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The Lombok Strait is a strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 connecting the Java Sea
Java Sea

The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east....
 to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
, located between the island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s of Bali
Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located at , the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 Provinces of Indonesia with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
 and Lombok
Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It is part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east....
 in Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
.

Its narrowest point is at its southern opening, with a width of only 18 km, but at the northern opening it is 40 km across. Total length is about 60 km. Because it is 250 m deep — much deeper than the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, 805 km stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the state of Melaka, Malaysia....
 — ships that draw too much water to pass through Malacca (so-called "post Malaccamax
Malaccamax

Malaccamax is a naval architecture term for the largest size of ship capable of fitting through the -deep Strait of Malacca. Because the Sunda Strait is even shallower at minimum depth, a post-Malaccamax ship would need to use even longer alternate routes such as:...
" vessels) often use the Lombok Strait, instead.

The Lombok Strait is notable as one of the main passages for the Indonesian throughflow
Indonesian throughflow

The Indonesian Throughflow is an ocean current that transports water between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian Archipelago....
 that exchanges water between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
.

It is also part of the biogeographical
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 boundary between the fauna of Indo-Malaysia and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia
Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Lombok Strait is a strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 connecting the Java Sea
Java Sea

The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east....
 to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
, located between the island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s of Bali
Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located at , the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 Provinces of Indonesia with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
 and Lombok
Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It is part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east....
 in Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
.

Its narrowest point is at its southern opening, with a width of only 18 km, but at the northern opening it is 40 km across. Total length is about 60 km. Because it is 250 m deep — much deeper than the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, 805 km stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the state of Melaka, Malaysia....
 — ships that draw too much water to pass through Malacca (so-called "post Malaccamax
Malaccamax

Malaccamax is a naval architecture term for the largest size of ship capable of fitting through the -deep Strait of Malacca. Because the Sunda Strait is even shallower at minimum depth, a post-Malaccamax ship would need to use even longer alternate routes such as:...
" vessels) often use the Lombok Strait, instead.

The Lombok Strait is notable as one of the main passages for the Indonesian throughflow
Indonesian throughflow

The Indonesian Throughflow is an ocean current that transports water between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian Archipelago....
 that exchanges water between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
.

It is also part of the biogeographical
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 boundary between the fauna of Indo-Malaysia and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia
Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
. The boundary is known as the Wallace Line
Wallace Line

The Wallace Line is a boundary that separates the Ecozone of Asia and Wallacea . West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present....
, for Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace, Order of Merit, Fellow of the Royal Society was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Natural history, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist....
, who first remarked upon the striking difference between animals of Indo-Malaysia from those of Australasia and how abrupt the boundary was between the two biomes.

Biologists believe it was the depth of the Lombok Strait itself that kept the animals on either side isolated from one another. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 1.8 million to 10,000 years Before Present covering the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
 ice age
Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
, the islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra
Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the list of islands by area in the world ....
 were all connected to one another and to the mainland of Asia. They shared the Asian fauna. The Lombok Strait's deep water kept Lombok and the Lesser Sunda archipelago
Lesser Sunda Islands

The Nusa Tenggara , or Lesser Sunda Islands, are a group of islands in the middle-south part of Maritime Southeast Asia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands....
 isolated from the Asian mainland. These islands were, instead, colonized by Australasian fauna.

See also

  • Sunda Strait
    Sunda Strait

    The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. The name comes from the Indonesian term Pasundan, "West Java"....
  • Makassar Strait
    Makassar Strait

    Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea....
  • Wallace Line
    Wallace Line

    The Wallace Line is a boundary that separates the Ecozone of Asia and Wallacea . West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin are present....