Benares Shoals, or Benares Shoal, is a submerged

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

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 component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

, an isolated patch located at , just west-northwest of Île Pierre, the closest island of

Peros Banhos Peros Banhos, Pedro dos Banhos or Baixos de Pêro dos Banhos in old maps, is a formerly inhabited atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Île Yeye, located at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the Chagos Archipelago that is closes ...

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

in the northern

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago (, ) or Chagos Islands (formerly , and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmo ...

. It measures about east–west, with a width of about and an area of . The least depth at the western end is . The Benares Shoals were first surveyed in 1837 by Commander

Robert Moresby Robert Moresby (15 June 1794 – 15 June 1854Some sources mention that he is thought to have died in 1863.) was a captain of the East India Company's Bombay Marine/Indian Navy who distinguished himself as a hydrographer, maritime surveyor ...

of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

on HMS ''Benares''. Moresby's survey produced the first detailed map of this submerged reef, which was subsequently named after his ship.Searight, Sarah, ''The Charting of the Red Sea.'' History Today, 2003

References

External links

Indian Ocean Pilot
Chagos Archipelago Coral reefs {{BritishIndianOcean-geo-stub

See also

References

External links