Placer (geography)

The word in Spanish is thus derived from placea and refers directly to an alluvial or glacial deposit of sand or gravel.Spanish navigator and explorer Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa commented that placer likely originated as a term derived from placer mining in the Antilles, where pearl fishing was done mostly on shallow sandy reefs, which were compared to the sandy grounds in rivers where gold nuggets were found.Moya claims that the landforms that received this denomination did so in an ironical manner, for it would be everything but a pleasure to navigate those treacherous waters under the constant risk of running aground.However, other navigators contradict Moya by claiming that such a shallow ground would provide mariners with a much welcome anchorage after a long open sea journey, for in some placeres the waters are not as rough as in the open seas.[1] The term appears in Spanish nautical charts as placer, although Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa writes it as placel.
The Placer de los Roques marked as Pracel in a 1762 French map.
"Le Pracel" north of Cuba in a 1708 De L'Isle map
"I. de Pracel" south of Hainan in a 16th-century Nicolaes Visscher II map
"Le Paracel" off the coast of Vietnam in a 1771 Rigobert Bonne Map of Tonkin, China, Formosa and Luzon
Placer depositPlacer de los RoquesPortugueseSpanishstoneyanchoragePedro Sarmiento de Gamboaplacer miningAntillespearl fishingnautical chartsPortuguese languageOrinoco DeltaParacel IslandsSouth China SeaFrench explorersParcel dos AbrolhosParcel das ParedesBrazilianAtlantic OceanCay Sal BankPlacer de la SerranillaSerranilla BankPlacer de la VíboraPedro BankPlacer de RosalindaRosalind BankPlacer de la MisteriosaMisteriosa BankPlacer de la GuairaLa Guaira BankCaicos BankMediterranean SeaEsteponascuba divingHainanNicolaes Visscher IIVietnamRigobert BonneOcean bank