Reed Tablemount

About

Reed Tablemount (also referred to as Reed Bank, Recto Bank and several other names) is a large tablemount or guyot in the South China Sea north-east of Dangerous Ground and north-east of the Spratly Islands. It covers an area of 8,866 square kilometres (3, 423 sq mi), but with depths between only 9 and 45 metres (30 and 148 ft). The submerged but hydrocarbon-rich area includes Nares Bank and Marie Louise Bank. Although the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that the area is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, economic rights to the area continue to be disputed – mainly by the People's Republic of China – and exploitation of the hydrocarbon reserves by the Philippines were suspended in 2015. The tablemount is in the northeast quadrant of the Philippine's Kalayaan claimed territory, which also includes most of the north and east portions of the Spratly Islands. The area is located off the northwest coast of Palawan, north of Iroquois reef, Pennsylvania reef and the Southern reefs, and east of the northern part of the Spratly Islands. The nearest occupied parts of the Spratly Islands are Philippine-occupied Flat Island, Nanshan Island and Second Thomas Shoal, and the PRC-occupied Mischief Reef.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.