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Geological Development of Eastern Indonesia and the Northern Australia

Collision Zone: a Review

Article · January 2004

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Geological development of eastern Indonesia and the northern Australia collision
zone: A review
Peter W. Baillie1, Tom H. Fraser2, Robert Hall3 and Keith Myers4
Keywords: Banda Arc, eastern Indonesia, Timor Trough, Tanimbar Trough, Aru Trough
Abstract
For much of its history, the region encompassing the
northern margin of the Australian Plate and eastern
Indonesia has been part of, or relatively close to a
continental margin.
Three significant periods of Palaeozoic–Mesozoic
terrane dispersion occurred, where continental
fragments separated from the margin of Gondwanaland,
drifted northward and were subsequently accreted to the
Eurasian craton. Separation of these blocks in the Early
Devonian, late Early Permian and Late Triassic–Late
Jurassic was accompanied by the opening of the Palaeo-
Tethys, Meso-Tethys and Ceno-Tethys ocean basins.
By the end of the Jurassic, the northern margin of
the Australian continent was part of a passive margin
facing an open ocean containing several continental
blocks or microcontinents.
The present geology results from two tectonic forces:
(1) northward movement of the Australian Plate driven
by the Southern Ocean spreading centre at 9 cm/year,
and (2) rotation of the Pacific Plate which sets up sinistral
shear on the northern margin of New Guinea.
This paper summarises the geological evolution as:
building blocks formed during Proterozoic and
Palaeozoic times; development of a Mesozoic mid-latitude
passive margin on the eastern margin of Gondwanaland;
and Neogene collision of Australia and the Indonesian
archipelago.
Introduction
Eastern Indonesia lies within a complex tectonic zone formed
as a result of Neogene collision and interaction of the
Australian and Eurasian (Sundaland) plates, and the Caroline
and Philippine Sea oceanic plates, and the Pacific Plate. The
region has been likened to a giant jigsaw puzzle, consisting
of a complex of small ocean basins separated by slivers or
fragments of sometimes-thickened continental crust, which
seem ultimately destined to form part of a single complex
terrane (Milsom, 1991; Metcalfe, 1998).
The active tectonics of the region have long been
recognised and are clearly expressed in its morphology,
volcanicity and seismicity (e.g. Hamilton, 1979; Veevers,
2000). The following morphotectonic features are
recognised:
1
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company, Level 5, 1100 Hay Street
West Perth, WA, 6005. Australia. Email: peterb@tgsnopec.com.au
2
Resource System Diagnostics, Jakarta, Indonesia
3
SE Asia Research Group, Royal Holloway University of London,
United Kingdom
4
WesternGeco, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Relatively rigid lithosphere of the northern margin of
the Australian craton.
• Deepwater troughs, including the Java Trench and its
bathymetric extensions the Timor, Tanimbar, Aru and
Seram troughs.
• The Banda Arc comprising an Outer Banda Arc
(including the islands of Timor, Tanimbar and Seram)
and the volcanic arc of the Inner Banda Arc and the
Weber Deep.
• The island of New Guinea comprising (a) West Papua
Central Range fold belt, (b) the West Papua foreland
lying south of the fold belt, (c) the Bird’s Head
microcontinent, and (d) Cenderawasih Bay and the
“Bird’s Neck”.
In general terms, the geological evolution of the region
may be considered in terms of:
• building blocks formed during Proterozoic and
Palaeozoic times;
• development of a Mesozoic passive margin; and
• Neogene collision of Australia and the Indonesian
Sunda archipelago.
The first two phases occurred when the region was part
of Gondwanaland.
