Rosalind Bank, also called Rosalinda or Rosa Linda Bank ( es, Placer de Rosalinda), is a large, completely submerged bank or

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gro ...

in the western

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

. It is the culmination of an area of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock ...

, some 300 km (186 mi) long, that extends eastward from

Cabo Gracias a Dios Cabo Gracias a Dios is a cape located in the middle of the east coast of Central America, within what is variously called the Mosquito Coast and La Mosquitia. It is the point where the Rio Coco flows into the Caribbean, and is the border bet ...

. The bank area is part of an extensive structure, known as Nicaragua Rise, that continues further east through Pedro Bank towards

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

Geography

Rosalind is 101 km (63 mi) long in a north-south direction, and 56 km (35 mi) wide, as defined by the 200 m (656 ft)

isobath Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water de ...

, which corresponds to an area of roughly 4,500 km² (1,737 sq mi). General depths range from 18 to 37 m (59 to 121 ft), an almost immediate transition from the 300 m (984 ft) depth of surrounding waters. The bottom is of coarse sand and

.Sector 6. Coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico
/ref> Several patches of depths from 7.3 to 11 m (24 to 36 ft) lie on a 23 km (14 mi) long coral ledge located 3 km (2 mi) within the SE edge of the bank. A detached 11 m (36 ft) patch lies near the SW edge of the bank, 21.7 km (13 mi) west of the southern end of this ledge. A depth of 10.9 m (35 ft 10 in) lies close to the northern edge of the bank. An extensive bank 66 km (41 mi) long and 16 km (10 mi) wide, with an area of 830 km² (320 sq mi), lies 18 km (11 mi) west of Rosalind Bank. Depths over this bank range from 7 to 66 m (23 to 217 ft). The shallowest detached patches are found along the eastern edge of the bank. A detached 11 m (36 ft) patch lies on the northern part of the bank. 6 km (4 mi) further west lies Thunder Knoll. 30 km (18 mi) southeast of Rosalind Bank is

Serranilla Bank Serranilla Bank ( es, Isla Serranilla, Banco Serranilla and ''Placer de la Serranilla'') is a partially submerged reef, with small uninhabited islets, in the western Caribbean Sea. It is situated about northeast of Punta Gorda, Nicaragua, and ...

. The cays on it are the closest pieces of dry land. Several countries claim that their exclusive economic zones extend over Rosalind Bank, including

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and

References

External links

Sailing Directions, Caribbean Sea, Vol. II
* *{{cite journal , author1=Hallock, P , author2=Jaap, WC , author3=Donnelly, KB , author4=Hine, AC , title=Research diving on remote shoals of the Nicaraguan Rise, Southwest Caribbean. , journal=In: Jaap, WC (Ed). Advances in Underwater Science...90. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Tenth Annual Scientific Diving Symposium , year=1990 , url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/9559 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415180529/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/9559 , url-status=usurped , archive-date=April 15, 2013 , accessdate=2012-01-08 Undersea banks of the Caribbean Sea Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act International territorial disputes of the United States

Geography

See also

References

External links