Tectonophysics, 45 (1978) 289-322 289

0 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

PAST ANR PRESENT GE~TECTONIC POSITION OF SULAWESI,

INDONESIA

JOHN A. KATILI

Ministry of Mines, Jakarta (Indonesia)

(Received January 10, 1977; revised version received March 26, 1977)

ABSTRACT

Katili, J.A., 1978. Past and present geotectonic position of Sulawesi, Indonesia. In: S.
Uyeda (editor), Active Plate Boundaries of the Western Pacific. Teetonophysics, 45:
289-322.

Sulawesi with its peculiar K-shaped pattern is situated in an area where the Eurasian,
Indian-Australian and Pacific plates interact and collide.
Complex geological processess in this area resulted in the transformation of a normal
island-arc structure into an inverted one, deformation of an already tectonized belt,
sweeping of fragments against unrelated terrain, tbrusting of oceanic and mantle material
over the island arc, closing of deep-sea basins behind the arc, trapping of old oceanic
crust caused by the rolling up of an island arc, formation of a marginal basin by the
spreading of the sea floor behind the arc, development of small subduction zones with
reverse polarities etc.
Small deep-sea basins surrounding Sulawesi such as the Gulf of Bone and the Gulf of
Gorontalo originally formed the arc-trench gap of the Sulawesi island arc.
The Banda Sea is considered as an oceanic crust trapped by the bending of the east-
west trending Banda arc due to the northward drift of Australia combined with the
westward movement of the Pacific plate, Similarly the Sulawesi Sea consists of an old
Pacific crust trapped by the westward bending of the Sulawesi island arc, caused by the
spearheading westward thrust along the Sorong transform-fault system, in which later a
minor spreading center became active in its central part. The Molucca Sea comprises tec-
tonic melange in which presumably a small spreading center developed between the two
colliding arcs of northern Sulawesi and western Halmahera. While the Benioff zones dip
under the northern Sulawesi and Halmahera arcs in normal fashion, the melange thrusts
over them. The Strait of Makassar is a marginal basin which was brought into existence
by the spreading of the sea floor between Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
The evolution of Sulawesi started in Miocene time or even earlier when 800 km eas;
of Kalimantan a north--south trending east-facing island arc came into existence,
originating from a spreading center located in the Pacific Ocean. Volcanism and
plutonism accompanied this subduction process.
Collision between Sulawesi and the Australian-New Guinea plate which occurred in
early Pliocene time severely transformed Sufawesi into an island with its convex side
turned towards the continent, at the same time causing abduction of ophiolite in the
eastern arc of this island.
The movement of the Pacific plate continued and gradually pushed Sulawesi towards
the Asian continent, resulting in the closing of the sea between Kalimantan and Sulawesi
 290

at the end of Pliocene. Collision took place, this time between the western arc of Sutawesi
and eastern Kaliamantan, causing abduction of ophiofites in the Meratus Mountains and
slight deformation of the sediments in the eastern Kalimantan oil basins.
Opening of the Makassar Strait took place in Quaternary time along the Pasternoster
and Palu-Koro transform faults. Spreading in the southern part. of the Makassar Strait was
accommodated by an east-dipping small subduction zone which could be held responsible
for the formation of the late Quaternary Lompobatang and Barupu volcanoes in southern
Sulawesi.
In the northern part of the Makassar Strait the eastward movement of Sulawesi was
checked by the newly formed Palu-Koro transform fault which moved the part of
Sulawesi west of the fault in a south-southeasterly direction until the island gained its
present position. This movement presumably caused destruction of the small spreading
centers in the Makassar Strait and consequently terminated the activities of the late
Quaternary volcanoes in southern Sulawesi.
The youngest subduction zone which broke through northwest of Sulawesi could be
held responsible for the formation of the active Una-Una volcano in the Gulf of Goron-
tale, while the one which came into existence east of northern Sulawesi is associated with
the active Minahasa-Sangihe and the southern Philippines volcanoes.
Some unsolved problems in relation to the geology of Sulawesi and the surrounding
areas are also discussed, of which the most important are the presence of Oligocene
carbonates deposited in a shelf environment in the southern part of the Makassar Strait
which seems not to be in harmony with the postulated drift of Sulawesi and the mecha-
nism of compensation of the westward moving slab on which Suiawesi is situated.

INTRODUCTION

Numerous geological problems center around Sulawesi (Celebes), the

peculiar K-shaped island situated in the central part of the Indonesian
Archipelago (Fig. 1) ,
In his classical work The Pulse of the Earth, Umbgrove (1947) remarks
that the four-armed morphology of Celebes is an expression of a double arc
which unlike the other arcs along the border of Asia, has its convex side
turned towards the continent. He further reiterated that among the excep-
tional features related to the inverted position are the absence of a volcanic
inner arc along its concave side and the numerous manifestations of Late
Tertiary to sub-Recent volcanism and plutonism on its convex side. He
concluded that a mechanical interpretation of the puzzling island arc of the
Moluccas including the Celebes is not yet possible, as our geological and
geophysical knowledge of the adjacent region is too scanty.
Klomp6 (1957) in trying to explain the geological and geophysical dif-
ferences between East and West Indonesia attached great importance to the
area between Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sulawesi and suggested a study of
the exact nature of the Makassar Strait which in his geotectonic synthesis
forms such an important boundary.
It was Brouwer (1947) who recognized the two basically different igneous
rock assemblages of Sulawesi, namely the eastern arc, characterized by the
abundance of mafic and ultramafic rocks, and the western arc with its
granite and granodiorite association, separated in the middle by a north-
south running depression, called the Median-zone, filled with Tertiary
 KALIMANTAN
m (BORNEO)

,o

100

Fig. 1. Location of SuIawesi showing the geographic subdivisions as used in this paper.

