Celebes Sea

The Celebes Sea (or the Sulawesi Sea) of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangi Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi, and on the west by Borneo. The Sea is in the form of a huge basin, and plunges as deep as 6,200 m. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by 520 miles (837 km) east-west and has a total surface area of 110,000 square miles (280,000 square km). The sea opens southwest through the Makassar Strait into the Java Sea.

Related Topics:
Pacific Ocean - Sulu Archipelago - Sulu Sea - Mindanao Island - Philippines - Sangi Islands - Sulawesi - Borneo - Makassar Strait - Java Sea

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The Celebes Sea is a piece of an ancient ocean basin that formed 42 million years ago in a setting far from any land mass. By 20 million years ago, crustal movement had pushed the Celebes basin close enough to the Indonesian and Philippine volcanoes to receive volcanic debris. By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including coal, which was shed from a rapidly growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia.

Related Topics:
Ocean basin - Indonesia - Volcano - Coal

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The border between the Celebes and the Sulu Sea is at the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge. Strong ocean currents, deep sea trenches and sea mounts, combined with active volcanic islands, result in complex oceanographic features.

Related Topics:
Ocean current - Sea trench - Sea mount - Volcanic island - Oceanographic

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