The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
is bordered on the north by the
Sulu Archipelago and
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...
and
Mindanao Island
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...
of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, on the east by the
Sangihe Islands
The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – id, Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of islands which constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regen ...
chain, on the south by
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
's
Minahasa Peninsula
The Minahasa Peninsula, also spelled Minahassa, is one of the four principal peninsulas on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It stretches north from the central part of the island, before turning to the east and forming the northern boundary of th ...
, and on the west by northern
Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by east-west and has a total surface area of , to a maximum depth of . South of the
Cape Mangkalihat
Cape Mangkalihat, also known as Cape Sangkulirang, is a cape in eastern Borneo. It is located in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan, in the regencies of Berau and East Kutai.
The cape, as part of the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst, is ...
, the sea opens southwest through the
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. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat Pe ...
into the
Java Sea
The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...
.
The Celebes Sea is a piece of an ancient
ocean basin
In hydrology, an oceanic basin (or ocean basin) is anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater. Geologically, ocean basins are large geologic basins that are below sea level.
Most commonly the ocean is divided into basins foll ...
that formed 42 million years ago in a locale removed from any landmass. By 20 million years ago, earth crust movement had moved the basin close enough to the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n and
Philippine
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
es to receive emitted debris. By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
, which was shed from a growing young mountain on Borneo and the basin had docked against Eurasia.
The border between the Celebes and the Sulu Sea is at the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge. Strong
ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, s ...
s, deep
sea trenches and
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...
s, combined with active
volcanic island
Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
s, result in complex
oceanographic
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...
features.
Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary
On 23 May 2013, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia signed an agreement to establish the boundary line that delimits the overlapping Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the two countries. It has been agreed that north of the boundary line will be under the jurisdiction of the Philippines (named as ''Mindanao Sea'') and Indonesia be south of the boundary line (named ''Celebes Sea'').
Extent
The
International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States.
A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters a ...
(IHO) defines the Celebes Sea as being one of the waters of the
East Indian Archipelago
The East Indian Archipelago is an area designated by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). It encompasses twelve seas, two gulfs, and one strait in the East Indies (Southeast Asia).
Seas
In draft 4 of the IHO's publication S-23 ''Li ...
. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
''On the North.'' The Southern limit of Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...
rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island
_
Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the__Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Re_...
_(),_through_this_island_to_its_Southern_extremity,_thence_a_line_to_Bitinan_Island_()_off_the_Eastern_end_of_ rom_Tagolo_Point,_down_the_West_coast_of_Mindanao_to_the_Southwest_extremity_thence_to_the_North_coast_of_Basilan_(island)">Basilan_Island_
Basilan,_officially_the_Province_of_Basilan_(_cbk,_Provincia_de_Basilan;__yka,_Wilayah_Basilanin;__tsg,_Wilaya'_sin_Basilan;__fil,_Lalawigan_ng_Basilan),_is_an_island_province_of_the_Philippines_located_primarily_in_the__Bangsamoro_Autonomous_Re_...
_(),_through_this_island_to_its_Southern_extremity,_thence_a_line_to_Bitinan_Island_()_off_the_Eastern_end_of_Jolo">Jolo_Island