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