The Geology of

Indonesia/
Makassar Strait

The

Makassar Strait, located along

the eastern margin of Sundaland,
between Kalimantan and Sulawesi,
forms a distinct physiographic
border between the western
Indonesia stable cratonic landmass
and the complex collage of the
eastern Indonesia archipelago

It has been a focus of attention of

scientific community since at least
the nineteenth century, when
Wallace (1864) established the
Wallace Line longitudinally along the
strait. The line is a biodiversity
boundary between the Asiatic fauna
in the west and the Australian fauna
in the east and southeast.

. The Makassar strait is bounded towards the

north by the long lateral Palu-Koro fault, which
separates this basin from the Sulawesi sea.

The

Makassar strait is
divided into the North
Makassar and South
Makassar basin by another
lateral fault, so called
Paternoster fault

The occurrence of these two

faults is clearly reflected by
the steep gradients indicated
by the bathymetric contours
A thick sequence of relatively
undisturbed Neogene and
probably Paleogene
sediments showing good
lateral continuity were
deposited in the basin.

Tectonics
The

Makassar Strait occupies

the continental shelf, slope
and rise areas between the
islands of Kalimantan and
Sulawesi

This

region is situated between

the cratonised Paleozoic and
Mesozoic rocks of the Sunda
Shield in the west and the late
Tertiary volcanic arc of Sulawesi
in the east. The latter can be
classified as a continental
margin of the Pacific type due
to its tectonic mobility (Beck
and Lehner, 1974).

The

strongly positive isostatic

gravity anomaly over the
Makassar trough which was
recognised by Vening Meinesz
(1954) and confirmed by
Mobils marine reconnaissance
survey (1970-1971) and
Schwartz et al. (1973), has led
to the conclusion that oceanic
crust may underlie the trough.

According to these
authors, it is uncertain
whether oceanisation of the
trough resulted from
tensional rifting or was due
to compressional stresses.

Much

of the evidence supports

the first interpretation. The
deep offshore seismic survey
performed by Total-CFP over
the Makassar Strait in 1974
showed that no features
characteristic of a subduction
zone occur at the northeaster
edge of the abyssal plain of
the Strait.

A hypothetical triplejunction rift-system is

proposed, to explain the
oceanisation of the crust in
the Makassar trough

The

sequence of formation
of a divergent triple-junction
was discussed by Thompson
(1976), and was applied to
explain the origin of the
Mahakam Delta complex in
East Kalimantan (Weimer,
1975) in terms of aulacogen

Crustal upwarping is though to have

occurred along the East Kalimantan
continental margin followed by
fracturing and the formation of three
rift arms

 The

less active east-west rift arm

was further developed as a
graben (Melawi and Ketungau
basins), while the more active
north-south rift arm caused
South Sulawesi to drift eastward,
resulting in early sea-floor
spreading. New oceanic crust
was then formed in the area
which now underlies the present
Makassar trough (Weimer, 1975).

The

similarities between
Cretaceous basement rocks
and the overlying EoceneOligocene section between
south-eastern Kalimantan
and southwestern Sulawesi
(Hamilton, 1974), suggest
that the rift-system probably
opened during mid-Tertiary
time

Murphy

(1976), suggested that

the South Arm of Sulawesi was
a continental splinter rafted
from the pre-Tertiary Sunda
core; the similarities between
the shapes of the coastlines
from Palu to the south in
Sulawesi, and from
Sangkulirang to the south in
Kalimantan support this
hypothesis.

The North Makassar and the

South Makassar basins can
be classified as marginal seas
(Murphy, 1975) based on the
fact that the Makassar trough
is underlain by oceanic crust,
and is flanked to the west by
the Asian continental margin
and to the east by the
volcanic arc of Sulawesi.

Stratigraph
y

Straigraphy

of the basin is
interpreted base on seismic
reflection profiles and Taka Talu
1 & 2, drilled by Union Carbide
in 1970. The stratigraphic
sequences have been
described by Guntoro (1999).