While the geological literature on both the northern
margin of Australia (essentially the North West Shelf) and
South East Asia (including East Indonesia) is voluminous,
it is essentially endemic and the overlap of political and
geological boundaries has tended to mask the common
geology between the two regions (Longley et al., 2002).
In this paper, we review the geology of the collision zone
between the Australian craton and the Indonesian
archipelago – one of the most geologically-complex areas
on Earth.
Much useful information is found in the Journal of
Asian Earth Sciences (formerly the Journal of Southeast
Asian Earth Sciences), the AAPG Bulletin, specialist
publications of The Geological Society together with
conference proceedings published by the Petroleum
Exploration of Australia (PESA), the Australian Petroleum
Producing and Exploration Association (APPEA), the
Indonesia Petroleum Association (IPA) and the South
East Asia Petroleum Exploration Association
(SEAPEX).
The seismic database available to us includes several
non-exclusive surveys acquired by TGS-NOPEC
Geophysical Company and/or WesternGeco, including East
Indonesia regional surveys EIR98 and EIR99, together with
the GP-ARI and Matahari surveys acquired near the
Australian border (Fig. 1).
540 Geological development of eastern Indonesia and northern Australia collision zone
Proterozoic and Palaeozoic building blocks
Proterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic rocks form the effective
basement of the study area and are presently found near the
margin of the Australian Craton (Arafura Platform) and the
Bird’s Head of West Papua. Although the early tectonic
history is poorly defined, the overall north–south structural
grain of the basement rocks of the Arafura Platform is well
illustrated by satellite gravity data (Fig. 2) where several
kilometres of gently-deformed Lower Palaeozoic and
Proterozoic section is present.
By the early Palaeozoic, the region was part of the eastern
margin of Gondwanaland (Metcalfe, 1998).
The Goulburn Graben (Fig. 3) developed within the
Proterozoic basement during the early Palaeozoic (Bradshaw
et al., 1990; McLennan et al., 1990). This northwest-
trending graben is asymmetric, with major faults
developed along its northern boundary and a Palaeozoic to
lower Mesozoic fill. Similar intracratonic rifts include the
Barakan Basin (Barber et al., 2003), Petrel Sub-basin
(Bonaparte Basin) and the Fitzroy Trough (Canning Basin;
McLennan et al., 1990).
Figure 1. Locality map showing seismic database
used in this study. Letters A-D indicate position
of seismic lines shown on Figure 7.
Gondwanaland tectonic development
During Palaeozoic and Mesozoic times, three significant periods
of terrane dispersion occurred, where continental fragments
separated from the margin of Gondwanaland, drifted northward
and were subsequently accreted to the Eurasian craton
(Hutchison, 1989). Separation of these blocks in the Early
Devonian, late Early Permian and Late Triassic–Late Jurassic
was accompanied by the opening of the Palaeo-Tethys and
Meso-Tethys ocean basins (Fig. 4; Metcalfe, 1998).
The first important tectonic event was the Early Devonian
rifting of South China, North China, Indochina, Tarim and
Qaidam from Gondwanaland and the subsequent formation
of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean (Fig. 4b; Metcalfe, 1998).
The second event was the Carboniferous to Permian
rifting of Sibumasu and Qiangtiang as part of the Cimmerian
continent, now preserved in parts of Central and Southeast
Asia (Fig. 4c; Metcalfe, 1998). On the North West Shelf
this important rifting event gave rise to the Westralian Super-basin
(Bradshaw et al., 1988). It relates to the onset of the Sibamasu
block separation and resulted in a thick (10 km) continuous
fill of mainly Permian and Mesozoic sediments, covering the

