Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean situated between Australia and New Zealand, measuring approximately 2,000 km across and 2,800 km from north to south. It was named after Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who was the first known person to cross it in 1642. The sea has a maximum depth of 5,943 m and is characterized by frequent southwest winds during the southern winter and trade winds during the Australian summer. The Tasman Sea has a mid-ocean ridge that developed between 85 and 55 million years ago as Australia and Zealandia broke apart, and it features several midsea island groups as well as the East Australian Current, which is a primary means of heat transport from the tropics to the middle latitudes between the two countries.learn more on wikipedia