sediments. Brouwer (1941) cited the Celebes as an orogen with spatially

separated Andine and Alpine character. Such features became known later as
the paired metamorphic belt of Nyashiro (1961), which characterized most
of the c~cum-Pacific belt and which nowadays constitutes one of the
fundamental concepts of plate tectonics.
This paired model for Sulawesi has been used and maintained by the
present author throughout this paper and the polarity of the ophiolite
intrusive couple and the presence of g~aucophane-schist facies between is
ample evidence to sustain such a model.
Since the mobilistic concept of the earth again becomes the focus of
attention, many hypotheses have been advanced to expIain the tectonics of
Sulawesi in the light of the new theory, among others by Audley-Ch~les
et al. (1972). The island of Sulawesi was split by Audley-Charles et al. into
two different parts, The east and southeast arms were supposed to have been
formed at the margin of the northern Australian continent which was
Iocated farther south than its present position.
The western arc lies close to the southern margin of the same continent.
Based on paleoclimatic grounds, Stauffer and Gobett (1972) have raised
serious objections to considering southeast Asia as a part of ~ondwanaland,
292

and McElhinney et al. (1974), based on paleomagnetic evidence, also

objected to placing Malaysia near Gondwana.
The presence of a higher pressure belt on the ocean side and a low-pressure
belt on the continent side, which, as has been mentioned earlier, characterized
Sulawesi, also represented a strong case against the separation of the eastern
and western arc, at least since Middle Miocene time.
In his earlier paper Hamilton (1970) considered Celebes as exhibiting two
subduction complexes; a western one of Mesozoic age, dipping to the east,
and an eastern one of Eocene to Miocene age, dipping west. In a later
publication Hamilton (1973) refers to the ages of the melanges of eastern
Sulawesi as Early and Middle Tertiary, omitting the Mesozoic subduction
zone he previously postulated.
Credit should be given to Hamilton (1973) who recognized that the islands
of the Sula Spur are fragments from New Guinea which have been swept
against Sulawesi and that the subduction melange of the southern arm of
Sulawesi is part of southeast Kalimantan (Borneo), prior to the opening by
rifting of the Makassar Strait.
A proper synthesis of the geotectonic position of Sulawesi should be able
to explain and establish the relationship between many conspicuous features,
of which the most important are:
(1) The K-shape configuration and the different petro-tectonic assemblage
between the eastern and western arcs of Sulawesi.
(2) The convexity of the island arc towards the Asian continent.
(3) The regular continuity of the geology of the eastern arc to the island
of Talaud and further north to the Philippines, and the good correlation
between the geology of the western arc with Sangihe Island and the
Philippines to the north.
(4) The similarity between the Tertiary of the Lariang basin in the western
arc of Sulawesi and the East Kalimantan basin.
(5) The occurrence of Cretaceous melange in the southern arm of Sulawesi
comprising glaucophane schist and ultrabasic rocks.
(6) The discrepancy between the geology of the southeastern arm and
Buton, Buru and Ceram, the scarcity of Mesozoic deposits and the total
absence of Permian deposits in the eastern arc.
(7) The presence of mid-Tertiary alkaline volcanic products in the southern
arm of Sulawesi.
(8) The occurrence of late Quaternary volcanoes in the southern arm of
Sulawesi such as the Lompobatang and Barupu volcanoes and their absence
in the northern arm.
(9) The absence of active volcanoes in the central and southern part of the
western arc and their occurrence farther north in the Minahasa-Sangihe
region.
(10) The isolated position of the Una-Una volcano in the Gulf of Goron-
talo.
(11) The presence of the submarine Mayu ridge east of Sulawesi, charac-
 293

terized by a high negative gravity anomaly (Vening Meinesz, 1954).

(12) The deep-sea basins surrounding the island of Sulawesi such as the
Gulf of Gorontalo, the Gulf of Borneo, the Strait of Makassar, the Sulawesi
and Molucca Seas.
(13) The occurrence of large transcurrent faults in Sulawesi trending NW-
SE and E-W, exhibiting mostly sinistral movement (Katili, 1970).
(14) The intensive vertical movements, demonstrated in the elevated coral
reefs, in many parts of Sulawesi.
(15) Reverse polarity of a small subduction zone in the Celebes Sea.
It is obvious that not all these questions can be answered satisfactorily,
but it is the purpose of this paper to discuss the past and present geotectonic
position of Sulawesi by elaborating further the authors previous idea of the
westward thrust of Sulawesi in the direction of the Asian Continent (Katili,
1975).
The geology of the surrounding areas such as the Meratus Mts. in southeast
Kaiimantan, new geological and geophysical information, gained from
mining and petroleum companies working in Sulawesi and the Makassar
Strait, interpretation of LANDSAT data from the central part of Sulawesi,
and data from the new geologicaf map of Sulawesi, just recently compiled
by the Geological Survey of Indonesia (Sukamto, 1975), will be incorporated
in this new synthesis.
We will then proceed to discuss successively the ages of the Sulawesi rocks,
the evolution of the Miocene arc-trench system, the collision between East
Sulawesi and the Australian-New Guinea plate, the collision of West Sula-
wesi and East Kalimantan, the opening of the Strait of Makassar, and finally
the present geotectonic position and the accompanying neotectonic features
of Sulawesi.

ONTHEAGEOFTHESULAWESIROCKS

It has been mentioned previously that two main petrotectonic assemblages

can be discerned in Sulawesi, namely the ophiolite complexes in the eastern
and southeastern arm and the Tertiary granites, volcanics and Recent to sub-
Recent volcanic deposits of the northern and southern arms.
The Bangai Archipelago, situated near the eastern arm, has been considered
as part of the Sula Spur (Klompe, 1956) and is characterized by basement
rocks consisting of slates, shales, sandstones, schists and gneisses intruded by
granites of Permian and Triassic age. Miocene and Pliocene sediments are also
present in the Bangai Archipelago. For a detailed stratigraphic description
one is referred to Suk,amto (1975).
Buton Island, which is considered by the present author (Katili, 1975) as
belonging to the Timo~eram-Bum arc, consists of crystalline schists of
unknown age, Late Triassic flysch-type sediments, Jurassic limestones and
marls and Cretaceous to Paleocene carbonates. Plio-Pleistocene sediments
also occur on this island. A more detailed description of the geology and
294