Figure 2. Regional satellite gravity map (source –
http://topex.ucsd.edu/marine_grav/mar_grav.html)
0°S
5°S
10°S
126°E
entire Westralian Super-basin (Longley et al., 2002). Late
Carboniferous uplift, erosion and local folding in the Bonaparte
Basin have been related to this event (Baillie et al., 1994).
The Late Triassic Carnian to Norian succession of the
North West Shelf was deposited following a regionally
extensive period of significant tectonism, erosion and uplift
along the edges of the craton (Fitzroy Movement), related
either to breakup events along the Gondwanan margin or to
docking of continental blocks along the West Papua/PNG
subduction margin (Longley et al., 2002).
The third significant period of terrane dispersal from the
Gondwanaland margin occurred in the Late Triassic to Late
Jurassic, associated with the Late Triassic drift of the Lhasa
block and the subsequent drift of the West Burma and Woyla
blocks in the Late Jurassic (Metcalfe, 1998). Longley et al.
(2002) recognized the separation of three West Burma sub-
blocks: Block I began to rift in the latest Hettangian and
extension continued until breakup in the Sinemurian; rifting
of Block II subsequently began in the Callovian and was
complete by the Oxfordian; and Block III separated from a
position outboard of the Bonaparte Basin in the Tithonian.
It is possible that a fourth block occupied the position of the
present Banda Sea.
Late Jurassic continental breakup along the Argo Abyssal
Plain, followed by earliest Cretaceous breakup along the rest of
the margin, brought the first deep-marine conditions into close
proximity to the continental-edge basins (Baillie et al., 1994).
Mesozoic passive margin
Data from the Mesozoic exposures in eastern Indonesia
range from mapping traverses led by BMR/AGSO
Baillie et al. 541
130°E 135°E
personnel during the 1980s to a limited amount of
subsurface data from seismic and well-bore penetrations.
The Upper Palaeozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy of
southeast Indonesia is a continuation of the northern
Australian rift-drift sequence, and was controlled by
Gondwanaland breakup and the subsequent opening of the
Indian Ocean (Fig. 5, modified after Pairault, 2002, originally
sourced from Pigram and Panggabean 1981,1983 and Fraser
et al., 1993). Three major tectonic stages are recognised,
similar in broad character to the North West Shelf:
• A Permian to Late Triassic pre-rift stage, represented
by shallow marine and fluvio-deltaic deposition on a
stable platform.
• A Late Triassic to Early Jurassic break-up stage
characterised by block faulting, uplift and thermal
doming, and followed by erosion and accumulation of
continental red beds.
• Post-rift from the Middle Jurassic when the region started
to cool and subside, leading to the deposition of restricted
marine sediments until rising sea level in the Cretaceous
led to open marine conditions. A thick carbonate succession
was deposited during the Tertiary (New Guinea Limestone).
Fraser et al. (1993) created a stratigraphy for western
West Papua based on depositional cycles:
• The early Toarcian to late Bajocian Inanwatan
Polysequence (present in the Agung-1, CS-1, TBF-1 and
Gunung-1 wells) was deposited in a nearshore setting,
progressively passing into fluvial and lacustrine
environments.
542 Geological development of eastern Indonesia and northern Australia collision zone

