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{{Short description|Caribbean atoll, Dutch national park}}
{{morefootnotes|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Saba Bank NP Map.jpg|thumb|Location of Saba Bank National Park southwest of the island of Saba]]
[[File:Saba Bank underwater atoll composite image.png|thumb|Composite of images from Saba Bank.]]
'''Saba Bank''' in the [[
The national park was established to provide protection to the biodiversity of the bank. The marine life there consists of humpback whales, sea turtles, over 200 species of fish, and many kinds of sea birds. The bank is highly valued to other close reefs, acting as a source of coral larvae and fish that then spread throughout nearby coral reefs in the region. In the past, the bank has been damaged by anchors from ships and tankers while loading oil, and began to deteriorate in color and size.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dcnanature.org/saba-bank/|title=Saba Bank Expedition 2010|date=25 November 2010}}</ref>
Its northeastern side lies about 4.3 km southwest of the island of [[Saba]]. It is raised about 1000 m above the general depths of the surrounding sea floor. With a length of 60 to 65 km and a width of 30 to 40 km, the atoll's total surface area is approximately 2200 km², as measured from 11-200 meter depth, 1600 km² of which is shallower than 50 m.▼
The Saba Bank, several kilometers to the south of the [[Saba (island)|island of Saba]], covers more than {{convert|2400|km2|abbr=on}} and is therefore the largest protected nature area in the Netherlands. The bank lies completely underwater and is important from both a biological and economic perspective.
From northeast the bank extends about 55 km southwest, with a least reported depth of 7.3 m located about 15 km southwest of [[Mount Scenery]]. A depth of 8.2 m lies about 16 km south of the island. The eastern side of the bank is fringed with a ridge of living [[coral]], sand and rock, nearly 48 km in length. The depths over the ridge range from 11 to 35 m. Westward of this ridge, except for a few 16.5 m and 18.3 m coral patches near the south side of the bank, and a 16.4 m patch near the west end of the bank, the bottom is clear white coral sand with depths of from 21.9 to 36.6 m, gradually increasing towards the edge of the bank, but ending abruptly in depths of 54.9 m. In depths of under 20 m, the bottom can be distinctly seen.▼
==Geography==
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▲From northeast, the bank extends about {{convert|55
==Largest and deepest marine sinkholes in the world==
In 2019, the [[Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research]] (NIOZ) and Wageningen Marine Research organized an expedition to the Saba Bank, close to the Dutch island of Saba. Expert researchers gathered data to acquire more knowledge about sinkholes. In 2018, the same group of researchers discovered more than 20 enormous holes ranging from {{convert|10|to|375|m}} in depth and with diameters varying between {{convert|70|and|1100|m}}. The floor of the Saba Bank consists of a limestone deposition {{convert|1|to|2|km}} thick. When the bank lay above water during the ice ages and the sea level was {{convert|120|m}} lower than it is now, flowing freshwater dissolved the limestone and created large holes. This first led to the formation of caves, which subsequently collapsed. Interestingly enough, these sinkholes that developed on land were subsequently submerged after the last ice age (20,000 years ago), when the sea level rose again. Later, researchers discovered that the sinkhole seemed to seep gas. Researchers then obtained coordinates of a purported hot-spring in one of the sinkholes that could have possibly seeped methane.
==Politics==
About one-third of Saba Bank lies within the Saba territorial waters, a {{convert|12|nmi|km|0|sing=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Saba Bank Atoll: Saba Bank National Park {{!}} LAC Geo|url=https://lacgeo.com/saba-bank-atoll-national-park|access-date=2020-12-09|website=lacgeo.com}}</ref> zone. Around it is an [[Exclusive Economic Zone]] of the [[Netherlands]] of {{convert|200|nmi|km}} outside the [[baseline (sea)|coastal baseline]], which replaced the [[Economic Fisheries Zone]] established before the [[dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [[PLoS ONE]]: [http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fissue.pcol.v02.i08 Biodiversity of Saba Bank]
*[http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub147/147sec08.pdf Sailing Directions, Caribbean Sea, Vol. I]
*[http://www.mina.vomil.an/Eilandinfo/Sababank.html Government Environmental Information]
*https://www.dcnanature.org/saba-bank/
*https://lacgeo.com/saba-bank-atoll-national-park
[[Category:Landforms of the Netherlands Antilles]]▼
*https://www.saba-news.com/saba-bank-has-the-deepest-and-largest-marine-sinkholes-in-the-world/
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|17|02|N|63|25|W|display=title}}
▲{{Saba-geo-stub}}
[[Category:Undersea banks of the Caribbean Sea]]
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