Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Sea: Andaman Sea


The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean.
The sea has been traditionally used for fishery and transportation of goods between the coastal countries and its coral reefs and islands are popular tourist destinations. The fishery and tourist infrastructure has been severely damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
The average depth of the sea is about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft). The northern and eastern parts are shallower than 180 meters (600 ft) due to the silt deposited by the Irrawaddy River. This major river flows into the sea from the north through Burma. The western and central areas are 900–3,000 meters deep (3,000–10,000 ft). Less than 5% of the sea is deeper than 3,000 meters (10,000 ft), and in a system of submarine valleys east of the Andaman-Nicobar Ridge, the depth exceeds 4,000 meters (13,200 ft). The sea floor is covered with pebbles, gravel and sand.


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