Stonewall Bank (Lincoln County, Oregon) Explained

Stonewall Bank
Other Name:	The Rock Pile
Location:	Pacific Ocean, near Newport, Oregon
Coordinates:	44.5247°N -124.3928°W
Type:	Bar
Basin Countries:	United States
Length:	9miles
Width:	2.5miles
Max-Depth:	160m (530feet)
Pushpin Map:	Oregon
Pushpin Map Alt:	Stonewall Bank is located offshore of Oregon, USA
Pushpin Map Caption:	Stonewall Bank is located off the coast of Oregon

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 17miles southwest of Yaquina Bay Light, and 14miles offshore. Running north, Stonewall Bank is 9miles long and 2.5miles 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 160m (530feet) deep,^[6] if more technically, its shallowest water is 7m (23feet) deep.^[7]

Inside Stonewall Bank

Inside Stonewall bank, it is illegal to fish for Pacific halibut, or anyspecies 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

• Nehalem Bank
• Ocean bank
• Shoal
• Siletz Reef

External links and references

General sites

• US government site, on Stonewall Bank
• A map
• Another map
• Fishing weather, in Stonewall Bank
• Information on the wave buoy at Stonewall Bank
• Information on Oregon areas, closed to fishing of West Coast Groundfish
• More information on the area, closed to recreational fishing of groundfish and halibut
• A Youtube video
• A Vimeo video

Geology

• A US government site, on the local fault
• More US government information on the fault

Notes and References

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