Evidence for Early and Mid Jurassic deposits in the Ophiolitic Belt of Sulawesi (Indonesia). Geodynamic implications

Calcareous nannofossils, one ammonite and some benthonic foraminifera have been discovered in deposits of Upper Sinemurian (?) to Bathonian age under the ophiolite nappe in East Sulawesi. These biostratigraphical results allo w to propose for the first time a general lithostratigraphic succession of the Mesozoic tectonically-dismembered sedimentary rocks under the ophiolite . This succession indicates that the Late Triassic reefal platform of East Sulawesi suffered a major subsidence event during Early Liassic times. Prio r to Neogene tectonics, which strongly dismembered East Indonesia, the Ophi olitic tectonic Zone of East Sulawesi was probably part of the widest palae ogeographic block which included some of the Banda Sea continental fragment s: Buru, Seram, Buton and the Sinta Ridge.