Tongue of the Ocean

The Tongue of the Ocean is the name of a deep oceanic trench in the Bahamas separating the islands of Andros and New Providence.FeaturesThe TOTO is a U-shaped, relatively flat-bottomed trench approximately 20 miles wide by 150 miles long. Its depth varies gradually from 3,600 feet in the south to 6,600 feet in the north.Its only exposure to the open ocean is at the northern end. Except for the northern ocean opening, the TOTO is surrounded by numerous islands, reefs, and shoals which make a peripheral shelter isolating it from ocean disturbances, particularly high ambient noise.This channel and the Providence Channel are the two main branches of the Great Bahama Canyon, a submerged geological feature formed by erosion during periods of lower sea level. During their early history the Tongue of the Ocean and the Providence Channels were broad, relatively shallow basins flanked by growing carbonate banks. As the Blake-Bahama platform subsided, sedimentation kept pace with subsidence on the banks, but not in the basins.