Cayos Arcas

Last updated
Cayos Arcas
Cayos Arcas.jpg
Satellite image of Cayos Arcas
Gulf of Campeche.jpg
Gulf of Campeche islands
Mexico relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Cayos Arcas
Location in Gulf of Mexico
Geography
Location Bay of Campeche [1]
Coordinates 20°13′N91°59′W / 20.21°N 91.98°W / 20.21; -91.98 Coordinates: 20°13′N91°59′W / 20.21°N 91.98°W / 20.21; -91.98
Archipelago Campeche Bank [2]
Adjacent to
Total islandsNine
Major islands
Administration
Federal Entity of Mexico Campeche
Capital city Campeche City

The Cayos Arcas is a chain of three tiny sand cays and an accompanying reef system in the Gulf of Mexico, 128 kilometres (80 miles) from the mainland. [12] It is located approximately 130 kilometres (81 miles) from the mainland, west of Campeche. Their aggregate land area is 22.8 hectares (56.3 acres). They belong to the municipality of Campeche in the state of Campeche.

Contents

The main island is Cayo del Centro, with an area of 13.7 hectares (33.9 acres), which is scantily covered with grass. Bushes and several clumps of palms are also present. A pair of lighted range beacons stand on the cay. Cayo del Este, a cay 5.2 hectares (12.8 acres) large and 3 metres (9.8 feet) high, lies on a detached reef lying 0.5 kilometres (0.3 miles) southeast of Cayo del Centro. Cayo del Oeste, a cay 3.9 hectares (9.6 acres) in area and 2 metres (6.6 feet) high, lies on a small detached reef about 1.4 kilometres (0.9 miles) west of the south end of Cayo del Centro. [13] [14]

The chain is uninhabited, and lacks structures except for the beacons on Cayo del Centro. Vegetation on the islands is sparse, consisting of sand shrubs and grasses. It currently serves as a navigational marker. Cayos Arcas Terminal, an extensive chain of petroleum stations on the Arcas' reef system is located to the south of the islands. The Arcas oil rigs are currently among the largest oil producers in the gulf in terms of output.

Geography

Cayo del Centro, the largest of the three islands, is 0.137 square kilometres (0.053 square miles) in total, with about 0.1 square kilometres (0.0 square miles) of permanently unsubmerged land. On the island, viewed through Google Maps, along with a covering of Palythoa caribaeorum, Zoanthus sociatus, Acropora palmata, Montastraea annularis, and Diploria strigosa, appear to be a few small buildings and small signs of past human habitation. The island has at least 6 sandy Tidal islands, none of which seem to exceed 1,000 square metres (10,764 square feet) or have any vegetation on them.

Cayo del Este is to the east of Cayo del Centro. This island appears to have 2 species of plant on it, and a single nearby islet about 20 metres (66 feet) long and 8 metres (26 feet) wide. To the west, the island has a fairly long spit of sand leading to a sort of tidal lagoon.

Cayo del Oeste, the smallest the main islands, is further from the other two, and is mainly a triangular islet connected to a spit of sand, with a very small amount of vegetation at the center. The island, although having no nearby islets/sandbars, does have a shallow strip of coast going southwest from its eastern edge. it also has a shipwreck on its eastern coast visible from google maps, It seems to have beached on its side, the ship's name is unknown, though it may be an oil tanker as there is oil industry nearby.

About ⅓ of the way between Cayo del Centro and Cayo del Oeste is a shoal and small island 16 metres (52 feet) long and only 5 metres (16 feet) wide. The island, although small, has a fairly large surrounding shallows, which nearby boats should be wary of. Further to the north of this island is another shallow reef that, although not breaking the surface, is about 230 feet (70 metres) wide and less than 20-foot (6.1-metre) deep. Some of the group, most notably a 3-kilometre-long (1.9-mile) cay on the North/Northeast part of the shoal, [12] is surrounded by a very shallow, dangerous reef. The only safe entrances by boat to the islands are to the North-West-West, South-South-West, and West for the central, east, and west islands respectively. The islands are likely formed by coral growth around an extinct volcano caldera.