Acoustic Basement
(Seismic Sequence 1)
The

oldest recognised seismic sequence

is characterised by an absence of
reflections and is interpreted as acoustic
basement. The contact with the
overlying sediments is difficult to trace,
especially in the eastern segments of
Line PAC201 where it is obscured by
diffractions and multiples.

This contact is marked by H1

but, in general, it can only be
identified at a few locations. To
estimate the basement depth,
interval velocity data were used
where available, the boundary
between acoustic basement and
the overlying sediments being
placed at depths at which there
was an extreme velocity contrast.

The

greatest depths are in the

middle of the line, where horizon
H1 was not seen as it lies deeper
than the maximum time recorded
(8s TWT).
The horizon shallows to the west
and is displaced by normal faults,
forming half-graben structures.
The top of sequence 1, which is
the pre-Tertiary basement,
consisting of Cretaceous gabbros
and dolerites in TT-1 and TT-2
well.

Syn-rift unit (Seismic Sequence 2)

Unconformably

overlying
Seismic Sequence 1 in Seismic
Sequence 2.
This sequence is charactrised by
parallel-subparallel reflectors,
with poor to fair continuity and
low to medium amplitude.

Reflection geometry suggests a

concordant sequence boundary
relationship at the top, and onlap at
the base, against H1. These
reflection characteristics are
interpreted as indicating a shelf
depositional environment and well
data (TT-1 and TT-2) indicate Late
Eocene age.
The thickness of the sequence
varies, suggesting infilling of a
faulted and irregular basement.

. This is the basis for inferring that the

sediments are rift-related. The faults cut
the basement but do not disturb the pretectonic activity.
The

top of this syn-rift sequence

(Seismic Sequence 2) is designated
H2, marks the end of the rifting
phase, which follwoed by basin
subsidence and the deposition of
post-rift sediments. The opening of
the Makassar Strait can be related
to the deposition of Sequence 2.

Post-rift unit
Overlying

Seismic Sequence 2,
which is considered to be a synrift unit, are Seismic Sequence
3-6. These sequences have not
been affected by normal faults
and are therefore considered to
be post-rift sediments.

Seismic Sequence 3
This

sequence is bounded by horizon

H2 and H3, and exhibits parallel to
subparallel bedding, with poor to fair
continuity and high to medium
reflection amplitude; in some parts
amplitude; in some parts amplitudes
are low. The variation in amplitude, and
frequency may indicate a lithological
facies change, which could relate to a
decreasing rate of subsidence.

The

lower boundary shows

downlap to the top of Seismic
Sequence 2 (Boundary H2).
These reflector characteristics
can be taken as indicating a
shelf margin depositional
environment which is
equivalent to the Lower
Oligocene conglomeratic
limestone.

Seismic Sequence 4
This

sequence is bounded by horizons

H3 and H4, and is dominated by parallel
and locally sub-parallels reflections,
with fair to good continuity and medium
to high reflection amplitude. The unit is
characterised by the presence of local
mound-like reflector patters which are
interpreted as carbonate mounds.

correlation to TT-2 and TT1 well indicate Early

Miocene age at the top of
this sequence. The upper
boundary is marked by
toplap to horizon H5. The
reflector characteristics are
classified as indicating a
shelf to shelf margin
depositional environment.

Seismic Sequence 5
The

Seismic Sequence 5 is
bounded by horizons H4 and
H5 and displays parallel
configurations with fair to
good continuity and medium
to high reflections amplitude.

This sequence is equivalent to the

Early to Middle Miocene deep marine
shales and marls in well TT-1 and TT2.
Discontinuous

reflectors are
present in shallower part with
low to medium amplitude,
whilst continuity is observed
with medium to high amplitude.

These

reflection characteristics
are typical of shelf depositional
environment and indicate a
shallow marine shelf deposit.
The unit can still be recognized
in the eastern segment,
although this region is distorted
by thrust faulting.

Seismic

Sequence 6
This sub unit is bounded by
horizons H5 and H6 and
shows parallel
configurations with good
continuity and medium to
high reflection amplitudes.