Cenozoic sedimentation of Buton, based on plate tectonics, was presented

by W~ryosujono and Hainin (1975).
For the purpose of this paper only the rocks of the eastern and western
arcs of Sulawesi will be discussed in more detail.
The eastern Sulawesi arc comprises metamorphic rocks occurring in the
western part of this area and ophiolites which are abundantly exposed in the
eastern part (see Fig. 2). De Roever (1947) advanced the idea that the oldest
phase of metamorphism occurred before the Late Triassic and probably
produced the epidote~mphibolite facies of Central Sulawesi.
The true age of this metamorphism as well as the sedimentary rocks which
have undergone regional matemorphism is, however, not known (Audley-
Charles, 1974).
De Roever (1947) is further of the opinion that a younger metamorphic
phase, which produced the greenschist and g~ucophane-schist facies in
Central and East Sulawesi is probably of Late Cretaceous to Eocene age.
Regarding the possible occurrence of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary
rocks in the eastern arc of Sulawesi the following can be deduced from the
existing literature.
Sediments older than Triassic have not been found in Sulawesi (Audley-
Charles, 1974; Sukamto, 1975). Lower and Middle Triassic strata are not
known in Sulawesi according to Audley-Charles (1974), although their
presence was postulated by Von Lockzy (1934).
In the eastern arm, Upper Triassic neritic limestone and shales are present.
Sedimentation from the Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous seems to have
been fairly continuous in shallow marine env~onments ~Audley-Ch~les,
1974).
The new geologic map of Sulawesi (Fig. 2) also depicts Mesozoic car-
bonates and elastics, associated with radiolarian cherts which are partly
slightly metamorphosed.
The presumably Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks in the eastern part of
Sulawesi were designated by Dutch geologists as the Matano formation and
the Tokala limestone beds. The Cretaceous Matano beds (formation)
described by Koolhoven (1935) consist of massive and stratified limestones,
marls and cherts. The diagnostic fossils are Globigerina bulloides dorbigny;
G. cretacea dorbigny and Globigerinella aequilateralis (Brady). Marks
(1957) cautioned that this is a rather suspect fauna and suggested re-evalua-
tion of the determination which was carried out in 1915, in the light of
modern knowledge of smaller Foranimifera.
The Tokala formation consists of three members: a conglomerate member,
a member consisting of thin-bedded slaty limestone of Permian (?) age and a
calcareous member with brachiopods (Misolia). Marks (1957) rejected the
Permian age but correlates the calcareous member with the Triassic of Misool
Island.
From the description presented above it is obvious that the only locality
in which sediments of Triassic age occur with certainty is in the Tokala
 295

GEOLOGIC MAP OF
I
SULAWESI-INDONESIA
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDONESIA

1976

Fig. 2. Geological map of Sulawesi (compiled by the Geological Survey of Indonesia).

296

Mountain at the To10 Bay near the island of Banggai. Van Lockzy (1934)
is of the opinion that the Tokala Mts. exhibit an Overthrust mass. Ihis is
also the place where the western extension of the SOrOng fault zone enters
into the eastern arc of Sulawesi.
In discussing the possible occurrence of Mesozoic rocks in the Celebes, it
should be emphasized that no Mesozoic erogenic phase has been active in
this region (Klompe, 1957).
Ophiolites are widely distributed in the southeastern arm of Sulawesi. The
ultrabasic rocks appear to be associated with Tertiary and Cretaceous (?)
sediments and crystalline schists (Soeria Atmadja et al., 1974). They are
characterized by an irre~larity in form and distribution, and their occurrence
along strongly deformed zones makes it difficult to establish their relative
ages.
Opinions regarding the age of the ophiolites vary considerably, namely
Mesozoic (Koolhoven, 1930; Van Bemmelen, 1949), Mesozoic and Tertiary
(Brouwer, 1934; Soeria Atmadja et al., 1974), Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene
(Kiindig, 1956), Middle Miocene (Hopper, 1941) and younger than Miocene
(Wanner, 1910; Hotz, 1913). As has been mentioned earlier, the melange
deposit of southeastern Sulawesi is considered by Hamilton (1973) to be of
Tertiary age. Zwart (1967) considered Sulawesi as paired circum-Pacific belts
consisting of high-pressure belts on the ocean side and low-pressure belts on
the continental side. Considering the predominantly Tertiary ages of the
granites in the western arc (continental side) it is proper to assume that the
rocks of the high-pressure belt on the ocean side should also be of the same
age.
Tertiary deposits of the southeastern arm consist of fine elastics of molasse
type and shallow-water carbonates, while most of the Early Tertiary sedi-
ments in the northern part of this area comprise alluvial, lacustrine and
lagoonal deposits (Sukamto, 1975).
In the western arc of Sulawesi, the oldest rocks are found in the southern
arm, east of Bantimala. Well-preserved Radiolarian indicate an Early
Cretaceous age, while the underlying schists according to the determination
carried out by the USGS, possess an age of about 111 m.y. (Sukamto, 1975).
Lying upon the Gretaceous basement rocks are sandstone and shales and
carbonate sequences of Eocene to Early Miocene age. Most of the sedi-
mentary rocks of Late Tertiary age are molasse deposits, characterized by
coarse conglomerate and sandstone.
Of the 27 samples of igneous rocks radiometrically dated from the western
arc of Sulawesi, 17 samples clearly indicate Miocene to Early Pliocene age
(Sukamto, 1975). Tertiary volcanic rocks of the western arc comprise
trachytic, andesitic and dacitic pyroclastic rocks. Middle Miocene potassium-
rich volcanic products are also found in the western arc.
Late Quaternary volcanoes are found in the southern arm of Sulawesi
namely Mt. Lompobatang near Makassar, a mountain east Of Pare-Pare
(Sukamto, 1975) and Mt. Barupu south of Rantepao. Recent volcanic
 297

products are encountered in the Gulf of Gorontalo (Una-Una volcano) and

in the Minahasa and Sangihe area (Lokon, Soputan, Mahau, Dua Saudara,
Api, Banua Wuhu volcanoes, etc.).

GEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF SULAWESI

Tectonic framework of the Banda, Sulawesi and Halmahera arcs

It has been concluded in a previous paper (Katili, 1975) that the non-
volcanic outer arc of East Indonesia can be subdivided into two parts,
namely the Banda outer arc, consisting of the islands of Timor, Tanimbar,
Seram, Buru and Buton, and the Sulawesi arc, comprising eastern Sulawesi,
the submarine Mayu ridge and the Talaud island. The corresponding volcano-
plutonic arcs are the inner Banda arc and the western Sulawesi arc.
It has also been postulated that the Banda and Sulawesi arc-trench
systems were generated by spreading centers situated in the Indian and
Pacific Ocean, respectively.
The original position of the Sulawesi arc-trench system can be recon-
structed as follows. The interruption of the continuous island arc-trench
system of Indonesia occurs at Buru, but resumes its normal course in the
Sangihe volcanic inner arc and the Talaud non-volcanic outer arc, south of
Mindanao both of which trend parallel to each other in a north--south
direction.
The Talaud ridge can be extended southward to the Mayu ridge, where its
bends westward and continues into the eastern arm of Sulawesi. Sukamto
recently recorded a very beautiful outcrop of melange in the Talaud islaild
(Fig. 3). The submarine Mayu ridge in the Molucca Sea shows a very strong
gravity minimum (Vening Meinesz, 1954) associated with an immense
accumulation of opaque sediments (Mobil oil geologists, personal com-
munication, 1974) and it might be interpreted as a recently filled remnant of
an old trench or tectonic melange. What is now the eastern arc of Sulawesi
could have been located at the southern continuation of the Talaud-Mayu
ridge, approximately 600 km east of its present position and the same can
be said about the western arc of Sulawesi, which at that time acted as the
corresponding volcanic arc.
For the Halmahera arc-trench system a similar origin during a younger
phase of crustal movement could be advocated.
The shape of the two eastern arms of Celebes and Halmahera is compared
to an arrowhead pointing westward and the two larger slightly arcuate
western arms as a wave front proceeding from a projectile (Katili, 1975).
Thus Celebes and Halmahera were once north-south trending island arcs
convex towards the Pacific with westward-dipping subduction zones.
The spear-heading westward movements of the Pacific plate along the
Sorong transform-fault system could thus easily explain the geological com-
plexities and similarities of the Sulawesi-Halmahera region and can also
Fig. 3. Melange in Pulau Karakelang, Talaud (photo by Sukamto, 1976).

account for the inte~uption of the island-arc system between the Banda arc
and the Sangihe and Talaud bridge leading to the Philippines.
During this movement the Banggai and Buton islands were swept against
the eastern and southeastern arms of the Sulawesi, respectively.
 299

The idea that Buton originated from the Timor-Ceram-Buru arc has
been advanced by the author in a previous paper based on the similarities of
this island and the islands of Ceram and Buru and on the discrepancies in
geology between Buton and southeastern Sulawesi (Katili, 1975).
Buton island, possessing a sedimentary thickness of about 3000 meters,
lies between the southeastern arm of Sulawesi and the Tukang Besi islands,
both exhibiting thin sedimentary layers and shallow magnetic basement
(Gulf Indonesia, oral communication, 1976). This geophysical feature can be
interpreted in the Tukang Besi islands as the occurrence of crystalline rocks
very close to the surface.
The Tukang Besi islands comprise NW-SE trending which are partly sub-
siding, so that they carry atolls, and partly rising, forming islands with
elevated corals reefs. The structural lineaments of the Tukang Besi islands
have been ascribed by previous investigations as representing horst-and-
graben structures parallel to the structure of the southeastern arm.
Buton on the other hand shows a NNE-SSW structure which sharply
deviates from the structural trends in the southeastern arm of Sulawesi and
the Tukang Besi islands.
All these features together, plus the fact that the Tukang Besi islands
possess a negative gravity anomaly (Vening Meinesz, 1954) tend to reinforce
the view that the Tukang Besi island group is a tectonic melange which forms
the extension of the southeastern arm of Sulawesi, while the island of Buton is
a foreign element swept in between Tukang Besi and the southeastern arm.

Euolutio~ of the Miocene are-trench system in Sulawesi (Fig. da)

The evolution of Sulawesi during Miocene time can be summarized as

follows. During Miocene or perhaps even earlier, there emerged 800 km east
of Kalimantan a north-south striking east-facing island arc which originated
from a spreading center located in the Pacific Ocean.
This emergence of the Sulawesi-Philippine island-arc system might be due
to the change in movement of the Pacific plate which since Eocene-
Oligocene time was directed westnorthwestward ~Ben-Avrah~ and Uyeda,
1973). Hilde et al., (1977) demonstrated the existence of a north-south
trending subduction zone in this region about 25 million years ago. Beside
the usual trench deposits, Alpine ultramafic, serpentine, gabbro and basalt of
tholeitic composition and oceanic pelagic sediments were deposited in the
subduction zone. Older sediments such as Mesozoic carbonates associated
with radiolarian cherts were also dumped in this Tertiary subduction zone.
Intensive volcanism and plutonism accompanied this subduction process,
the products of which can now be found in the western arc of this island.
Deformation or thrusting of the deposits in the subduction zone occurred in
Middle Miocene time resulting in the formation of imbricated structure. This
could account for the prevalent Miocene diastrophism known in this area
 Tranlrarm ond tr0n,trr*nt k?lf

incwicnt piCite boundaries

, *=--

Present . ACllW Otc(lPleS

Fig. da--e. Geological evolution of Sulawesi from Miocene to the Present time.

(Van Bemmelen, 1949; Westerveld, 1952). It should be noted that the

imbricated structure is directed towards the east.
Subduction ceased at the end of Miocene time, followed by uplift due to
isostatic compensation resulting in the formation of a north--south trending
double island arc. Sediments of the molasse facies of the Late Miocene/
Pliocene age (Van Bemmelen, 1949) found in the Celebes could be related to
this uplift.
 301

Collision between East Sulawesi and the Australian-New Guinea plate, and
the closing of the sea between Sulawesi and Kalimantan (Fig. 4b)

