The Bahama Banks; the northern one is the Little Bahama Bank, and the southern the Great Bahama Bank. The Cay Sal Bank is also visible. From MODIS, courtesy of NASA

The Bahama Banks are the submerged carbonate platforms that make up much of the Bahama Archipelago. The term is usually used to refer to either the Great Bahama Bank around Andros Island, or the Little Bahama Bank of Grand Bahama Island and Great Abaco, which are the largest of the platforms. Other banks are the Caicos Bank of the Caicos Islands, the Cay Sal Bank north of Cuba, and the wholly-submerged Silver Bank north of the Dominican Republic. Ash plumes on Kamchatka Peninsula, eastern Russia MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 on board the Terra (EOS AM) Satellite, and in 2002 on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite. ... NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... A carbonate platform is a geologic structure composed of carbonate sediments that have accumulated and lithified over a long period of time. ... Andros Island is the largest island of the Spanish landed on Andros Island in 1550 in search of slaves they managed to destroy all of the local indigenous Lucayan people on the island with the warring and disease that they brought with them. ... Grand Bahama from space, June 1998 Grand Bahama is one of the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, and the closest major island to the United States, lying just 55 mi (90 km) off the coast of the state of Florida. ... The Abaco islands lie in the northern Bahamas and comprise the main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco, together with the smaller Wood Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Great Guana Cay, Gorda Cay, Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Strangers Cay, Umbrella Cay, Walkers Cay and Mores Island. ... The Turks and Caicos Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom consisting of two groups of tropical island located in the Caribbean. ...

Geologic History and Structure

The limestone that comprises the Banks has been accumulating since at least the Cretaceous period, and perhaps as early as the Jurassic; today the total thickness under the Great Bahama Bank is over 4500 meters.[1], [2] As its limestones were deposited in shallow water, the only way to explain this massive column is to estimate that the entire platform has subsided under its own weight at a rate of roughly 3.6 centimeters per 1,000 years.[3] Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period, about 146 million years ago (Ma), to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65. ... The Jurassic Period is a major unit of the geologic timescale that extends from about 200 Ma (million years ago), at the end of the Triassic to 146 Ma, at the beginning of the Cretaceous. ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

The waters of the Bahama Banks are very shallow; on the Great Bahama Bank they are generally no deeper than 25 meters.[4] The slopes around them however, such as the border of the Tongue of the Ocean in the Great Bahama Bank, are very steep. The Banks were dry land during past ice ages, when sea level was as much as 120 meters lower than at present; the area of the Bahamas today thus represents only a small fraction of their prehistoric extent.[5][6] When they were exposed to the atmosphere, their limestones were subjected to chemical weathering that created the caves and sinkholes common to karst terrain, resulting in structures like blue holes.[7] The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... The Tongue of the Ocean can be seen along the east coast of Andros Island. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... Saturns atmosphere is made up of hydorgen, helium and methane ... This is a drainage basin developed in response to a steady rate of lowering of the local base level, which is the lower boundary. ... Alternate meanings: Cave (disambiguation) The outside world viewed from a cave A cave is a natural underground void. ... Sinkholes are formed by the collapse of cave roofs and are a feature of landscapes that are based on limestone bedrock. ... Karst topography occurs when a landscape is marked by underground drainage patterns. ... Blue Hole is a diving location on west Sinai in the Red Sea. ...

See also

• Bahamas

• Blue hole

• Carbonate platform

• Geography of the Bahamas

• Karst terrain

Blue Hole is a diving location on west Sinai in the Red Sea. ... A carbonate platform is a geologic structure composed of carbonate sediments that have accumulated and lithified over a long period of time. ... The Bahamas are a group of about 700 atolls and cays in the western Atlantic Ocean. ... Karst topography occurs when a landscape is marked by underground drainage patterns. ...

References

• Stephen K. Boss. "Geological Research on the Great Bahama Bank" (Accessed 3/9/06)

• "Geomorphology from Space, Chapter 6: Coastal Landforms. Plate C-16, 'Great Bahama Bank'" (Accessed 3/9/06)