Johathan Rich, age 11, of Portland, Maine, for his question:

What are the Grand Banks of Newfoundland?

Newfoundland is an off shore island reaching out into the North Atlantic. However, its shores do not dip down into the deep ocean. Off shore, the water is only 100 to 200 feet deep for perhaps 300 miles out to sea. This underwater plateau is called the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Perhaps this watery area is drowned land. Most likely, during the Ice Ages when so much ocean water was held captive in the glaciers, the Grand Banks were part of Newfoundland and possibly even part of the mainland.

Nowadays, this is a region where the tropic blue Gulf Stream, sweeping up from the south, meets the bottle green waters of the cold Labrador Current sweeping down from the north. The mingling waters teem with plankton and countless sea dwellers which come to feed upon it. This is what makes the Grand Banks the richest fishing ground in the world.