The end of the Miocene thus saw a double island arc developed situated
600 km east of the present Sulawesi at the southern continuation of the
Sangihe and Talaud islands. The ancient Sulawesi Sea which can be subdivided
into a northern and southern part is about 200 km long and 800 km wide,
stretching from Mindanao to the present Jawa and Flores Sea.
The most dramatic event in the geologic history of Indonesia took place
in Pliocene time. The northward advancing Australian continent coupled
with the counter-clockwise rotation of New Guinea and accompanied by the
spearheading westward thrust along the Sorong transform fault system
severely transformed the east-facing Sulawesi arc into a K-shaped pattern.
This collision caused abduction of the ultrabasic rocks of the eastern and
southeastern arm and thrusting of these rocks over the molasse deposit.
Interpretation of LANDSAT imagery in the area where the eastern and
western arcs are in close contact (Fig. 5) clearly indicates that the curving
features detected on the imagery in many respects support the present
authors idea that Sulawesi has been pushed and moved westward along the
Sorong transform fault system (Sudradjat, 1976). Sudradjat further
postulated that the crystalline schists and ultrabasic rocks of the eastern arc
have been pushed against the granodiorite mass of the western arc. Thus
interpretation of LANDSAT imagery checked by ground investigations has
reinforced the theory that Sulawesi has been pushed in the direction of the
Asian Continent, an idea which originally was deduced from the roughly
K-shaped pattern of this island.
The movement described above also caused the westward bending of the
Banda arc while the islands of the Sula Spur and Buton were swept against
the eastern and southeastern arm, respectively. The Pliocene thrusting in
Buton could perhaps also be associated with this movement (Von Lockzy,
1934).
It is topographically possible to fit southern and central Sulawesi against
the Kalimantan shelf along the 1000 meter isobath closing the deep-water
portion of the Makassar Strait, by restoring presumed east and south-south-
easterly movement as indicated by the Pastemoster, Palu-Koro and other
parallel transcurrent faults in this area.
An interesting feature which can be picked out from the satellite imagery
(Fig. 5) is the difference in structural lineaments between the area east and
west of the Palu-Koro fault zone. The Lariang and Karama sedimentary
basins seem not to be affected by the westward thrust, but exhibit a
structural pattern in which a north-northeast direction is predominant, a
feature which characterized the tectonics of eastern Kalimantan.
This structural similarity and the fact that the Tertiary sedimentary rocks
of eastern Kalimantan and the western arc of Sulawesi show a close similarity
(Situmorang, 1976) might be ascribed to the theory that these sedimentary
 302

1190 30 120~00' 120030 121~00 121~30

--.- ---_ -.. .__~ ~~~_.._ _.
\
\
\ T--

~~ I

n
00

,JJB

SR
UB
/i.

ii-30

BONE BAY

--.~-
120=30 12P30

%r (a) (b) ,;.= (e)

Fig. 5. LANDSAT image interpretation of Central Sulawesi (Sudradjat, 1976). Volcanic

rocks (VR), intrusive rocks (IR), sedimentary rocks (SR), metamorphic rock (MR) and
ultrabasic rock (UB). Geological structures are shown in symbols: (a) transcurrent fault,
arrows show sense of movements; (b) faulting (dashed where approximately located,
dotted where inferred); (c) thrust fault, teeth are on the upper fault plate; (d) curving
features; (e) fracture pattern.
 303

basins formed parts of the eastern Kalimantan basin before they were
separated by the opening of the Strait of Makassar.
It is concluded that the continuous westward thrust along the Sorong
transform-fault system and the Matano fault zone in the Sulawesi gradually
pushed Sulawesi towards the Asiatic continent against Kalimantan (Borneo)
and thus closed the southern part of the ancient Sulawesi Sea at the end of
the Pliocene.

Collision between West Sulawesiand East Kalimantan, abduction of ophiolites

in the Meratus range and deformation of the East Kaliman tan oil basin (Fig. 4~)

At the end of Cretaceous time a double island arc existed, stretching from
Sumatra, Java and terminating in southeast Kalimantan (Katili, 1973; Soe-
kendar, 1974). The Benioff zone dips towards the Asian Continent. In the
Meratus Range of SE. Kalimantan, the outer arc is characterized by deep-sea
sediments such as radiolarian cherts and siliceous shales associated with
ophiolites. This rock assemblage, possessing a Cretaceous age, is known as
the Alino formation (Koolhoven, 1935). The trench deposit in this area is
represented by the Paniungan beds (Koolhoven, 1935), consisting of marly
claystone, marly and calcareous polymict sandstone and marls. The Alino
formation, the Paniungan beds and the peridotites are here considered as
elements of a Cretaceous subduction zone as described above.
The rocks of the volcano/plutonic arc comprise granodiorites, breccia,
tuff and lava. This rock assemblage has been termed the volcanic facies of
the Manunggal formation by Koolhoven (1935).
The deposit of the back-deep or foreland basin are characterized by well-
bedded conglomerates, sandstone, claystone, marls and limestone and known
in the old literature as sedimentary facies of the Manunggal formation (see
Fig. 6).
During Early Tertiary time this region was subjected to strong subsidence,
the Meratus Range being partly a submarine ridge (Van Bemmelen, 1949).
At the end of the Pliocene, West Sulawesi collided with East Kalimantan
resulting in the closing of the southern part of the ancient Sulawesi Sea and
simultaneously caused deformation of the Meratus Range. Volcanism and
plutonism which according to the classical concept should accompany this
youngest phase of deformation are lacking in the Meratus Mountain (Van
Bemmelen, 1954) and this can now be explained by the theory that the Plio-
cene deformation here was not related to subduction and its accompanying
magmatic activity, but to abduction as has been described before.
Van Bemmelen (1949) reported strong folding and thrusting between the
schist and the Alino formation and between the Paniungan beds and Ma-
nunggal formation. Northwest upthrust of the peridotites upon the
Manunggal beds were also observed. Thus it can be concluded that the
peridotites representing mantle material, and the Alino and Paniungan
formation from the subduction zone, were thrusted over the backdeep as can
 ENVIRONMENT

Y v

ANI~NGAN"FOF!MAT~ON
TRENCH MATERIAL) v

Y Y
b

Fig. 6. Geologic setting of the Meratus Mountains (geology mainly after Koolhoven, 1935).
 FEET
BALIKPAPAN BAY
ME MOI ANTKLINE Kl.ANDASAN ANTICLINE
SEPAKU ANTICLINE

0 5 10 15 20
I I I I
km

:
Fig. 7. Geologic section across the Easf. Kalimantan oil basin near Balikpapan, exhibiting beside oil and gas wells also folded structure E
suggesting tectonic force originating from the Strait of Makassar (Excursion guide, Indones. Petr. Assoc., 1976).
306

he seen from the map of the southern part, of the A4eratus Mts. The north-
eastern part still exhibits the original geographic arrangement of the
Cretaceous arc-trench system. namely from east to west, peridotites, granites
and the deposits of the foreland basin or backdeep (Fig. 6). It should be
emphasized that besides exhibiting a typical subduction geology, the Meratus
Mts. also harbour the largest ophiolite occurrence in the western part of
Indonesia, a fact which is difficult to reconcile with anything but a collision
zone, associated with abduction.
The collision also caused deformation in the Tertiary basin north of the
Meratus Range. In the Samarinda anticlinorium the intensity of folding
increases from the coast inwards and the anticlines which are first broad and
symmetrical become asymmetrical farther west giving the impression that
the tectonic force originated from the Strait of Makassar (Rutten, 1927).
Figure 7 seems to be in harmony with this theory.