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Figure 4. Regional palaeogeographic reconstructions for (a) Mid to Late Silurian at 420 Ma, (b) Late Devonian at 360 Ma, (c) Late
Permian at 255 Ma and (d) Late Triassic at 220 Ma, showing relative position of East and Southeast Asian terranes and distribution of
land and sea (modified after Metcalfe, 1998). NC = North China, SC = South China, T = Tarim, I = Indochina, Q = Qiangtang, L =
Lhasa, S = Sibumasu, WB = West Burma, GI = Greater India.
 Baillie et al. 543

• The early Callovian to early Kimmeridgian Roabiba considered to exist within the northern Bird’s Head, parallel
Polysequence (CS-1 and TBF-1 wells) follows a to the coastline of Berau Bay. Existing northwest–southeast
12 million year period of erosion or non-deposition and structural lineaments controlled deposition within the Bird’s
comprises significant sandstones, together with Head. It is thought that the Jurassic coastline transgressed
claystone and limestone deposited in a nearshore northward through the Jurassic (subject to eustatic
environment. variations). Throughout the eastern Indonesia region and the
• The mid-Tithonian to early Valanginian Sebyar Timor Sea, reservoir quality sandstones were deposited in
Polysequence represents a major regional transgression nearshore marine settings during the early Late Jurassic (see
following a major stratigraphic break. also Barber et al., 2003), prior to the so-called “Break-up
Event”. It is proposed here that the Plover Sandstone reservoir
The Coniacian to Maastrichian Jass Polysequence of the Timor Sea is synchronous with both the reservoir of
(Agung-1, CS-1, TBF-1, Gunung-1 and Onin South-1 wells) the Abadi discovery (Indonesia Masela PSC; Nagura et al.,
followed early Cretaceous erosion. A major transgression 2003) and the Tangguh Field, suggesting a similar
took place from the mid-Campanian, leading to the deposition depositional setting over an enormous area of coastline and
of deepwater argillaceous sediments. nearshore marine environment.
The Triassic rocks of eastern Indonesia have a The Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous are less widely
predominantly marine carbonate aspect. Rich oil-prone recognised because their deposition was adversely affected
source rocks exist in both Buru (Fraser et al., 1993) and by major structural events. The “Break-up Event” resulted
Seram islands. However, in the Bird’s Head, an NNGPM in regional inundation of the low-lying coastline and shallow
well, Puragi-1, penetrated a reservoir quality sandstone that marine fringe, resulting in widespread deep marine claystone
is thought to be Triassic in age. deposition. Depositional packages are complex and hard to
The Jurassic has been sampled by fieldwork within West correlate, due to subsequent partial erosion and varied
Papua, and also on the islands of Banggai, Sula, Tanimbar structural attitudes as the rift basins stabilized and
and Kai. Numerous wells have penetrated the Jurassic, subsequently failed again. A major sediment-starved flooding
predominantly as marine clastics. The thickest succession is (deepening) event in Aptian/Albian times resulted in the
recorded within the well TBJ-1, just west of the Onin deposition of the Darwin Radiolarite in the Timor Sea region.
Peninsula (Fig. 1). The Jurassic appears to pinch out towards To the authors’ current knowledge, the radiolarite lithofacies
the Bird’s Head and an east–west depositional margin is has yet to be recognised within West Papua.
ERA

