South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...
and
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...
. The bank's coordinates are , about 350 km south of
Diego Ramírez Islands
The Diego Ramírez Islands ( es, Islas Diego Ramírez) are a small group of subantarctic islands located in the southernmost extreme of Chile.
History
The islands were first sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition ...
and 500 km from the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
. The top of the bank lies a few hundred meters under sea level.
The bank has been proposed by Chilean historian
Mateo Martinic Mateo Martinić Beroš (born 20 October 1931) is a Chilean historian, politician and lawyer of Croatian descent. He has primarily dealt with the history of Magallanes Region. He entered the University of Chile in 1953 studying briefly pedagogy befo ...
Elizabeth Island Elizabeth Island may refer to:
* Elizabeth Island (Alaska)
* Elizabeth Island, Bahamas
* Elizabeth Island, Bermuda
* Elizabeth Island (Georgian Bay)
* Elizabeth Island, Michigan
* Elizabeth Island, New Zealand
* Elizabeth Island (Victoria)
* Elizab ...
, seen by
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...
's expedition in 1578. If the Sars Bank was ever above sea level it may have had significant
biogeographical
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
importance as a "bridge" between South America and Antarctica.
Peter I Island
Peter I Island ( no, Peter I Øy) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea, from continental Antarctica. It is claimed as a dependency of Norway and, along with Bouvet Island and Queen Maud Land, composes one of the thre ...