Lansdowne Bank, sometimes called Landsdowne Bank, is an extensive

submerged bank An ocean bank, sometimes referred to as a fishing bank or simply bank, is a part of the seabed that is shallow compared to its surrounding area, such as a shoal or the top of an underwater hill. Somewhat like continental slopes, ocean bank sl ...

located between the main island of

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and the

Chesterfield Islands The Chesterfield Islands (''îles Chesterfield'' in French) are a French archipelago of New Caledonia located in the Coral Sea, northwest of Grande Terre, the main island of New Caledonia. The archipelago is 120 km long and 70 km ...

, in the easternmost part of the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

. It covers an area of ,Le parc naturel de la mer de Corail
p. 26 making it one of the largest banks of the world, has general depths of , and a largely sandy bottom. Two reefs mark the shallowest spots of the bank, but they are still submerged at low tide. Fairway Ridge, also called Fairway Plateau, is a submarine feature shown on some maps in that area. The Lansdowne Bank area marked is far larger than Fairway Plateau, but there are smaller, unnamed plateaus nearby. The Lansdowne Bank area, shown at the northeastern end of

Lord Howe Rise The Lord Howe Rise is a deep sea plateau which extends from south west of New Caledonia to the Challenger Plateau, west of New Zealand in the south west of the Pacific Ocean. To its west is the Tasman Basin and to the east is the New Caledonia ...

, is separated from New Caledonia by New Caledonia Basin and Fairway Basin.

Nereus Reef

Nereus Reef is at the northern end of Lansdowne Bank. Its given position of is doubtful. Nereus Reef has the least depth of the bank, with . A shoal with a depth of is west-northwest of Nereus Reef.

Fairway Reef

The southeastern end of Lansdowne Bank is marked by Fairway Reef, thus named from its lying in the fairway between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

, midway between the

Bellona Reefs The Chesterfield Islands (''îles Chesterfield'' in French) are a French archipelago of New Caledonia located in the Coral Sea, northwest of Grande Terre, the main island of New Caledonia. The archipelago is 120 km long and 70 km ...

(south of the Chesterfield Islands) and New Caledonia. Fairway Reef is long, about 4 to 5 fathoms (7.3 to 9.1 metres) deep, of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

bottom, and located at . According to some sources, Fairway Reef dries at low tide.

Sandy Island Mystery

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

and other internet maps showed a large landmass named Sandy Island in northern Lansdowne Bank, but did not show an image for it. The non-existence of this phantom island had been proved by French missions in the 1970s, and the information passed to hydrographic services around the world, but it had remained in the World Vector Shoreline Database. In 2012 Australian scientists again proved the island does not exist.

References

External links

Geology

Geology
*{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/coralsea/fairway.php , date=December 23, 2010 , title=Fairway Reef
Part of Nautical Chart n° 6670
Landforms of New Caledonia Coral reefs Undersea banks of the Pacific Ocean

Nereus Reef

Fairway Reef

Sandy Island Mystery

See also

References

External links