A map of the Coral Sea Islands.

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the north-east coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands.^[1] South of it is the Tasman Sea.

Map showing the location of the Coral Sea.

While the Great Barrier Reef with its islands and cays belong to Queensland, most reefs and islets east of it are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. In addition, some islands west of and belonging to New Caledonia are also part of the Coral Sea Islands in a geographical sense, such as the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs.

The Coral Sea Basin was formed between 58 million - 48 million years ago because the Queensland continental shelf was uplifted, forming the Great Dividing Range, and continental blocks subsided at the same time.^[2]

The Coral Sea is ecologically an important source of coral for the Great Barrier Reef, both during its formation and after sea level lowering.^[3]

[edit] History

The sea was the location for a major confrontation at the time of World War II between the navies of Australia, the Empire of Japan, and the United States.

[edit] See also

A satellite image of the Louisiade Archipelago and the northern Coral Sea.

• USS Coral Sea (aircraft carrier)
• Coral Sea Islands

[edit] References

• Community monitoring of reef sharks in the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef, Australia (2008) Australian Underwater Federation

Coordinates: 16°56′03″S 155°06′36″E / 16.93417°S 155.11°E / -16.93417; 155.11

[edit] Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Coral Sea

• Bradley, Claire (2009-01-18). "Catch and Release". Sunday Herald Sun (News Limited): pp. Sunday magazine supplement (pp. 19-20). http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx?issue=18132009011800000000001001&page=19&article=6938c434-0f17-4550-9284-43a0abb8f467&key=THB9a8/QLRTlsUxg6JzIow==&feed=rss. —article on 2009 documentary, Mysteries of the Shark Coast, part of a "greater plan to extend the boundaries of the Great Barrier Reef to the Coral Sea [the Osprey Reef] and, in turn, protect the [grey reef and whitetip] sharks that call this region home."