[5] Its almost uniformly flat bottom, and the presence of drainage channels (traceable to the mouths of island rivers), indicate that the Sunda Shelf was once a stable, dry, low-relief land area (peneplain) above which were left standing a few monadnocks (granite hills that, due to their resistance to erosion, form the present islands).

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defines the Java Sea as one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago, with the following criteria:[6] On the North.

The naval forces of the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, and the United States were nearly destroyed trying to defend Java from Japanese attack.

[11] The southern section of the seafloor has long been recognized as geologically similar to northern Java, where oil fields occur and extend under the sea.

As the site of successful exploration for petroleum and natural gas, the Java Sea has become the basis of Indonesia's export program.

Scuba diving offers a chance to explore and photograph underwater caverns, wrecks, coral, sponges, and other marine life.