Arafura Sea

The Arafura Sea lies between northern Australia and Western New Guinea, over the Arafura Shelf and its extension of the broader Sahul Shelf. It is bordered by the Timor Sea to the west, the Banda and Seram seas to the northwest, and Torres Strait to the east. Most of the sea is only fifty to eighty meters deep, with depth increasing toward the west. During the last glacial maximum, lower seas exposed the shelf together with the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait, forming a broad land bridge between Australia and New Guinea.

That connection made movement across Sahul easier for people arriving from Asia. Its shallow continental setting at that time supports especially rich fisheries, including shrimp, barramundi, grouper and demersal fish. The name was used in European sailing directions by the 1830s, drawing on accounts from the Moluccas and New Guinea.

The shallow shelf also links the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait to the same ancient land connection. During periods of lower sea level, this broad exposed plain formed part of Sahul rather than a marine crossing.