Stonewall Bank (Lincoln County, Oregon)

Stonewall Bank
The Rock Pile
Stonewall Bank is located offshore of Oregon, USA
Stonewall Bank is located offshore of Oregon, USA
Stonewall Bank
Stonewall Bank is located off the coast of Oregon
LocationPacific Ocean, near Newport, Oregon
Coordinates44°31′29″N 124°23′34″W / 44.52472°N 124.39278°W / 44.52472; -124.39278
TypeBar
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length9 miles (14 km)
Max. width2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Max. depth160 metres (520 ft)

Stonewall Bank, also, the Stonewall Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas (YRCA)[1] is a bar, loosely southwest of Newport, Oregon, United States. Waldport and Yachats are also near.[2] It is 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Yaquina Bay Light, and 14 miles (23 km) offshore. Running north, Stonewall Bank is 9 miles (14 km) long and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide.[3] Locally, Stonewall Bank is known as the Rock Pile, has good fishing for salmon, black rockfish and flatfish.[4]

It is split by a rocky channel, which was a seaward extension of the Yaquina River, when sea level was lower than today.[5] Stonewall Bank runs from sea level to 160 metres (520 ft) deep,[6] if more technically, its shallowest water is 7 metres (23 ft) deep.[7]

Inside Stonewall Bank

Inside Stonewall bank, it is illegal to fish for Pacific halibut, or any species from the Groundfish Group, which includes lingcod, rockfish, greenling, Pacific cod, skates and flatfish. It is open, for fishing for salmon, steelhead—using authorized methods, during authorized seasons—tuna, and other offshore pelagic species of fish[8]

Stonewall Bank has a buoy, which provides air pressure at sea level, air temperature, sea water temperature, waves, and winds.[9][10]

Geology

Of geology, Stonewall Bank is the site of a growing, west-verging anticline which strikes north-northwest on the continental shelf, at 44.5° N, southwest of Newport, going eastward, to its onshore continuation, the Yaquina River.[11]

On Stonewall Bank, a fault discovered in 2009 near southwest of Newport could produce an earthquake which compares in size to 1994's magnitude 6.7 quake that hit Northridge, California. The fault is a blind thrust fault.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stonewall Bank YRCA" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Stonewall Bank, topographic map".
  3. ^ "U.S. Coast Pilot 7, Chapter 9" (PDF). defense.gov.
  4. ^ "Yaquina Bay". Archived from the original on October 28, 2014.
  5. ^ Yeats, Robert S. "Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest". Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  6. ^ "Station 46050 (LLNR 641) - STONEWALL BANK - 20NM West of Newport, OR".
  7. ^ Moum, J.N. "Topographically Induced Drag and Mixing at a Small Bank on the Continental Shelf". AMS Journals. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  8. ^ "Stonewall Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Area (YRCA)" (PDF).
  9. ^ "STONEWALL BANK - 20NM West of Newport, OR".
  10. ^ "Stonewall Bank Buoy Overview".
  11. ^ Yeats, Robert S. "Stonewall anticline: An active fold on the Oregon continental shelf". GSA Bulletin. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  12. ^ "Drowned river valley gives clues to offshore quakes".
  13. ^ Yeats, Robert S. "Stonewall anticline: An active fold on the Oregon continental shelf" (PDF). activetectonics.oce.orst.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-20.

General sites

Geology