Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea
Location
Map of the Tasman Sea
Location	Western Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	40°S 160°E / 40°S 160°E / -40; 160
Type	Sea
Basin countries	Australia, New Zealand

Max. length	2,800 km (1,700 mi)
Max. width	2,200 km (1,400 mi)

Islands	Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island
Benches	Lord Howe Rise
Settlements	Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Auckland, Wellington

Satellite photo of the Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea (Māori: Te Tai-o-Rehua^[1]) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) across and about 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who was 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.^[2]

The Tasman Sea is informally referred to in both Australian and New Zealand English as The Ditch; for example, crossing the ditch means travelling to Australia from New Zealand, or vice versa. The diminutive term "The Ditch" used for the Tasman Sea is comparable to referring to the North Atlantic Ocean as "The Pond".

Geography

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Tasman Sea as follows:^[3]

On the West. A line from Gabo Island (near Cape Howe, 37°30'S) to the Northeast point of East Sister Island (148°E) thence along the 148th meridian to Flinders Island; beyond this Island a line running to the Eastward of the Vansittart Shoals to [Cape] Barren Island, and from Cape Barren (the Easternmost point of [Cape] Barren Island) to Eddystone Point (41°S) in Tasmania, thence along the East coast to South East Cape, the Southern point of Tasmania.
On the North. The parallel of 30°S from the Australian coast Eastward as far as a line joining the East extremities of Elizabeth Reef and South East Rock (31°47′S 159°18′E / 31.783°S 159.300°E / -31.783; 159.300) then to the Southward along this line to the South East Rock [an outlier of Lord Howe Island].

On the Northeast. From the South East Rock to the North point of Three Kings Islands (34°10′S 172°10′E / 34.167°S 172.167°E / -34.167; 172.167) thence to North Cape in New Zealand.

On the East.

In Cook Strait. A line joining the South extreme of the foul ground off Cape Palliser (Ngawi) and the Lighthouse on Cape Campbell (Te Karaka).

In Foveaux Strait (46°45'S). A line joining the Light on Waipapapa Point [sic] (168°33'E) with East Head (47'02'S) of Stewart Island (Rakiura).

On the Southeast. A line running from South West Cape, Stewart Island, through The Snares (48°S, 166°30'E) to North West Cape, Auckland Island (50°30′S 166°10′E / 50.500°S 166.167°E / -50.500; 166.167), through this island to its Southern point.

On the South. A line joining the Southern point of Auckland Island (50°55′S 166°0′E / 50.917°S 166.000°E / -50.917; 166.000) to South East Cape, the Southern point of Tasmania.

Ridge

Smoke from the Black Saturday bushfires crosses the southern Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea's mid-ocean ridge developed between 85 and 55 million years ago as Australia and Zealandia broke apart during the breakup of supercontinent Gondwana. It lies roughly midway between the continental margins of Australia and Zealandia. Much of Zealandia is submerged, so the ridge runs much closer to the Australian coast than New Zealand's.

Islands

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 (part of New South Wales)
Ball's Pyramid (part of New South Wales)
Norfolk Island, in the extreme north of the Tasman Sea, on the border with the Coral Sea (External Territory)
Middleton Reef (part of Coral Sea Islands Territory)
Elizabeth Reef (part of Coral Sea Islands Territory)

Adjoining bodies of water

North: Coral Sea
Northeast and East: Pacific Ocean
South and Southeast: Southern Ocean
West: Bass Strait

History

Moncrieff and Hood were the first to attempt to a Trans-Tasman crossing by plane in 1928. The first successful flight over the sea was accomplished by Charles Kingsford Smith later that year. The first person to row solo across the sea was Colin Quincey in 1977. The next successful solo crossing was completed by his son, Shaun Quincey in 2010.^[4]

References

↑ Rāwiri Taonui. Tapa whenua – naming places – Events, maps and European influences, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage. ISBN 978-0-478-18451-8. Updated 1 March 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2011
↑ "Tasman Sea". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
↑ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
↑ Anne Barrowclough (14 March 2010). "Kiwi becomes second person to row across the Tasman Sea". Times Online (Times Newspapers). Retrieved 22 May 2011.

External links

Media related to Tasman Sea at Wikimedia Commons

List of Australian seas

Ocean	Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean

Sea	Arafura Sea Coral Sea Tasman Sea Timor Sea

Strait	Backstairs Passage Bass Strait Clarence Strait Dundas Strait Endeavour Strait Investigator Strait Torres Strait

Gulf	Admiralty Gulf Beagle Gulf Cambridge Gulf Gulf of Carpentaria Great Australian Bight Exmouth Gulf Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Gulf St Vincent Spencer Gulf Van Diemen Gulf

Earth's oceans and seas

Arctic Ocean	Amundsen Gulf Barents Sea Beaufort Sea Chukchi Sea East Siberian Sea Greenland Sea Gulf of Boothia Kara Sea Laptev Sea Lincoln Sea Prince Gustav Adolf Sea Pechora Sea Wandel Sea White Sea

Atlantic Ocean	Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Archipelago Sea Argentine Sea Baffin Bay Balearic Sea Baltic Sea Bay of Biscay Bay of Bothnia Bay of Campeche Bay of Fundy Black Sea Bothnian Sea Caribbean Sea Celtic Sea English Channel Foxe Basin Greenland Sea Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Finland Gulf of Lion Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Saint Lawrence Gulf of Sidra Gulf of Venezuela Hudson Bay Ionian Sea Irish Sea Irminger Sea James Bay Labrador Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Marmara Sea Mediterranean Sea Myrtoan Sea North Sea Norwegian Sea Sargasso Sea Sea of Åland Sea of Azov Sea of Crete Sea of the Hebrides Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea Wadden Sea

Indian Ocean	Andaman Sea Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal Gulf of Tadjoura Gulf of Aden Gulf of Aqaba Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kutch Gulf of Oman Gulf of Suez Laccadive Sea Mozambique Channel Persian Gulf Red Sea Timor Sea

Pacific Ocean	Arafura Sea Bali Sea Banda Sea Bering Sea Bismarck Sea Bohai Sea Bohol Sea Camotes Sea Celebes Sea Ceram Sea Chilean Sea Coral Sea East China Sea Flores Sea Gulf of Alaska Gulf of Anadyr Gulf of California Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Fonseca Gulf of Panama Gulf of Thailand Gulf of Tonkin Halmahera Sea Java Sea Koro Sea Mar de Grau Molucca Sea Moro Gulf Philippine Sea Salish Sea Savu Sea Sea of Japan Sea of Okhotsk Seto Inland Sea Shantar Sea Sibuyan Sea Solomon Sea South China Sea Sulu Sea Tasman Sea Visayan Sea Yellow Sea

Southern Ocean	Amundsen Sea Bellingshausen Sea Cooperation Sea Cosmonauts Sea Davis Sea D'Urville Sea Great Australian Bight King Haakon VII Sea Lazarev Sea Riiser-Larsen Sea Mawson Sea Ross Sea Scotia Sea Somov Sea Weddell Sea

Landlocked seas	Aral Sea Caspian Sea Dead Sea

Book Category

Coordinates: 40°S 160°E / 40°S 160°E / -40; 160

Authority control	VIAF: 245388908 GND: 4384782-1

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