The Tasman Sea (Māori: Te Tai-o-Rēhua,[1]Pitcairn-Norfolk: Tasman Sii) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) across and about 2,800 km (1,700 mi) from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 was the first known person to cross it. British explorer Lieutenant James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s during his three voyages 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".
Climate
The south of the sea is passed over by depressions going from west to east. The northern limit of these westerly winds is near to 40°S. During the southern winter, from April to October, the northern branch of these winds from the west changes its direction toward the north and goes up against trade winds. Hence, the sea receives frequent winds from the southwest during this period. In the Australian summer (from November to March), the southern branch of the trade winds goes up against west winds and produces further wind activity in the area.[3]
Geography
The Tasman Sea is 2,250 km (1,400 mi) wide and has an area of 2,300,000 km2 (890,000 sq mi).[2] The maximum depth of the sea is 5,943 m (19,498 ft).[4]
The base of the sea is made up of globigerina ooze. A small zone of pteropod ooze is found to the south of New Caledonia and to the southern extent of 30°S, siliceous ooze can be found.[5]
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.
The Tasman Sea's midocean ridge developed between 85 and 55 million years ago as Australia and Zealandia broke apart during the breakup of supercontinentGondwana. 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.[7]
Islands
The Tasman Sea features a number of midsea island groups, quite apart from coastal islands located near the Australian and New Zealand mainlands:
A deep-sea research ship, the RV Tangaroa, explored the sea and found 500 species of fish and 1300 species of invertebrates. The tooth of a megalodon, an extinct shark, was also found by researchers.[12]
History
In 1876, the first telegraph cable connecting Australia and New Zealand was laid in the Tasman Sea.[13]Moncrieff and Hood were the first to attempt a trans-Tasman crossing by plane in 1928. The first successful flight over the sea was accomplished by Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm 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.[14]
^"Ball's Pyramid". Unusual Places. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
^van der Linden, Willem J. M. (January 2012). "Morphology of the Tasman sea floor". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 13 (1): 282–291. doi:10.1080/00288306.1970.10428218.
^Mander, Neil (2011). "COMPAC Submarine Telephone Cable System". In La Roche, John (ed.). Evolving Auckland: The City's Engineering Heritage. Wily Publications. pp. 195–202. ISBN9781927167038.
