2,100 yards), and the Eastern basin is 150 kilometres (93 miles) long by 40 ki