Coral Sea
The southwestern Pacific Ocean's Coral Sea off Australia's northeast coast extends about 2,250 kilometres from New Guinea's south coast to 30° South (beyond the Queensland/New South Wales border), where it merges with the Tasman Sea. It is bounded in the east by the southern Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It connects with the Arafura Sea through the Torres Strait in the northwest.
The Sea's 4,791,000 square kilometres contain numerous islands and reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, the world's most extensive known reef system with a World Heritage listing since 1981. The reefs and islands are a popular tourist destination.
The Coral Sea basin was formed between 58 million and 48 million years ago when tectonic movements uplifted the Queensland continental shelf, forming the Great Dividing Range, and continental blocks to the east subsided. Seismic activity suggests those geological processes are still proceeding, with several hundred earthquakes recorded along the Queensland coast and in the Coral Sea between 1866 and 2000. However, most of the sea bed is tectonically inactive except for sedimentation from streams along Australia's east coast.
The major rivers flowing into the Coral Sea are the Burdekin, with its delta southeast of Townsville, and the Fitzroy, flowing into Keppel Bay east of Rockhampton near the Tropic of Capricorn. Seasonal and annual variations in rainfall and cyclone activity mean that coastal rivers' yearly discharges can vary dramatically.
The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 prevented a Japanese sea-borne landing on New Guinea's south coast.
Links to add:
Battle of the Coral Sea
Fitzroy River
Great Dividing Range
Keppel Bay
Tropic of Capricorn
