Speakers Bank
Encyclopedia
Speakers Bank is a large coral
atoll
structure in the Northwestern part of the Chagos Archipelago
. It is the northernmost feature of the archipelago, located at 04°55′S 72°20′E, 22 km Northwest of Blenheim Reef
and is 44 km Northeast-Southwest, and 24 km wide. The total area is 582 2, mostly water. Most of the rim of the reef is between 5.5 and 14.5 metres below water. In the South, near the SW edge, there are some coral heads at 05°04'S, 072°16'E, which dry 0.5 metres during low tide and over which the sea breaks heavily during the southeast trade winds. In the Northeast, at 04°47'S, 072°26'E, there are a number of drying cay
s, the biggest of which, Big Speaker Reef, just reaches the high water mark. The land area is negligible.
Speakers Bank was surveyed in 1856 by British
captain J. Speaker on HMS Wallerup. It is the site of many wrecks, also from prior times.
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
atoll
Atoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
structure in the Northwestern part of the Chagos Archipelago
Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago , is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean; situated some due south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands are the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge a long submarine mountain range...
. It is the northernmost feature of the archipelago, located at 04°55′S 72°20′E, 22 km Northwest of Blenheim Reef
Blenheim Reef
Blenheim Reef is a partly submerged atoll structure in the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean]]. It includes the coral reef of Baxio Predassa in its southeastern rim, plus another completely submerged part. It is located in the northeastern part of the Chagos Archipelago...
and is 44 km Northeast-Southwest, and 24 km wide. The total area is 582 2, mostly water. Most of the rim of the reef is between 5.5 and 14.5 metres below water. In the South, near the SW edge, there are some coral heads at 05°04'S, 072°16'E, which dry 0.5 metres during low tide and over which the sea breaks heavily during the southeast trade winds. In the Northeast, at 04°47'S, 072°26'E, there are a number of drying cay
Cay
A cay , also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people...
s, the biggest of which, Big Speaker Reef, just reaches the high water mark. The land area is negligible.
Speakers Bank was surveyed in 1856 by British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
captain J. Speaker on HMS Wallerup. It is the site of many wrecks, also from prior times.