TECTONIC
EPOCH STAGES STRATIGRAPHY OF WESTERN WEST PAPUA
PLEIST. Clastic sedimentation Klasaman Fm: sandy mudstone and
KLASAMAN & KLASAFET calcareous sandstone. Conglomerates
PLIOCENE in new basins FORMATIONS and lignite in upper part.
Klasafet Fm: marl, siltstone and a little limestone.
LATE
MIOCENE

MID. UPPER NEW GUINEA

LIMESTONE GROUP Kais Fm: reefal limestone.
CENOZOIC

EAR. = KAIS & SIRGA

FORMATIONS Sirga Fm: transgressive clastic sequence
Mid Oligocene (mudstone, locally sandstone).
EOCENE OLIGO-

L.
sea-level fall
EAR.
LOWER NEW GUINEA Faumai Fm: bank and shoal arenaceous
L. LIMESTONE GROUP limestone with abundant foraminifers.
Establishment of = FAUMAI & WARIPI Waripi Fm: oolitic and bioclastic foraminiferal
MID.
widespread carbonate FORMATIONS limestone, calcareous sandstone and
EAR. shelf facies mudstone in places.
PALEO L.
EAR.
Major regional JASS Deep marine argillaceous section. No terrestrial
transgression POLYSEQUENCE influence. Volcanic event at the base.
LATE
CRETACEOUS

Major
KEMBELANGAN GROUP FORMATION

Post- Breakup erosion:

Open marine, low 50 m.y.
EARLY

sedimentation rates
SEBYAR Open marine fine clastic deposits
POLYSEQUENCE and deep water clays.
Major regional
transgression
LATE

ROABIBA Transgressive sequence: claystone pass up

? POLYSEQUENCE into limestone, sandy in places. Little
JURASSIC
MESOZOIC

terrestrial influence.
MIDDLE

Restricted marine

INANWATAN Nearshore marine to progressively non marine:

shallow water marine limestone + lacustrine
LATE EARLY

POLYSEQUENCE
& anoxic sands, clays and coal.
Breakup
Uplift, block faulting,
local volcanism; rapid
TRIASSIC

sedimentation
followed by erosion
MID. TIPUMA FORMATION Continental red beds (shale and sandstone).
EAR.
Pre- Breakup Marine mudstone and limestone passing up
PALAEOZOIC

