Parcel das Paredes is a large
submerged bank
An ocean bank, sometimes referred to as a fishing bank or simply bank, is a part of the seabed that is shallow compared to its surrounding area, such as a shoal or the top of an seamount, underwater hill. Somewhat like continental margin, conti ...
in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
with an area of about 200 km
2. It is a
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 ...
line structure located in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
off the shore near
Caravelas
Caravelas is a city of about 20,000 inhabitants in southern Bahia, Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-lar ...
,
Bahia State
Bahia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...
.
Geography
The ''Parcel das Paredes'' lies about 30 km east of the continental shore. Although the reef is submerged, parts of it lie above water
at low tide. It is a dangerous area for navigation, but an excellent fishing and scuba-diving ground. The
Abrolhos Archipelago
The Abrolhos Archipelago () are a group of 5 small islands with coral reefs off the southern coast of Bahia state in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeast of Brazil, between 17º25’—18º09’ S and 38º33’—39º05’ W. Caravelas is the ...
lies 35 km further to the east and this ''
Parcel'' is part of the same structure. The maximum tide amplitude in the reef area is approximately 1.7 m.
Together with the
Timbebas Reef located about 40 km to the north of the ''Parcel das Paredes'', as well as the
Sebastiao Gomes Reef,
Coroa Vermelha Reef and the
Viçosa Reef Viçosa is Portuguese-language placename:
* Nova Viçosa, Bahia, Brazil
*Viçosa, Alagoas, Brazil
*Viçosa, Minas Gerais
Viçosa is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population was estimated at 79,910 inhabitants.
It is ...
to the southwest, all these reefs are part of the
National Marine Park of Abrolhos (NMPA).
See also
*
Placer (geography)
Placer ( or ''pracel'') is a term used by Portuguese and Spanish navigators and cartographers to refer to a certain kind of submerged bank or reef. Commonly the bottom of such a reef is sandy, but there are some where the bottom is muddy or st ...
References
External links
Abrolhos National Marine Park – Part 2
Reefs of Brazil
Undersea banks of the Atlantic Ocean
Geography of Bahia
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