Wharton Basin is the marine area of the north east quarter of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. It is named after William Wharton (1843–1905),

Hydrographer of the Navy The Hydrographer of the Navy is the principal hydrographical Royal Naval appointment. From 1795 until 2001, the post was responsible for the production of charts for the Royal Navy, and around this post grew the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office ...

. Alternative names are Cocos Basin (after the

Cocos Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

) and West Australian Basin. It lies east of the Ninety East Ridge and west of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is of interest in relation to Indian Ocean floor movement and adjacent

fracture zone A fracture zone is a linear feature on the ocean floor—often hundreds, even thousands of kilometers long—resulting from the action of offset mid-ocean ridge axis segments. They are a consequence of plate tectonics. Lithospheric plates on eit ...

s and the relationship between the Indian and Australian plates and is one of a number of features of the Indian Ocean that has been studied extensively.Schlich, R., (1982). The Indian Ocean: Aseismic ridges, spreading centers and oceanic basins. In A.E.M. Nairn and F.G. Stehli , (Eds.), The Ocean Basins and Margins, vol. 6, The Indian Ocean, Plenum, New-York.

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External links

* Oceanic basins of the Indian Ocean {{tectonics-stub