"Axel Harvey" wrote in message
om...
Is the Teluk Tomini - the gulf on the Equator surrounded by the
graceful arc of Sulawesi (the Celebes) - possibly an impact crater?
(I am not referring to volcanic craters).

A.H.:

There is no evidence for that. Shocked quartz, high-pressure quartz
polymorphs,diaplectic glass in any plagioclase, impact breccias, shatter
cones ,signatures of telltale extraterrestrial elemental concentrations and
the distinctive bulge
of basement rocks in a crater--all of which are indicative of impact sites--
are lacking in the Tomini area. Furthermore, Indonesia has the largest
population of volcanos on the globe and the movement of the sea floor under
Northern Sulawesi contributes to the ring of fire having overseen the many
eruptions of volcanos and explosions of volcanic islands
in the Gulf of Tomini which have been recorded throughout this and the last
century. Another factor militating against your mentioned possibility is
that the pyroclastic deposits in the area are all explicably volcanic in
origin.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey