Arafura sea
General data
- Water type: Sae
- Progression: Pacific Ocean -> Planet Earth
- Climates: Tropical
- Continents: Australia & Oceania
- Countries: Australia
Description
The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. The Arafura Sea is bordered by the Gulf of Carpentaria and the continent of Australia to the south, the Timor Sea to the west, the Banda and Seram seas to the northwest, and the Torres Strait to the east. (Just across the strait, farther to the east, lies the Coral Sea). The Arafura Sea is 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) long and 560 kilometres (350 mi) wide. The depth of the sea is 50–80 m (160–260 ft) in most places, with the depth increasing to the west. The sea lies over the Arafura Shelf, which is a section of the Sahul Shelf. When sea levels were low during the last glacial maximum, the Arafura Shelf, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Torres Strait formed a large, flat, land bridge that connected Australia and New Guinea and eased the migration of humans from Asia into Australia. The combined landmass formed the continent of Sahul.