Maritime History of Campeche Bank

In the 19th century, the Arcas ocean bank was often used for military operations in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1843, a Texas naval flotilla from the Republic of Texas briefly occupied the island during the Caste War of Yucatán and Naval Battle of Campeche. During the American Civil War, the famous Confederate raider CSS Alabama used the remote chain as a rendezvous point to be resupplied while conducting operations in the gulf.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral Sea Islands</span> External territory of Australia

The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, north-east of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers 780,000 km2 (301,160 sq mi), most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group and fifteen other reef/island groups. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Clara Province</span> Province of Cuba

Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering with the Atlantic at north, Matanzas Province by west, Sancti Spiritus Province by east, and Cienfuegos Province on the South. Villa Clara shares with Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus on the south the Escambray Mountain Range. Its main cities are Santa Clara, Remedios, Sagua La Grande, Camajuani, Caibarién, Ranchuelo, Placetas, and Manicaragua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay of Campeche</span> A bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico

The Bay of Campeche, or Campeche Sound, is a bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico, forming the north side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz. The area of the bay is 6,000 square miles (16,000 km2) and maximum depth of the bay is approximately 180 feet (55 m). It was named by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Antón de Alaminos during their expedition in 1517.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banco Chinchorro</span> Atoll reef off Quintana Roo in Mexico

Banco Chinchorro is an atoll reef lying off the southeast coast of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco in Quintana Roo, Mexico, near Belize. It was featured throughout the 2009 semi-documentary film Alamar by Pedro González-Rubio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ono-i-Lau</span>

Ono-i-Lau is a group of islands within a barrier reef system in the Fijian archipelago of Lau Islands. There are four central volcanic islands: Onolevu, Doi Lovoni and Ndavura, the uppermost parts of the volcanic edifice rising from the Lau Ridge slightly more than 1,000 metres below sea level and on which the reef and other islands are built. There are also three clusters of coral limestone islets, Yanuya and Mana on the barrier reef and Niuta. A sand cay, Udui, is not counted as one of the six “islands”.

Pedro Bank is a large bank of sand and coral, partially covered with seagrass, about 80 km south and southwest of Jamaica, rising steeply from a seabed of 800 metres depth. It slopes gently from the Pedro Cays to the west and north with depths from 13 to 30 metres. The total area of the bank within the 100-metre (328-foot) isobath measures 8,040 square kilometres. The area of a depth to 40 metres is triangular, 70 kilometres long east-west, and 43 kilometres wide. 2,400 square kilometres are less than 20 metres deep. With its islets, cays and rocks, a total land area of 270,000 m2 (2,906,256 sq ft), it is the location of one of the two offshore island groups of Jamaica, the other one being the Morant Cays. The bank is centered at 17°06′N78°20′W.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Shoal</span> Submerged reef in the Caribbean Sea shared between Colombia and Jamaica

Alice Shoal is a wholly submerged reef, located in the western Caribbean Sea, about 260 kilometres southwest of Jamaica. The mainland of Colombia lies 740 kilometres away to the southeast.

Gulf of Cazones is a large gulf in southern Cuba. It is located at the south by the provinces of Matanzas and Cienfuegos, between the northeast edge of the Jardinillos Bank on the south, and Piedras and other cays and reefs on the north. It is considered dangerous for sailing vessels to cross because of calms and cross currents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesterfield Islands</span> Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia

The Chesterfield Islands are a French archipelago of New Caledonia located in the Coral Sea, 550 km (300 nmi) northwest of Grande Terre, the main island of New Caledonia. The archipelago is 120 km long and 70 km broad, made up of 11 uninhabited islets and many reefs. The land area of the islands is less than 10 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cay Sal Bank</span> Carbonate platform in Bahama Banks, The Bahamas

Cay Sal Bank is the third largest and the westernmost of the Bahama Banks. It is located between 23º27'N - 24º10'N and 079º25'W – 080º35'W. In a geographical sense, it is separate from the Bahamas proper as it is much closer to Cuba than to the closest Bahamian island. It is separated by Santaren Channel from the Great Bahama Bank, the western rim of which is 50 km (31 mi) to the east. The Straits of Florida separate it from the United States mainland and the Florida Keys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campeche Bank</span>

Campeche Bank is part of the Gulf of Mexico and extends from the Yucatan Straits in the east to the Tabasco-Campeche Basin in the west. The Campeche ocean bank is 81 miles (130 km) from Mexico's geography of Campeche nautically bearing 100 nautical miles south of the Tropic of Cancer.