PERMIAN AIFAM GROUP

into non marine clastic sequence.
Figure 5. Stratigraphy of western CARBONIF. Stable platform ? ?
West Papua (modified after Pairault, DEVONIAN Metamorphosed turbidites
KETUM FORMATION (mostly slate and shale).
2002). SILURIAN
544 Geological development of eastern Indonesia and northern Australia collision zone
The rest of the Late Cretaceous saw continuing deep
marine deposition with occasional shallowing, probably
controlled by structural tilting linked to post-rift thermal sag.
Carbonate rocks are recognised within some wells drilled in
the northern Australian margin.
Key petroleum system attributes of the Mesozoic are:
1. Oil-prone source rocks within (a) marine Late Triassic
marine carbonates, and (b) paralic Middle–Late Jurassic
clastics.
2. High quality sandstone reservoirs of Middle–Late
Jurassic age widespread throughout the north Australian
margin.
3. Thick Cretaceous claystone successions provide
effective seal to reservoir and burial for source.
4. The “Break-up Event” of Late Jurassic age (climax)
provides the initial structural setting for most of today’s
hydrocarbon discoveries.
Neogene Collision
Between 45 and 25 Ma, there was subduction north of
Australia, remnants of which are seen in the mantle (Hall
and Spakman, 2002).
Initial collision between the Australian and the Philippine
plates began around 25 Ma when transcurrent motion of the
Philippine Plate resulted in the shaving of blocks from the
northerly protrusion of the Australian continent (Pigram and
Panggabean, 1984; Hutchison, 1989; Longley, 1997). The
leading edge of the Australia Plate arrived at the Indonesian
arc subduction zone and initiated the New Guinea fold belt
(Hamilton, 1979; Hall, 1996).
Bird’s Head (Kepala Burung) and the Sorong Fault Zone
The western extremity of the island of New Guinea lying to
the north of 2°S is known as the “Bird’s Head” (Kepala
Burung; Fig. 1). The core region comprises Palaeozoic and
southward-younging continental rocks of the Kemum Block,
thought to have formed on a passive continental margin
(Pigram and Davies, 1987). The Kemum Block is separated
from three principal fault-bounded blocks to the north by the
Sorong Fault. The Tamrau, Netoni and Tosem blocks comprise
disparate successions of Mesozoic and Cenozoic arc-derived
sedimentary and igneous rocks (Pigram and Davies, 1987;
Hall and Wilson, 2000).
There is some uncertainty as to the origin of the Bird’s
Head, in particular its location relative to Australia in Jurassic
times and whether it has rotated significantly during the
Neogene. There is no compelling evidence for either (a)
significant rotation, or (b) an origin from the eastern side of
Australia (e.g. Struckmeyer et al., 1993).
The origin of Cenderawasih Bay is also uncertain. The
triangular shape and water depths of more than 2 km suggests
that it could have opened to the north (cf. sphenochasm
concept of Carey, 1958). However, the geometric arguments
rely on shapes of poorly mapped features and depths in the
order of 2 km are not typical of normal oceanic crust. If the
underlying crust is oceanic, it must be overlain by a
considerable thickness of sediment. Its age is unknown. In
addition, satellite gravity data (Fig. 6) indicates a strong
gravity high along the Wandamen Peninsula due to very
young metamorphic rocks. Very young ages (<5 Ma) suggest
recent extension and a possible core complex formation;
these young metamorphic rocks require further investigation.
A gravity low is present only along the eastern margin of
Cenderawasih Bay, therefore it appears unlikely that the entire
bay has opened by rotation. Transpressional extension along
the north-northeast lineament close to the eastern margin may
be responsible for the rhomboidal shape of the deepest part
of Cenderawasih Bay, possibly related to the development of
the Lengguru Fold Belt to the west and south.
The once contiguous microcontinents of eastern Indonesia
were dismembered and dispersed by Sorong fault splays around
20 Ma, resulting in the formation of the Bird’s Head, Seram-
Buru, Obi-Bacan, Buton-Tukang Besi and Banggai-Sula
complexes (Pigram and Panggabean, 1984; Hall, 2002). Since
12 Ma, the authors consider that the Bird’s Head has not moved
any significant distance. A small counter-clockwise rotation took
place between 4 and 8 Ma, and relatively small strike-slip
movements between 4 and 8 Ma and also 0.5 and 2 Ma (Hall,
2002). These events may well have direct relevance to the
development of Cenderawasih Bay.
The Sorong Fault System, the southern boundary of both
the Molucca Sea and the Philippine Sea plates with the
Australian Plate (Hall and Wilson, 2000), is one of the most
important structural elements of South East Asia. The Sorong
Fault has been responsible for translating continental
fragments from the northern margin of the Australian Plate
(i.e. the Bird’s Head) into the outer edge of Sundaland
(Pigram and Panggabean, 1984; Hutchison, 1989). This fault
system was initiated in the early Miocene, the result of
oblique convergence of Australia and the Philippine Sea,
Caroline and Pacific plates, and continues to the present day.
The Banda Arc
The Banda Arc, a west-facing horseshoe-shaped arc, lying
between the Timor and Arafura seas and the Birds Head
micro-continent is the locus of the convergence and critical
to understanding the tectonic development of the region.
From the Banda Sea side outwards, the arc comprises an
inner volcanic arc, which has been active since the Late
Miocene, and an outer non-volcanic arc of islands formed
principally of allochthonous sedimentary, metamorphic and
some igneous rocks (Darman and Sidi, 2000; Hall, 2002).
The Inner Banda Arc includes the Solor and Alor island
groups, Wetar and Banda, and the Outer Banda Arc includes
Timor, Tanimbar, Kai Besar, Seram and Buru (Fig. 1).
The Outer Banda Arc comprises a series of belts of rocks
(Bowin et al., 1980; Darman and Sidi, 2000) comprising:
• a discontinuous inner belt of “ophiolite”, which in
general is blocky and narrow;
• a belt of low- to high-grade metamorphic rocks;
• a fold-and-thrust belt dominated by Permo-Triassic
sedimentary rocks derived from the Australian
continental margin;
• a fold-and-thrust belt dominated by Late Mesozoic and
Cenozoic deepwater sediments; and
• an outer belt of uplifted late Neogene basins.
The rocks of the Outer Banda Arc comprise Late Triassic
to Early Jurassic shallow water clastics and carbonates
 Baillie et al. 545

0
80

12
00 800

40 800
0
1°S
0

0 0
-40 0
-800

800

40 -400
0

0
-40
3°S

0 0
0 -80
-40
400

0 km 100

5°S 130°E 132°E 134°E 136°E

Figure 6. Satellite gravity, Bird’s Head and Cenderawasih Bay (source: www.deos.tudelft.nl/altim/ceo/pim.html), with onshore Bouguer
anomalies and trends (after Dow et al., 1986) indicated.

