|
The island slopes /up from the /shores of the/ deep seas/ surrounding the /island to a high,/ mostly non-volcanic,/ mountainous interior./ Active volcanoes are found in/ the northern Minahassa/ Peninsula, stretching /north to the Sangihe/ Islands. The northern/ peninsula contains/ several active /volcanoes such as Mount Lokon, /Mount Awu, Soputan /and Karangetang. According to plate /reconstructions, the island/ is believed to /have been formed /by the collision /of terranes from /the Asian Plate /(forming the west and southwest) and /from the Australian /Plate (forming the/ southeast and Banggai),/ with island /arcs previously /in the Pacific /(forming the north and east peninsulas). /Because of its/ several tectonic/ origins, various /faults scar the/ land and as a /result the island /is prone to earthquakes. Sulawesi, in /contrast to most of/ the other/ islands in the/ biogeographical /region of Wallacea, /is not truly oceanic, /but a compo!
site /island at the centre of the/ Asia-Australia collision/ zone. Parts of/ the island were /formerly attached to /either the Asian /or Australian/ continental margin/ and became separated /from these areas/ by vicariant processes/. In the west,/ the opening of /the Makassar Strait /separated West Sulawesi/ from Sundaland in the Eocene c./ 45 Mya. In /the east, the/ traditional view of/ collisions of multiple /micro-continental fragments/ sliced from New /Guinea with an/ active volcanic/ margin in West /Sulawesi at different/ times since the /Early Miocene c. 20 Mya has/ recently been /replaced by the hypothesis/ that extensional fragmentation/ has followed a/ single Miocene collision /of West Sulawesi with /the Sula Spur,/ the western end of an ancient /folded belt of Variscan origin /in the Late/ Paleozoic
|
