Location of the Andaman Sea (in blue)
The
Andaman Sea (; ) is a body of water to the southeast of the
Bay of Bengal, south of
Myanmar, west of
Thailand and east of the
Andaman Islands; it is part of the Indian Ocean. It is roughly (north-south) and wide (east-west), with an area of . Its average depth is , and the maximum depth is .
At its southeastern reaches, the Andaman Sea narrows to form the
Straits of Malacca, which separate the
Malay Peninsula from the island of
Sumatra.
Ocean Floor Tectonics
Running in a rough north-south line on the seabed of the Andaman Sea is the boundary between two
tectonic plates, the
Burma plate and the
Sunda Plate. These plates (or microplates) are believed to have formerly been part of the larger
Eurasian Plate, but were formed when
transform fault activity intensified as the
Indian Plate began its substantive collision with the Eurasian
continent.
As a result, a
seafloor spreading centre was created, which began to form the marginal
basin which would become the Andaman Sea, the current stages of which commenced approximately 3-4 million years ago (
Ma).
Volcanic activity
Within the sea to the east of the main
Great Andaman island group is
Barren Island, an
active volcano (the only presently active
volcano associated with the
Indian subcontinent). Its volcanic activity is due to the ongoing
subduction of the India Plate beneath the Andaman
island arc, which forces
magma to rise in this location of the Burma Plate. The volcanic island of
Narcondam which lies further to the north was also formed by this process; however it has not recently been active.
See also
Category:Marine ecoregionsCategory:Geography of Southeast AsiaCategory:Bay of Bengalaf:Andamanse Seear:بحر أندامانbn:আন্দামান সাগরbe:Андаманскае мораbe-x-old:Андаманскае мораbg:Андаманско мореca:Mar d'Andamancs:Andamanské moředa:Andamanhavetde:Andamanenseeet:Andamani meries:Mar de Andamáneo:Andamana maroeu:Andaman itsasoafa:دریای آندامانfr:Mer d'Andamanko:안다만 해hi:अंडमान सागरid:Laut Andamanis:Andamanhafit:Mare delle Andamanehe:ים אנדמןlv:Andamanu jūralt:Andamanų jūrahu:Andamán-tengerms:Laut Andamanmn:Андаманы тэнгисnl:Andamanse Zeeja:アンダマン海no:Andamanhavetnn:Andamanhavetkm:សមុទ្រអង់ដាម៉ង់pl:Morze Andamańskiept:Mar de Andamãoro:Marea Andamanru:Андаманское мореsk:Andamanské moresl:Andamansko morjesr:Андаманско мореsh:Andamansko morefi:Andamaanienmerisv:Andamansjönth:ทะเลอันดามันtr:Andaman Deniziuk:Андаманське мореvi:Biển Andamanzh-classical:安達曼海wuu:安达曼海zh-yue:安達曼海zh:安达曼海
