DEPTH OF THE OCEAN 39 



and Bali on the one side from the islands 

 of Celebes and Lombok on the other. The 

 Arafura Sea is extremely shallow, with depths 

 exceeding 100 fathoms only on its north- 

 western border, where a depth of 1700 fathoms 

 has been recorded, and in the Java Sea the 

 depth is greater than 100 fathoms only on the 

 eastern side, but at no place attains 1000 

 fathoms. In the southern portion of the 

 China Sea the depth does not exceed 100 

 fathoms, but towards the north it increases, 

 and between Luzon and the continental 

 land there is a large area with depths over 

 2000 fathoms and a maximum depth of about 

 2500 fathoms. Over the barrier separating 

 this sea from the main Pacific basin the depth 

 exceeds 500 fathoms only in two narrow 

 channels. The seas of the Malay Archipelago 

 to the east of Borneo and Celebes form deeper 

 basins. A large area of the floor of the Banda 

 Sea lies below 2000 fathoms and includes the 

 Weber Deep with a sounding in 3557 fathoms. 

 Two other soundings have been recorded in 

 depths exceeding 2700 fathoms, one in the 

 northern part of the sea and the other in the 

 south-west, off the island of Flores. The 

 deepest channel of communication with the 

 open ocean is the Molucca Passage, between 

 Celebes and Halmahera, where the depth is 

 well over 1000 fathoms. A large portion of 



