DAVIS STRAIT  , the broad strait which separates Greenland from North America, and connects Baffin Bay with the open Atlantic . At its narrowest point, which occurs just where the Arctic Circle crosses it, it is nearly 200 M. wide . This part is also the shallowest, a sounding of 112 fathoms being found in the centre, whereas the depth increases rapidly both to north and to south . Along the western shore (Baffin Land) a cold current passes southward; but along the east there is a warm north-ward stream, and there are a few Danish settlements on the Greenland coast . The strait takes its name from the explorer John Davis .