Spartel Bank or Majuán Bank is a submerged former island located in the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
near
Cape Spartel
Cape Spartel ( ar, رأس سبارطيل; french: Cap Spartel; ary, أشبرتال) is a promontory in Morocco about above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km West of Tangier. Below the cape are the Caves of Hercules. ...
and the
Spartel Sill
The Spartel or Espartel Sill is one of the sills separating the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This threshold is the second shallowest seafloor pass between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It is located near the Strait of Gibraltar ...
. Its highest point is currently below the surface.
Spartel Bank is one of several seamounts in the bed of Gibraltar Strait; similar but deeper seamounts are found at
Camarinal Sill
The Camarinal Sill is the sill separating the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This threshold is the shallowest seafloor pass between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It is located approximately 25 km west of the narrowest section of ...
and further east. These represent landslide blocks which slid south from the north bank of the Strait of Gibraltar when the strait was formed, possibly through erosion by inflowing waters of the Zanclean flood.
It vanished under the surface approximately 12,000 years ago due to rising ocean levels from melting ice caps after the
last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent.
Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...
. It has been proposed by researchers Jacques Collina-Girard and Marc-André Gutscher as a site for the legendary lost island of
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...
. In follow-up correspondence, however, Gutscher indicated that the island could not have been Atlantis, referring to Plato's description of a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
society, which Spartel could not have supported at the time. A detailed review in the ''
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' (''BMCR'') is an open access journal founded in 1990. It publishes reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology.
Location hypotheses of Atlantis
There are several hypotheses about real-world events that could have inspired Plato's fictional story of Atlantis, told in the ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias''. While Plato's story was not part of the Greek mythic tradition and his dialogues use it so ...
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Spartel Sill
The Spartel or Espartel Sill is one of the sills separating the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This threshold is the second shallowest seafloor pass between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It is located near the Strait of Gibraltar ...
*
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...