FLORES SEA

Bahasa Indonesia Laut Flores portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the north by the island of Celebes (Sulawesi) and on the south by the Lesser Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Occupying a total surface area of 93,000 sq mi (240,000 sq km), it opens northwest through Makassar Strait to the Celebes Sea, west to the Java Sea, and east to the Banda Sea. Teluk (gulf of) Bone cuts deeply into the Celebes coast. The sea's basin is divided into four distinct regions. One, in the west, is a broad plateau with a general depth of 1,650 ft (500 m). Submarine mounts rising from this bank are often capped by coral atolls. Two deeper channels cross this region, leading southeast to the Flores Basin (just north of the island of Flores). There the sea plunges to its greatest depth, 16,860 ft (5,140 m). Extending north of the trough, two ridges (the western reaching above water as Selayar Island), flanking a shallower trough (maximum 11,060 ft ), stretch to the island of Celebes. The last region, south of Teluk Bone, is on the east, bordering the Banda Sea. In the winter, surface currents trend southwest only to reverse themselves during the summer.