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Which navigation risk increased when 18th-century mariners relied solely on sextants without chronometers?

A)Longitudinal positioning errors increased dramatically
B)Latitudinal positioning errors became unavoidable
C)Celestial body identification was frequently incorrect
D)Shipboard compass deviations became impossible to detect

💡 Explanation

When lacking a chronometer, calculating longitude using a sextant involved dead reckoning for time estimation, causing accumulated errors in east-west position because time is directly linked to longitude calculations. Therefore, inaccurate longitude calculations resulted, rather than latitude, body ID, or compass issues which relate to other navigational factors.

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