Disputed: | yes |
Rosalind Bank | |
Type: | ocean bank |
Other Names: | Placer de Rosalinda |
Pushpin Map: | Caribbean#Colombia San Andrés y Providencia#Colombia |
Location: | Caribbean Sea |
Rosalind Bank, also called Rosalinda or Rosa Linda Bank (es|Placer de Rosalinda),[1] is a large, completely submerged bank or atoll in the western Caribbean Sea. It is the culmination of an area of coral reef, some 300km (200miles) long, that extends eastward from Cabo Gracias a Dios. The bank area is part of an extensive structure, known as Nicaragua Rise, that continues further east through Pedro Bank towards Jamaica.
Rosalind is 101km (63miles) long in a north–south direction and 56km (35miles) wide, as defined by the 200m (700feet) isobath, which corresponds to an area of roughly 4500km2. General depths range from 18mto37mm (59feetto121feetm), an almost immediate transition from the 300m (1,000feet) depth of surrounding waters. The bottom is of coarse sand and coral.[2]
Several patches of depths from 7.3mto11mm (24feetto36feetm) lie on a 23km (14miles) long coral ledge located 3km (02miles) within the southeast edge of the bank. A detached 11m (36feet) patch lies near the southwest edge of the bank, 21.7km (13.5miles) west of the southern end of this ledge. A depth of 10.9m (35.8feet) lies close to the northern edge of the bank.
An extensive bank 66km (41miles) long and 16km (10miles) wide, with an area of 830km2, lies 18km (11miles) west of Rosalind Bank. Depths over this bank range from 7mto66mm (23feetto217feetm). The shallowest detached patches are found along the eastern edge of the bank. A detached 11m (36feet) patch lies on the northern part of the bank. 6km (04miles) further west lies Thunder Knoll.
30km (20miles) southeast of Rosalind Bank is Serranilla Bank. The cays on it are the closest pieces of dry land.
Until a 1986 treaty between Honduras and Colombia determined the two nations' maritime boundary in the area, Colombia claimed Rosalinda Bank as part of the San Andrés archipelago, along with Serranilla Bank. Under the treaty, however, Colombia accepted a boundary that placed Rosalind within Honduras's exclusive economic zone.[3] Nicaragua objected to the 1986 maritime decision as it ignored Nicaraguan claims to the area.[4]