The Colorados Archipelago is a chain of isles and cays on Cuba's north-western coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand Cay</span> Island

Sand Cay10°22′30″N114°28′48″E, also known as Bailan Island ; Son Ca Island ; Mandarin Chinese: 敦謙沙洲/敦谦沙洲; pinyin: Dūnqiān Shāzhōu, is a cay on the north edge of the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. With an area of 7 hectares, it is the ninth largest, and the fourth largest former Vietnamese-administered, of the Spratly Islands. The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1974,. It is also claimed by China (PRC), the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan (ROC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosario Islands</span> Caribbean archipelago off the coast of Colombia

The Rosario Islands, also referred to as Corales Islas del Rosario, is an archipelago located off the coast of Colombia, approximately 100 kilometres from Cartagena. It is one of the 46 Natural National Parks of Colombia. The national park was founded in 1988, to protect one of the most important coral reefs of the Colombian Caribbean coast. People can visit the national park area of the islands, and tours are available. Isla Rosario has an aquarium and open-sea oceanarium (oceanario) that people can visit. Activities include swimming, snorkeling and fishing, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bramble Cay</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Bramble Cay, also known as Maizab Kaur and Massaramcoer, is a small cay located at the northeastern edge of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland and at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Lying around 50 km (31 mi) north of Erub Island in the Gulf of Papua, it is the northernmost point of land of Australia and marks the end of the Great Barrier Reef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea of Abaco</span> Body of water

The Sea of Abaco, located in The Bahamas, is an approximately 100 kilometres long saltwater lagoon separating Great Abaco Island from a chain of barrier islands known as the Abaco Cays. Depths in the Sea of Abaco are generally a few metres, and shallow reefs and shoals can pose a serious hazard to navigation. Despite these hazards, the sea is popular with boaters and is sometimes referred to as a ‘marine highway’, offering a sheltered passage through the Abaco Islands. The majority of the largest settlements and towns in the Abaco Islands are located along the shores of the sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dangerous Ground (South China Sea)</span> Body of water

Dangerous Ground is a large area in the southeast part of the South China Sea characterized by many low islands and cays, sunken reefs, and atolls awash, with reefs often rising abruptly from ocean depths greater than 1000m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tizard Bank</span>

The Tizard Bank, 10°15′N114°30′E is a partially sunken atoll and one of the significant maritime features of the north-western part of the Spratly Islands. It is claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, and various parts of it are occupied by these states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elbow Cays</span> Cays in The Bahamas

The Elbow Cays are uninhabited cays in the Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas. It is the most Western point in the Bahamas. They are part of a reef shelf located at the northwestern end of the bank about 80 km (50 mi) off the Cuban coast and 130 km (80 mi) southeast of Key West, Florida. These cays are an excellent scuba diving spot.

References

  1. Bahía de Campeche in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  2. Campeche Bank in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  3. Arrecife Alacrán in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  4. Cayo Arenas in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  5. Triángulo Oeste in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  6. Triángulo Este in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  7. Obispo Norte Shoal in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  8. Obispo Sur Shoal in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  9. Cayos Arcas in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  10. Banco Nuevo in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  11. Banco Pera in Geonames.org (cc-by)
  12. 1 2 "GulfBase - Cayos Arcas Complex". ICRI, 2004. GulfBase.org. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  13. Sailing Directions (Enroute), Pub. 148: Caribbean Sea Volume II (PDF). Sailing Directions . United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2017. p. 185.
  14. (areas) Archived 2009-09-06 at the Wayback Machine