unconformably overlain by a Late Jurassic to Palaeogene
condensed sequence of deep-water carbonate and chert
– stratigraphies vary only after the Oligocene. Indeed,
the virtually identical (“Australian”) Mesozoic
stratigraphies of Buton, Buru and Seram (and possibly
East Sulawesi) suggest that they originally formed part
of the Australian craton (Audley-Charles et al., 1979;
Milsom, 2000).
Major thrust faults have been mapped north of the
Timor Trough to the west of, and on the island of Timor,
north of Wetar (the currently seismically active Wetar
Thrust), north of the island of Flores (Flores Thrust) and
north of Tanimbar. A number of northeast-trending strike-
slip faults and fracture zones have been mapped along the
Banda Arc deformation zone, extending from Sumba to
Tanimbar (McCaffrey, 1996).
Earthquakes suggest that the present stage of the
collision of the Australian continental margin with the
Banda Arc probably involves more rapid convergence at
the backarc thrusts than at the Timor Trough. The Wetar
and Flores backarc zones are considerably more energetic
seismically than the subduction thrust fault north of the
eastern Java Trench and Timor Trough; all known large
thrust earthquakes recorded during the 1990s occurred at
the Flores and Wetar thrusts (McCaffrey, 1996). A change
from south- to north-directed thrusting after the emergence
of Timor is noteworthy (Price and Audley-Charles, 1987;
Hall and Wilson, 2000); subduction reversal may be in
progress, accompanied by the recent disappearance of the
Banda allochthon. Deep seismic studies have reinforced
the suggestion of subduction polarity reversal (Snyder
et al., 1996).
Trough systems
Many previous workers have described a single trough
system resembling a giant horseshoe extending from the
Java Trench through the Timor, Tanimbar and Aru troughs
into the Seram Trough (Fig. 3). This may be fortuitous, but
incorrect. The deep-water crustal lineaments and
corresponding gravity lows (Figs 2, 6) observed throughout
the study area owe their origin to a number of widely different
mechanisms.
The Java Trench (Fig. 3) marks the boundary between
the Indian Ocean-Australian plates and Sunda-Indonesian
arc lithosphere, and has been the location of subduction
through most of the Cenozoic. The Java Trench and all
present-day subduction terminate near the island of Sumba
(Fig. 3). Subduction has completed consumption of oceanic
crust outboard of the Tertiary accretionary wedge (green
colour on Fig. 3).
The Timor, Tanimbar, Aru and Seram troughs, generally
less than 50 km across and only 1.0–2.5 km deep, mark the
edge of relatively undeformed Australian continental crust
– the deformed leading edge of the continental crust is
indicated by vertical overprint on Figure 3. Modern high
quality seismic data (Fig. 7a-d) permits evaluation of these
contact zones.
546 Geological development of eastern Indonesia and northern Australia collision zone
Figure 7a shows a representative line across the Seram
Trough, broadly similar to the Timor Trough, albeit with
reversed polarity. Gravity data (Fig. 2) indicates a gravity
high centred on Kai Besar, showing that the Seram Trough
is not contiguous with the Aru Trough.
The Aru Trough (Fig. 7b), immediately north of the
Tanimbar Trough, is totally different in character and shows
abundant evidence of strike-slip movements with rapid
ponding of recent sediment in deep, linear depocentres
(Fig. 8). Along the eastern flank of the trough, dredged
samples include Carboniferous–Permian siliciclastics,
Jurassic–Cretaceous black shale, late Albian to late Eocene
open-marine pelagic sediment, early Miocene shallow-water
platform carbonate and late Miocene to Holocene pelagic
sediment (Cornee et al., 1997).
It is possible that the eastern contact continues though
the “Bird’s Neck” and along the eastern (markedly linear)
side of Cenderawasih Bay where it is probably terminated
by the Yapen Fault, a splay of the Sorong Fault. West Papua
gravity data (Fig. 6) indicates the presence of dislocation
across the “Bird’s Neck”, supporting this conclusion.
Figures 7c and 7d traverse the Tanimbar and Timor
troughs respectively. The downwarped Australian plate
shows evidence of relatively minor, brittle extensional
deformation. The contact zone is relatively sharp and displays
relatively minor compressional deformation. Rocks of the
Outer Banda Arc are highly deformed and include a series
of stacked thrust sheets.
Figure 7. Representative seismic lines across collision zone, (a)
Seram Trough, seismic line EIR98–201, (b) Aru Trough, line
EIR98–106, (c) Tanimbar Trough, line MH01–11, (d) Timor
Trough, line MH01–18; location of lines indicated on Figure 1.
Most previous workers have recognized that the trough
system is a relatively young and active tectonic feature.
New seismic data from the Tanimbar Trough gives
independent supporting evidence for a very young age
(Fig. 9). Modern and fossil submarine canyons indicative
of deepwater conditions probably developed during
Pleistocene lowstands, when sediment was made available
from the Arafura Platform. These are confined to the
Pliocene and younger section.
Discussion
Subduction and accretion
Almost as contentious as the origin of the Banda Arc, has
been the location and timing of post-Jurassic subduction in
the region. From at least early Eocene times until the present
day, oceanic crust has been subducting west and south of
Sundaland (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, west Sulawesi) and north
of New Guinea (Hall 2002). The current (fast) northward
movement of the Australian Plate of 9 cm/year was initiated
around 48 Ma (e.g. Baillie et al., 1994) implying that in
excess of 4,000 km of shortening must be accommodated at
the northern margin.
While conventional subduction of Indian Ocean
oceanic crust (oceanic part of the Australian plate)
continues in the Java Trench (Masson et al., 1990), all
other troughs are not as straightforward. Rocks of the
Indonesian archipelago are juxtaposed with continental
rocks of the Australian plate where there is no subduction
currently taking place. The boundary between the two
regimes is clearly at Sumba where a promontory of
Australian continental lithosphere collided with Sumba
between 8 Ma (Keep et al., 2003) and 16 Ma (Rutherford
et al., 2001), also resulting in the mid-Miocene
unconformity across Timor and subduction of Jurassic
oceanic crust in the Banda Sea (Hall, 2002, fig. 24).
GPS measurements indicate that Timor appears to moving
northward at about the same rate as Australia (Genrich et al.,
1994; McCaffrey 1996).
Banda Arc and Trough systems
The Banda Arc appears to have achieved the impossible by
being in collision simultaneously, and with the same plate,
to the north and to the south (Milsom et al., 1996).
The cause of the extreme curvature of the Banda Arc is
one of the major unsolved problems of South East Asian
geology (Milsom et al., 1996). As noted by Hall (2002),
the curvature itself has suggested derivation as a result of
rotation driven by collision – many other authors have had
many other ideas. There are four disparate groups of
theories on the origin of the arc:
• Folding of an earlier east-west arc.
• The arc achieved its present curvature in the
Cretaceous.
• The arc was formed by accretion of Australian
continental material leading to enclosure of the Banda
Sea oceanic basin.
• The arc inherited its present shape from the irregular
Jurassic Australian continental margin.
 Baillie et al. 547

