Bench (sea)

A bank refers to an area of ​​the sea that is shallow compared to its surroundings, such as a sandbar or the top of an underwater mountain . Much like a continental slope , the slope of a bank can create upwelling resulting in a nutrient-rich current. Because of this, some large banks like the Dogger Bank and the Newfoundland Bank are some of the richest fishing grounds on earth. In the 19th century, navigators reported banks of dubious existence, such as the Wachusett Reef .

species

Banks can be of volcanic origin or formed by limestone or terrigenous sediment deposits . In tropical areas, some banks are flooded atolls . Since they are not related to any land mass, the sediments cannot be brought in from outside.

Carbonate banks are platforms that rise from the deep sea, while terrigenous banks are elevated sediment deposits, mostly on the continental shelf . In contrast, seamounts are volcanic mountains that rise from the deep sea and are steeper, taller and much smaller than the banks created by sedimentation. They have a round shape and are often isolated from the land mass in the deep sea. An example of this is the Empedocles in the Strait of Sicily . Its highest point is around seven to eight meters below the sea surface.

Significant benches

The largest banks on earth are:

1. Newfoundland Bank (280,000 km², terrigenous bank)
2. Bahama Banks ( Great Bahama Bank: 95,798.12 km², area without islands and Little Bahama Bank: 14,260.64 km², area without islands)
3. Saya de Malha Bänke (40,808 km²: north bank and south bank , 7 - 10 meters below lake level )
4. Mascarene Plateau (31,000 km², including islands of 266 km²)
5. Georges Bank (28,800 km², private bank)
6. Lansdowne Bank (21,000 km², west of New Caledonia , up to 3.7 meters below lake level)
7. Doggerbank (17,600 km², up to 13 meters below the sea surface)
8. Great Chagos Bank (12,642 km², including islands of 4.5 km²)
9. Reed Bank , Spratly Islands (8,866 km², up to 9 meters below sea level)
10. Caicos Bank , Caicos Islands (7680 km², including islands of 589.5 km²)
11. Zhongsha Islands (6448 km², up to 9.2 meters below the sea surface)
12. Cay Sal Bank (5226.73 km², including islands of 14.87 km²)
13. Rosalind Bank (4500 km², up to 7.3 meters below the sea surface)

See also

• shallow

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Morelock, J. (2005). Morphology ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Geological Oceanography Program, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM). 
2. ^ Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. Islands, Banks & Seamounts: Geologic Features Under the Sea ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 103 kB).