Development of the Makassar trough as a marginal basin (Fig. 4d and e)

Before going into detail on the possible mechanism of the opening of the
Makassar Strait, it is of importance to discuss the tectonic setting of the
Makassar trough in the light of new findings by oil companies operating in
this area.
The Makassar Strait occupies the continental shelf slope and rise areas
between Kalimantan and Sulawesi or between the Sunda land comprising
Phanerozoic volcano/plutonic arcs and its corresponding subduction zones,
which are concentrically arranged in the west and the mid- to Late Tertiary
volcano/plutonic arc of Sulawesi with its matching subduction zone in the
east. The Kalimantan side comprises the pre-Tertiary Meratus Mts. and several
Tertiary sedimentary basins arranged in a NNE--SSW direction such as the
Pasir and Barito sub-basins, East Kutei basin, Samarinda anticlinorium,
West Kutei basin and to the north the Tarakan basin.
Studying the recent bathymetric map (Fig. 8) resulting from investigations
by oil companies, we notice two conspicuous lineaments clearly reflected by
the steep gradient of the bathymetry: one in the north which is part of the
Palu-Koro fault zone (Katili, 1970 and Tjia and Zakaria, 1974) and the other
in the south designated as the Pasternoster fault (Situmorang, 1976).
The Palu-Koro fault zone separates the Sulawesi Sea from the Makassar
basin, while the Pasternoster fault divides the Makassar basin into two main
parts: the North Makassar basin and the South Makassar basin.
Gravity investigations by Vening Meinesz (1954) and recent seismic survey
by Mobil marine reconnaisance survey (1970-1971) and Schwartz et al.
(1973) point to the fact that oceanic crust may underlie the through (Situ-
morang, 1976).
___- _._----
Fig. 8. Bathymetric map of the Strait of Makassar showing the infered offshore extension
of the Palu-Koro and Pasternoster faults (data from Situmorang, 1976).
MAKASSAR STRAIT
Water -depth map

~looo- lsobath in fathoms

- Transform Fault

40
1170 1200 1210
 _ _. _._---_T. .---

w MCP-5

MCP - ! SSP-9
F

6..
km
-^-.-.- .--_ -_ .~__.
b
_,.i

,3.
II.,

INDEX MAP

Fig. 9. East-west section across the central and northern part of the Strait of Makassar (data from Mobil Oil and CFP-Marine C&o-
physical Survey). For explanation see text.
 309

An east-west section across the northern part of the Strait of Makassar

(Fig. 9a) demonstrates the tensional structure caused by rifting on the
Kalimantan side and the undistrubed post-Pliocene sediments overlying the
basement consisting of oceanic crust. The eastern part of the section shows
some folding, presumably caused by slumping of the sediments into the
Makassar Strait basin.
Between the Lariang basin and Mahakam delta evidence of recent rifting
is seen in seismic data, but this movement is not continuing at present (Gulf
Indonesia, personal communication, 1976).
Another east-west section across the Strait from the Mangkaliat Peninsula
to the neck of Sulawesi exhibits a continuously folded structure
throughout the section (Fig. 9b). From the cross-section it would appear
that spreading in the northern Makassar Strait has proceeded about a pivot
to the north of this area. More rapid spreading in the south has produced
tensional structures. To the north the spreading has occurred Iess rapidly
near the pivot, resulting in compressional structures forming in the rocks
north of the pivot.
Geologists from Gulf Indonesia (personal communication, 1976) pointed
out that the deep water between the southern arm of Sulawesi and the
Strait of Makassar seems to exhibit a very complicated character similar to a
subduction zone. This possible subduction zone and resultant dompressional
features seem to be related to a movement of Sulawesi with some rotational
movement in the southern arm.
Figure 10 is an other east-west seismic profile across the Makassar Strait
situated farther south than the two profiles described above, more or less
to the west of the town of Makassar. To the west (Kalimantan side), tensional
features can be observed similar to that seen on Fig. 9a and b. The central
part shows more or less undisturbed sediments comparable to that of Fig.
9a, Whereas on the east side of Fig. 9a no trace of a subduction zone can be
seen, in Fig. 10 the sediments are slightly folded, suggesting a subduction
zone dipping to the east. The deepest part of the present trough which does
not represent a trench, exhibits local crumpling of the layers caused by
slumping of material originating from the east (Sulawesi side). Remnants of
an old trench filled with younger sediments can be detected at the right
corner of the profile.
Another consequence of the opening of the Makassar Strait, is the presence
of Cretaeeous melange in the southern arm of Sulawesi, already described in
the previous pages. This rocks assemblage belongs to the Meratus Mts. and
was detached from Kalimantan during the opening of the Makassar Strait
and now forms part qf Sulawesi. Chromite found in this melange near Baru
shows discrepancies in mineralogical and chemical composition from that
found in Latau in the southern arm of Sulawesi (B.N. Wahyu, personal com-
munication, 1976).
The youthful age of the Strait of Makassar cannot only be deduced from
the age of the Late Quatemary volcanoes, caused by minor spreading of the
 PRESENT TROUGH

+
REMNANT OF OLDER TRENCH
FILLE9 WITH SLUMPING MASERiAL
FROM THE EAST

Fig. 10. Seismic profile across the southern part of the Strait of Makassar (data from Gulf Indonesia). To the left (Kalimantall side)
tensional features can he observed, similar to that seen on the profiles of Fig. 9. To the right compressional features predominate,.
suggesting a subduction zone dipping eastward and filled with slump material from Sulawesi.
 311

Fig. 11. Diagram illustrating closing of the southern part of the ancient Sulawesi Sea
(Strait of Makassar) by westward drift of Sulawesi.

sea floor and subsequent subduction in the Strait of Makassar, but also from
the age of the sediments in the Lariang basin of the western Sulawesi arc
which once formed part of Kalimantan. The rifting should be post-Pliocene as
the youngest deposits in the Lariang basin are Pliocene.
Based on the data presented above a possible mechanism for the opening
of the Makassar Strait and its evolution can be reconstructed as follows:
Figure 11 shows the situation at the end of the Pliocene time when the
Strait of Makassar was still closed, due to the westward thrust of Celebes
Fig. 12. Initial movement leading towards the opening of the Makassar Strait along the
Pasternoster sinistral transcurrent fault (mechanism of movement suggested by W.C. Lesli,
personal communication, 1976).
 Axis of spreadinq

