Koro Sea

The Koro Sea{{Cite book|last=Lebedeva|first=Nina Borisovna|title=Фиджи: История и современность (Fiji: History and Modernity)|language=ru|publisher=Наука, Главная ред (Science, main edition)|location=Moscow|year=1981}}{{Cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary|edition=3rd|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield, Massachusetts|isbn=9780877795469|volume=10|year=1997}} lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is surrounded by the more than 300 islands of Fiji, and is bordered by Viti Levu to the south, Vanua Levu and Taveuni to the north, Kadavu to the west, and the Lau Islands to the east.{{Cite book |title=The Columbia Gazetteer of the World |date=June 2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231145541 |editor=Saul B. Cohen |edition=2nd}}{{Cite book|title=The New Oxford School Atlas|last=Wiegand|first=Patrick|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|isbn=9780198316503|location=Oxford, England}}{{Cite book|last=Rottman|first=Gordon L.|title=World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-Military Study|date=30 December 2001|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9780313075582}} It is about {{convert|2,100|km|mi nmi|sigfig=2}} north of Auckland, New Zealand.{{Cite book|title=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=24 August 1998|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=20 March 2020|chapter=Fiji|chapter-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Fiji-republic-Pacific-Ocean}} It is named after the volcanic island of Koro, an island of the Fijian archipelago located in the northwestern part of the Koro Sea.

The Koro Sea covers an area of about {{convert|58,000|km2|sqmi sqnmi}}. It is relatively shallow:{{Cite book|last=Stanley|first=David|title=South Pacific Handbook|publisher=Moon Publications|isbn=9780918373991|chapter=Introduction|year=1993}} its maximum depth is {{convert|2,930|m|0}}, and on average its northern and western portions are shallower than its eastern portion. The seabed is formed by heavy basaltic rocks characteristic of ocean basins.{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Lorraine|title=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=2 November 2009|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=20 March 2020|chapter=Koro Sea|chapter-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Koro-Sea|last2=Chauhan|first2=Yamini|author-link=Lorraine Murray}} Rocks, sandbars and numerous coral reefs between the islands occupy about {{convert|411|km2|sqmi sqnmi}} of the sea,{{Cite web|url=https://divescover.com/diving/fiji/lomaiviti|title=Diving in Lomaiviti|access-date=14 August 2024|publisher=Divescover}} making navigation possible only through a few narrow passages in its central portion.

The sea separates the two underwater platforms from which the Fiji Islands rise. An oceanic ridge that crosses the Nanuku Passage in the northwestern part of the sea connects the two platforms.{{Cite book|title=Mauritius|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|author=Foreign an Commonwealth Office|year=1968|chapter=Fiji}} The region has a high level of seismic activity.{{Cite journal|title=Seismicity and crustal structure of the Fiji Platform, southwest Pacific|url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/JB095iB03p02553|work=Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth|date=10 March 1990|issn=0148-0227|pages=2553–2573|volume=95|number=B3|doi=10.1029/JB095iB03p02553|first1=Michael W.|last1=Hamburger|first2=Ian B.|last2=Everingham|first3=Bryan L.|last3=Isacks|first4=Muawia|last4=Barazangi|url-access=subscription}}

The entire Koro Sea lies in the tropics.{{Cite book|title=Географія материків і океанів (Geography of Continents and Oceans)|language=uk|publisher=DNVP "Kartohrafii︠a︡"|location=Kyiv, Ukraine|volume=7|year=2008|author1=Скуратович О. Я. (Skuratovych O. Ya.)}} Tropical air currents circulate over it all year round, although changes in air temperature with the change of season is documented. The trade winds predominate and tropical cyclones form in the warm season.{{Cite book |author=Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography of the State Civil Committee of the USSR |title=Физико-географический атлас мира (Physical and Geographical Atlas of the World) |year=1964 |location=Moscow |language=ru}}

The Koro Sea is part of the marine ecoregion of the Fiji Islands, which is included within the Central Indo-Pacific biogeographic region.{{Cite journal|last=Spalding|first=Mark D.|title=Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas|journal=BioScience|pages=574–583|doi=10.1641/B570707|last2=Fox|first2=Helen E.|last3=Allen|first3=Gerald R.|last4=Davidson|first4=Nick|last5=Ferdaña|first5=Zach A.|volume=57|number=7|date=July 2007}} In the field of zoogeography, the benthic fauna of the continental shelf and the sandbanks of the islands up to depths of {{convert|200|m|0}} also corresponds to the Indo-Pacific biogeographic region within the tropical framework{{Cite book |title=Жизнь животных |publisher=Prosvesxenie |year=1968 |editor=Lev Alexandrovich Zenkevich |volume=1. Беспозвоночные |location=Moscow |language=ru}} More than 300 species of hard corals, 1,500 of fish, and 7,000 of sea snails are found there.

Passenger ferries provide periodical service from the Koro Sea to Ovalau Island.{{Cite book|last=Stanley|first=David|title=Fiji Islands Handbook|publisher=Moon Publications|isbn=9781566910385|year=1996}} The Nanuku Passage serves as a sea route for importing products into the Koro Sea region.

Scuba diving and snorkeling are possible in the Koro Sea but are not widely practiced because of the difficulty of safe navigation of its waters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.maipacific.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/guia-Fiji-buceo-maiPacific-basica.pdf|title=Your complete guide to Fiji's underwater world - Diving Fiji|access-date=14 August 2024|publisher=Tourism Fiji|format=pdf|year=2017}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last=Coulson|first=F. I. E.|title=Geology of the Lomaiviti and Moala Island Groups: An Explanation of Viti Levu Sheet 21 and Lomaiviti Sheets 1 to 4|publisher=Government of Fiji|year=1976}}
• {{Cite book|last=Davis|first=William Morris|title=The Coral Reef Problem|publisher=R. E. Krieger Publishing Company|isbn=9780882753836|year=1976}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Hocart|first=Arthur Maurice|author-link=Arthur Maurice Hocart|title=Ethnographical sketch of Fiji|journal=Man|publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|year=1915|volume=15|pages=76–77|doi=10.2307/2788875|jstor=2788875}}
• {{Cite book|first=Rajmund|last=Mydel|first2=Jerzy|last2=Groch|first3=Wojciech|last3=Adamski|publisher=Fogra; Grupa Wydawnicza Bertelsmann|title=Kontynenty i państwa: Australazja, Antarktyka (Continents and Countries: Australasia, Antarctica), Popularna encyklopedia powszechna (Popular Universal Encyclopedia)|language=pl|location=Kraków|year=2000|pages=239–240|isbn=9788372277374|oclc=749488757}}

• {{cite journal|last=Hocart|first=Arthur Maurice|author-link=Arthur Maurice Hocart|title=Ethnographical sketch of Fiji|journal=Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NrVFdQXoukC&pg=PA76|publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|year=1915|volume=15|pages=76–77|doi=10.2307/2788875|jstor=2788875|access-date=8 September 2013}}
• {{cite book|title=Kontynenty i państwa: Australazja, Antarktyka|language=pl|publisher=Fogra|location=Kraków|year=2000|pages=239–240|isbn=83-7227-737-0|oclc=749488757}}

{{List of seas}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Seas of the Pacific Ocean

Category:Bodies of water of Fiji

Category:Seas of Oceania