Saya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank (also Sahia de Malha Bank) is a large undersea bank in the Indian Ocean, part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau. It lies east of Madagascar, southeast of the Seychelles, and north of the Nazareth Bank, the Cargados Carajos shoals, and the island of Mauritius, but far outside the Territorial waters of any nation. The closest piece of land are the tiny Agalega Islands (a remote dependency of Mauritius), some 300 km further west, followed by the southern Seychellan island of Coëtivy, some 400 km northwest. Mauritius claims Saya de Malha Bank to fall within its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The bank was named by Portugese explorers 500 years ago, who encountered the bank on the voyage between the Cape of Good Hope and India. After traversing miles of the deep blue Indian Ocean, they found themselves sailing above the shallow bank, which was covered with swaying green seagrass.
The bank covers an area of 40,000 km². It is in fact composed of two separate structures, the smaller North Bank (also called Ritchie Bank) and the huge South Bank. If the South Bank it were to be recognized as a submerged atoll structure, it would be the largest of the world, being almost three times as big as the Great Chagos Bank that is commonly considered the largest atoll structure of the world. Even the smaller North Bank by itself would be one of the largest atolls worldwide. The North Bank and the South Bank very likely have different origins, since they appear to be separated by a fault. Studies also conclude that the South Bank and the Great Chagos Bank were one single feature until about 64 to 69 million years ago the opening of an ocean ridge between them started pushing them apart.
Saya de Malha Bank consists of a series of narrow shoals, with depths from 17 to 29 meters on the rim. They are arranged in a semicircular manner, around a space, the former lagoon, about 73 meters deep, which slopes on the Southeast. Parts of the bank are quite shallow, coming as close as 10 meters below the surface. The banks are covered with sea grass interspersed with small coral reefs. Because of its remote location, the bank is among the least-studied shallow marine ecoregions on the planet. The banks are a breeding ground for Humpback Whales and Blue Whales.
The bank was formed 35 million years ago by the Réunion hotspot, and is made up of basaltic basal rock overlain with limestone. The limestone banks found on the plateau are the remnants of coral reefs. Millions of years ago, the bank may have been one or more mountainous volcanic islands, like present-day Réunion, which subsequently sank below the waves. Some of the banks may have been low islands as recently as 18,000 - 6,000 years ago, when sea levels were up to 130 meters lower during the most recent ice age.
The North Bank is the site of an artificial island project. The name of the island that is to grow around steel structure that had been anchored to the sea floor in 2003 at a depth of 11 meters is Autopia, and it is the projected center of a new micronation of the same name. Mauritius will claim and annex any new piece of land that might emerge in the area automatically, just as occurred in the similar case of the Republic of Minerva on the Minerva Reefs, which is now part of Tonga. Mauritius does already claim the entire area
External links
- Saya de Malha Bank (Lighthouse Foundation)
- Proposed artificial island and micronation Autopia (in German)