Mouchoir Bank

Mouchoir Bank, in Spanish also called Banco de Pañuelo Blanco, is a submerged bank that is disputed by the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic, and claimed by both countries as part of their EEZ.

Mouchoir Bank

Native name: Banco de Pañuelo Blanco Submerged bank
Mouchoir Bank Location with the Caribbean
Geography
Location	Caribbean
Coordinates	20°57′00″N 70°42′00″W
Area	960 km^2 (370 sq mi)
Administration
Disputed
Additional information
Time zone	Eastern Caribbean Time Zone (UTC−04:00)

Mouchoir Bank in the lower right of an 1873 map of the Bahamas (unnamed, between Is. Turks and Bank of Argent = Silver Bank)

1773 map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin showing leMouchoir Carré, tres peu connu = very little known as if with islands, which in reality do not exist

It is located southeast of the Turks islands and is geographically a continuation of the carbonate island archipelago comprising the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, the Silver Bank, and the Navidad Bank.[1]

Geography

Much of the north side of the bank is awash in two groupings of coral reef. A 1.8 m deep rock lies between the two groupings. There are numerous shallow patches on the bank which break. North East Breaker is a dangerous rock in the northeast.

It covers an area of 960 km².[2] Mouchoir Passage, which separates Mouchoir Bank from the Turks Islands further northwest, is about 26 kilometres (16 mi) wide and very deep. Silver Bank Passage separates Mouchoir Bank from Silver Bank further southeast, which belongs to the EEZ of the Dominican Republic.

See also

• Silver Bank
• Navidad Bank

References

1. Carew, James; Mylroie, John (1997). Vacher, H.L.; Quinn, T. (eds.). Geology of Bahamas, in Geology and Hydrology of Carbonate Islands, Developments in Sedimentology 54. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V. pp. 91-139. ISBN 9780444516442.
2. Michael L. Frankel, The Voyage of SABRA: An Ecological Cruise Through the Caribbean

External links

• Sailing Directions, Caribbean Sea Vol. I