Guaterndryvolcanoe$
/
tnclplent plate boundaries
/

Fig. 13. Opening of the Strait of Makassar by sea-floor spreading along the east-west
trending dextral Pasternoster transform fault. Development of Late Quaternary volcanoes
in the southern arm of Sulawesi.
314

against Kalimantan. This can be deduced from the fact that the 1,000 m
bathymetric contours of Kalimantan and Celebes can he fitted exactly
together.
The first movement leading towards the opening of the Makassar Strait
began with a sinistral transcurrent shift which affected both Kalimantan and
Celebes, causing displacement along the Pasternoster fault, trending
approximately northwest-southeast (Fig. 12).
In Kalimantan this fault can be traced northwestward where it changes
into a dip-slip fault (Pertamina geologists, personal communication, 1976).
To the east this fault can be followed to the southern arm of Sulawesi.
Two spreading centers then developed, one each on the northern and
southern parts of the Strait of Makassar, connected by the Pasternoster fault
which now acted as a dextral transform fault and gradually moved the
northern part of the western Sulawesi arc towards the east (Fig. 13).
The spreading movement south of the Pasternoster fault could not
develop westward since a thick continental crust was present there. The
result was a rotating counter-clockwise movement, which was accommodated
by the creation of an east-dipping subduction zone, producing the Late
Quaternary volcanoes of South Celebes, namely the Lompobatang and
Barupu volcanoes.
The movement of Sulawesi north of the Pasternoster fault followed more
or less the same pattern. To the west the movement could not develop
further due to the thickness of the continental crust in Kalimantan. How-
ever, to the east, Sulawesi moved farther and farther away from Kalimantan
until it was checked by the movement of the newly formed sinistral Palu-
Koro transform fault, which will be discussed later.
The absence or scarcity of Late Quaternary talc-alkaline volcanoes in the
northern part of the western arc could be explained by the absence of a sub-
duction zone in this area.
Another spreading center subsequently developed in the Sulawesi Sea
(Fig. 4a), partly accommodated by a southeast dipping subduction zone and
partly by a large sinistral transform fault, known as the Palu-Koro fault zone
(Fig. 14). This movement pushed the part of Sulawesi west of the fault zone
in a south-southeastward direction, accompanied by a slight counter-clock-
wise rotation, until Celebes gained its present position (Fig. 15). This latest
south-southeastward movement also apparently caused the two small
spreading centers in the Makassar Strait to become dormant, and conse-
quently also the Lompobatang and Barupu volcanoes as they were cut off
from their source of magma.
The eastward drift of Sulawesi along the Pasternoster fault, combined
with the south-southeastward movement along the Palu-Koro transform fault
could also be held responsible for the formation of the Tempe and Pare-Pare
active extensional basins which contain approximately 7,000 m of Pliocene
sediments (Gulf Indonesia, personal communication).
The active subduction zone located northwest of Sulawesi is accompanied
 TRANSFORM FAULT

AXIS ot spreading

A Qth%ern%y VGiC5-Oe5

Subduction zone

Fig. 14. Further opening of the Strait of Makassar by spreading of the Sulawesi Sea floor.
Sinistral movement oecured along the NNW-SSE trending Palu-Koro transform fault.
 316

rPALU - KORO FAULT

PASTERNOSTER FAULT+

1OOOm watdepth contour 2 _

_ktie+

Fig. 15. Present geotectonic position of Sulawesi showing the active Palu-Koro and Matano
faults. Note that no active volcanoes are present in the southern and middle part of the
western Sulawesi arc.
 317

by the volcanic activity in the Gulf of Gorontalo, such as the Una-Una

volcano.
Evidence of recent movement along the Palu-Koro transform fault can be
found in the stream offsets reported by Katili (1970) and Tjia and Zakaria
(1974).

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

Sulawesi originated as a normal island arc in Miocene time or even earlier

with its convex side turned towards the Pacific Ocean. It was transformed
into its present peculiar K-shape pattern by collision with the westward
advancing Pacific plate along east-west transform faults which pushed
Sulawesi 800 km westward in the direction of the Asiatic Continent.
It is now a composite island as a result of incorporation of foreign frag-
ments, originating from surrounding islands, into its geology. In the southern
arm of Sulawesi, elements of southeast Kalimantan in the form of a Cre-
taceous melange occur amidst Tertiary and Late Quaternary volcanic rocks.
In the eastern arm, parts of the Australian crustal element represented by
Permian granites were swept against Tertiary sediments and ophiolites. In
the southeastern arm Tertiary ophiolites occur side by side with a basin field
with Plio-Pleistocene sediments of Buton Island.
Opening of the Makassar Strait along the Pasternoster fault by spreading
of the sea floor of the Makassar trough was accommodated by a small east-
dipping subduction zone and accompanied by Late Quaternary volcanic
activity of which the volcanic cones can now still be recognized near Makas-
sar and Pare-Pare. Subsequent spreading of the sea floor of the Sulawesi Sea
moved Sulawesi to the south-southeast along the Pam-Koro transform fault,
simultaneously destroying the spreading centers in the Makassar Strait and
thus cutting of the magmatic source of the Lompobatang and Barupu vol-
canoes. A southeast-dipping subduction zone in the northwest of Sulawesi
was created, which is to be held responsible for the formation of the isolated
medium alkaline Una-Una volcanic island in the Gulf of Gorontalo. Another
small subduction zone with normal polarity developed in the northern part
(Katili, 1973), creating the volcanic chain of Minahassa-Sangihe-Philip-
pines, and the volcanoes west of Halmahera.
The model of the geological evolution of Sulawesi explains in a relatively
simple way that in an area where three gigantic crustal plates interact and
collide, complex geological processess are liable to take place, such as: (1)
the transformation of a normal arc structure to an inverted one; (2) deforma-
tion of an ancient already deformed belt, such as in the case of East Sulawesi
and the Meratus Range of SE Kalimantan; (3) sweeping of fragments against
unrelated terrain as can be observed in Banggai and Buton islands; (4)
thrusting of oceanic and mantle material over the island arc; (5) closing of
deep-sea basins behind the arc; (6) formation of a marginal basin by
spreading of the sea floor as exhibited in the Makassar Strait; and (7)
378

