Tasman Sea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European to encounter New Zealand and Tasmania. The British explorer Captain James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s as part of his first voyage of exploration.
The Tasman Sea is deemed by the International Hydrographic Organisation to include the waters to the east of the Australian states New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The northern state of Queensland neighbours the Coral Sea, and the boundary between New South Wales and Queensland is also used as the boundary between the two seas.
The Tasman Sea had a mid-ocean ridge about 85-55 million years ago as Australia and Zealandia broke apart during the breakup of supercontinent Gondwana.
The Tasman Sea features a number of mid-sea island groups, quite apart from coastal islands located near the Australian and New Zealand mainlands:
- Lord Howe Island and its subsidiary islands
- Ball's Pyramid
- Norfolk Island, in the extreme north of the Tasman Sea, on the border with the Coral Sea
These island groups are each Australian possessions.
The Tasman Sea is nicknamed The Ditch, eg crossing the ditch means going to Australia from New Zealand or vice versa.
[edit] See also
bg:Тасманово море
ca:Mar de Tasmània
cy:Môr Tasman
de:Tasmanische See
et:Tasmani meri
el:Θάλασσα της Τασμανίας
es:Mar de Tasmania
fr:Mer de Tasman
ko:태즈먼 해
hr:Tasmanovo more
id:Laut Tasman
it:Mar di Tasman
he:ים טסמן
lv:Tasmāna jūra
lt:Tasmano jūra
mk:Тасманово Море
nl:Tasmanzee
ja:タスマン海
no:Tasmanhavet
nn:Tasmanhavet
nds:Tasmansee
pl:Morze Tasmana
pt:Mar da Tasmânia
ru:Тасманово море
sk:Tasmanovo more
sr:Тасманово море
fi:Tasmaninmeri
sv:Tasmanhavet
tr:Tazman Denizi
uk:Тасманове море
zh:塔斯曼海
