Benares Shoals

Map of Peros Banhos Atoll showing Benares Shoals on the upper left

Landsat Visible Color Image of Benares Shoals,
with Île Pierre of Peros Banhos at the lower right

Benares Shoals, or Benares Shoal, is a submerged coral reef, an isolated patch located at 5°15′S 071°40′E / 5.250°S 71.667°E / -5.250; 71.667Coordinates: 5°15′S 071°40′E / 5.250°S 71.667°E / -5.250; 71.667, just 6 km WNW of Île Pierre, the closest island of Peros Banhos atoll in the northern Chagos Archipelago. It measures about 3 km east-west, with a width of about 700 metres, and an area of 2 km². The least depth at the western end is 4.5 metres.^[1]

The Benares Shoals were first surveyed in 1837 by Commander Robert Moresby of the Indian Navy on the HMS Benares. Moresby's survey produced the first detailed map of this submerged reef, which was subsequently named after his ship.^[2]

References

↑ British Admiralty nautical chart 11000030 - 3 Chagos Archipelago, Scale 1:360 000
↑ Searight, Sarah, The Charting of the Red Sea. History Today, 2003

External links

Indian Ocean Pilot

Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory)

List of islands in Chagos Archipelago

Atolls with land area	Blenheim Reef Diego Garcia Egmont Islands Great Chagos Bank Peros Banhos Salomon Islands Speakers Bank

Totally submerged	Benares Shoals Cauvin Bank Centurion Bank Colvocoresses Reef Ganges Bank Owen Bank Pitt Bank Victory Bank Wight Bank

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