[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Last subaerially exposed from the Last Glacial Maximum in the Last Glacial Period of the Late Pleistocene Age to the Northgrippian Age of the Holocene Epoch, the bank connected Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands into a single landmass until sea level rise fragmented it into the present-day islands between 10,000 to 7,000 years Before Present (8,050 to 5,050 years Before Common Era).

[16][17][18] Separated from the Greater Antilles by the Mona Passage and from the Lesser Antilles by the Anegada passage in the northeastern Caribbean Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, the Puerto Rico Bank compromises the main island of Puerto Rico, the Spanish Virgins Islands of Vieques and Culebra, the U.S. Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and the British Virgin Islands of Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Anegada.

[23] Around the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, the bank is 40 to 65 km (25 to 40 mi) wide.

[24][25] All islands and cays in the archipelago of Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra, are connected less than 25 m (82 ft).

[26][11][27][28][29][30][31] The Spanish Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra and the American and British islands are separated by a narrow strait, the Virgin Passage, which is 16 km (10 m) in length and 20 to 32 m (65 to 105 ft) in depth.