Morphology of a Coral Bank, Western Continental Shelf of India : A Multibeam Study

Morphology of a living coral bank (Gaveshani Bank) is described using multibeam swath bathyrnetric survey system Hydrosweep. The bank has a height of 42 m, length of 2 km and a maximum width of 1.66 km, with steep flanks and flat top. It has a north-souh orientation and occupies an arca of about 3 sq km. A 100% coverage obtaincd in the present study enables us to determine the exact morphology of the bank. A comparison with the single beam echosounding data reveals that the dimensions (length and breadth) and areal extension of the bank are much larger than previously known.