development of small subduction zones with reverse polarities such as in the

area northwest of Sulawesi.
The nature of the many small deep seas surrounding Sulawesi can now bt>
better understood. The Gulf of Bone and the Gulf of Gorontalo originally
formed the interdeep or parts of the arc-trench gap of the Miocene Sulawesi
double island arc. This interdeep which originally had a north-south direc-
tion is now separated into two parts by a median zone. The southern one
(Gulf of Bone) has more or less maintained its original nor0~-south orirnt,a-
tion while the northern one (Gulf of Gorontalo) has presently an east;-~-west
direction and contains the active Una-Una volcano in it. This could perhaps
be the only example in the world where an arc--trench gap is occupied by an
active volcano.
The Strait of Makassar is a marginal basin which came into being first by
the closing of a much wider sea in Pliocene time, fcllowed by the opening of
its southern part during Quaternary time by spreading of the sea floor.
The Banda Sea is considered as an ocean basin trapped by the rolling up of
the east-west trending Banda arc due to the continuous northward drift of
Australia, combined with the westward thrust of the Pacific plate (Katili,
1971).
The Sulawesi Sea consists of a relatively old Pacific crust trapped by the
Philippine-Sulawesi island arcs, in which later a minor spreading center
became active in its central part. The Molucca Sea comprises tectonic mklange
in which a small spreading center became active, presumably to compensate
the eastward movement of northern Sulawesi and the westward thrust of
Halmahera.
Results of the Molucca Sea cruise obtained by the University of California,
Santa Cruz, show that on all crossings of the contacts between the central
mklange and the northern Sulawesi and Halmahera arcs, the mklange can be
clearly seen thrusting over the arcs.
So while the Benioff zones dip under the arcs in normal fashion, the
mhlange is thrust over them (E.A. Silver, written communication, 1976).
The model of Sulawesi and the synthesis proposed in this paper also
possess some major difficulties. The presence of Oligocene carbonates partly
deposited in a shelf environment occupying the southern part of the
Makassar Strait and the area west of it, is difficult to reconcile with the
opening of the Makassar Strait in Pliocene time, caused by spreading of its
sea floor. No evidence of a tensional regime during Pliocene or Quaternary
time is encountered in the southern area of the Makassar Strait (Gulf
Indonesia, personal communication, 1976). Seismic data show that the Late
Miocene to Pliocene compressional regime is probably still active.
A possible solution to overcome the difficulties presented above is to
postulate the opening of the South and North Makassar basins successively
in Miocene and Pliocene times (W.C. Lesli, personal communication, 1976).
The southern part of the west arc of Sulawesi can then be considered as a
rafted continental splinter from the pre-Tertiary Sunda core (Murphy, 1976)
 319

which drifted away from Kalimantan in Miocene time and was joined by the
northern part of the western arc in Pliocene time. A seismic profile across
Tanah Keke southwest of Makassar shows tensional features in Miocene and
older sediments, uncomformably overlain by younger non-tectonized
sediments (Gulf Indonesia, personal communication, 1976).
If this concept can be considered as valid, then several major questions
can be raised as follows.
If the southern and northern parts of the western arc of Sulawesi consist
of two different elements of which the geological history displays marked
discrepancies in pre-Pliocene times, how could the occurrence of Miocene
granitic rocks be explained, which occur abundantly throughout the western
arc? (Van Bemmelen, 1949; Katili, 1975; Sukamto, 1975). What is the
tectonic position of the Miocene alkaline rocks occurring in the southern
part of the western arc which, according to the theory postulated in this
paper, clearly indicates a normal arc polarity? How can we accommodate the
peculiar four-armed morphology of Sulawesi and how do we find an adequate
explanation for the geology of the Meratus Mts. with its large overthrust
mass of ophiolites originating from the east?
Another problem which can be raised against the synthesis advanced in
this paper concerns the mechanism for compensation of the westward
moving slab on which Sulawesi is situated.
No Pliocene subduction zone located west of Sulawesi and dipping
towards the Asian continent has been postulated in this paper. On the con-
trary, Sukamto (1975) proposed a subduction zone in the Makassar Strait
dipping to the east.
Small subduction zones with reverse polarity and of relative short dura-
tion might give a solution to these problems. They could have been operating
west of Sulawesi during its movement towards the Asian continent in Plio-
cene time. Volcanic and plutonic rocks of Pliocene age encountered in the
western arc of Sulawesi could be associated with these small subduction
processess. We do not know with certainty what events took place in the
southern part of the ancient Sulawesi Sea, as these might have been
obliterated by the westward drift of Sulawesi.
Minor subduction zones occurring around Sulawesi are not peculiar
features, as they can be observed now operating in the Celebes and Molucca
Seas. The Halmahera and northern Sulawesi arcs which are supposed to be
colliding at present, still clearly exhibit active volcanism. However, until
enough radiometric dating has been carried out in Sulawesi, no positive
solution to this problem can be advanced.
Nevertheless, the synthesis presented in this paper tends to offer new
opportunities of solving many problems posed in the introductory remarks
and simplify our view regarding this most complcated island.
At present the island of Sulawesi is undergoing a process of fragmentation
as can be deduced from the active lateral movement along the Gorontalo,
Palu-Koro, Matano and Sorong faults. The end result could be a cluster of
320

islands separated by small straits and deep seas resembling the complicated
pattern of the Philippine Archipelago, in which the original double island-arc
structure can no longer be recognized.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge Mr. Ismet Akil for giving me permission to publish

data from PERTAMINA and foreign oil companies and for the valuable
advice he gave me during the preparation of this paper.
I also wish to express my appreciation to the majority of the petroleum
companies operating in this country for the enlightened policy they have
pursued so far in providing basic marine geological and geophysical informa-
tion to the scientific community.
My deepest gratitude goes further to Messrs. Gurney, James and Lesli from
Gulf Indonesia in educating me to read and interpret the seismic profiles in
the southern part of the Makassar Strait.
Messrs. Hartono, Sukamto and Usna from the Geological Survey of
Indonesia have shared with me their invaluable experience gained during the
recent cruises and field work around the seas and on the islands of eastern
Indonesia, for which I wish to thank them.
I would also like to thank Mr. Sudradjat from the previously mentioned
institution for the permission he gave me to publish the LANDSAT imagery
interpretation of Central Sulawesi.
Finally I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Drs. Rubini and Soekendar
from the Bandung Institute of Technology for critically reading the manu-
script and for the suggestions they offered in improving this article.

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