Speakers Bank is a large
coral atoll structure in the Northwestern part of the
Chagos Archipelago. It is the northernmost feature of the archipelago, located at , 22 km Northwest of
Blenheim Reef and is 44 km Northeast-Southwest, and 24 km wide. The total area is 582 km
2, most of which is water. Most of the rim of the reef is between 5.5 and 14.5 metres below water. In the south, near the southwest edge, there are some coral heads at 05°04'S, 072°16'E, 0.5 metres of which are dry during low tide, and over which the sea breaks heavily during the southeast
trade winds. In the Northeast, at 04°47'S, 072°26'E, there are a number of drying
cays, the biggest of which, Big Speaker Reef, just reaches the high water mark. The land area is negligible.
Speakers Bank was surveyed in 1856 by
British captain J. Speaker on HMS Wallerup. It is the site of many wrecks, also from prior times.
[ British Admiralty nautical chart 11000030 - 3 Chagos Archipelago, Scale 1:360 000]
References
External links
Indian Ocean PilotGeochronology of Basement Rocks from the Mascarene Plateau, the Chagos Bank and the Maldives Ridge
Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago
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