SP: 6500.0 6000.0 5500.0 5000.0 4500.0 4000.0

5.000 5.000

6.000 6.000

7.000 7.000

8.000 8.000

9.000 9.000

Figure 8. Detail of Aru Trough seismic line.

- MH01-18 -
SP: 5000.0 4500.0 4000.0 3500.0 3000.0 2500.0 2000.0

1.000 1.000

2.000 2.000

3.000 3.000

4.000 4.000

5.000 5.000

Figure 9. Detail of seismic line MH01–18, showing modern and fossil submarine canyons; prominent seismic marker below canyons
is Base Pliocene (green arrow). Note canyons young away from trough axis, suggesting dynamic system with sequential activation
rather than a single event.
548 Geological development of eastern Indonesia and northern Australia collision zone
The age of the Banda Sea is critical for tectonic
reconstructions – assumed ages of formation range from
Mesozoic to Neogene (Norvick, 1979; Milsom, 2000; Pigram
and Panggabean, 1983). More recently, the age of the Banda
Sea has been thought to be Late Triassic, related to the opening
of Meso-Tethys (Metcalfe, 1998), or Jurassic related to
separation of the West Burma block from northern Australia
(Longley et al., 2002; Hall, 2002). It now appears that there
have been two episodes of oceanic crust formation in the region
(a) Jurassic oceanic crust generated during the breakup of the
Gondwanaland margin (“Proto-Banda Sea” of Hall, 2002),
which has now been subducted, and (b) Neogene oceanic crust
of the present Banda Sea, as originally suggested by Hamilton
(1979), and confirmed by dredging and interpretation of
anomalies (Hall, 2002).
The geology of Timor has been used to constrain tectonic
models for the region. Three main structural models have been
proposed for Timor (Richardson and Blundell, 1996):
1. The Imbricate Model – Timor is interpreted as an
accumulation of chaotic material imbricated against the
hanging wall of a subduction trench, the Timor Trough,
and essentially forms a large accretionary prism.
2. The Overthrust Model – Timor is interpreted in terms of
Alpine-style thrust sheets.
3. The Rebound Model – the Australian continental margin
entered a subduction zone in the vicinity of the Wetar
Strait. Subsequently, the oceanic lithosphere detached
from the continental part due to “slab snapping”, resulting
in the uplift of Timor by isostatic rebound on steep faults.
Various combinations of these differing models have also
been proposed.
The trough systems of the collision zone are less well
studied. A recent study of the Seram Trough system (Pairault,
2002; Pairault et al., 2003), has shown that evolution is
complex, with the following sequence of Neogene events
recognised:
• A Pliocene deformation event, probably around 5 Ma,
which produced the MOKA (Misool-Onin-Kumawa
Anticlinorium of Fraser et al., 1993).
• A period of erosion in the early Pliocene – the resulting
unconformity is now covered by about 1 km of sediments
near the culmination of the anticlinorium.
• The unconformity was folded and now dips south towards
the Seram Trough south of the anticlinal axis.
Pairault et al. (2003) suggested that thrust loading on
Seram may have caused the trough to develop and that the
Seram Trough is a foredeep and not a subduction trench.
Pairault et al. (2002) interpreted the evolution of the Seram
Trough in the context of an intraplate shortening model, to
indicate that oceanic lithosphere of the Australian Plate started
to roll back towards the southeast at the beginning of the late
Miocene.
Conclusions
For much of its history, the study area has been part of, or
relatively close to a continental margin. The geological
evolution may be considered in terms of Proterozoic and
Palaeozoic building blocks, development of a Mesozoic mid-
latitude passive margin on the eastern margin of
Gondwanaland, and the Neogene collision of Australia and
the Indonesian archipelago. Present day regional tectonic
elements are shown as Figure 3.
By the early Palaeozoic, the region was part of the eastern
margin of Gondwanaland (Metcalfe, 1998).
During Palaeozoic and Mesozoic times, three significant
periods of terrane dispersion occurred where continental
fragments separated from the margin of Gondwanaland, drifted
northward and were subsequently accreted to the Eurasian
craton (Hutchison, 1989).
At around 160 Ma, the northern margin of Australia lay at
approximately 40°S latitude – and remained in mid-latitudes
through the Cretaceous (Baillie et al., 1994). By the end of the
Jurassic, this somewhat irregular margin was part of a passive
margin facing an open ocean containing several continental
blocks or microcontinents – much of this oceanic crust has
subsequently been subducted.
The present complex geology of the region results from
two disparate tectonic forces: (1) northward movement of the
Australian Plate, and (2) sinistral shear on the northern margin
of New Guinea (Sorong fault system), resulting from relative
motion of the Australian and Pacific plates. Initial collision
between the Australian and the Philippine plates began around
25 Ma when sinistral transcurrent motion of the Philippine
Plate resulted in the shaving of blocks from the northerly
protrusion of the Australian continent.
Acknowledgements
Figure 2 was compiled by Dino Loschi. We thank Nick
Hoffman and Ron Noble for useful reviews and TGS-NOPEC
Geophysical Company and WesternGeco for permission to
publish proprietary information.
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Peter Baillie is a graduate of the
University of Tasmania (geology)
and Macquarie University in
Sydney (sedimentology, basin
analysis). He was employed at the
Tasmanian Department of Mines
from 1970 until 1993 and held
various positions in regional
geological mapping and petroleum
exploration administration. In 1993,
he moved to the Department of Minerals and Energy in Western
Australia as Manager of the Exploration and Production Branch
in the Petroleum Division. He joined TGS-NOPEC Geophysical
Company in 1997 and is Chief Geologist Asia Pacific. Formerly
the Managing Editor of the PESA Journal, Peter was Deputy
Chairman of WABS II (1998) and Chairman of WABS III (2002).
Robert Hall is Professor of Geology
and Director of the SE Asia Research
Group at Royal Holloway University
of London. He completed his PhD in
1974 on ophiolites and sutures in
eastern Turkey and later worked in
the Eastern Mediterranean and
Middle East for several years. Since
1984, he has worked in South East
Asia, mainly in Indonesia, carrying
out field-based research supported by industrial consortia, with
post-doctoral researchers and postgraduate research students.
These studies have been the basis for computer animations of
the plate tectonic reconstructions of SE Asia and the SW
Pacific for the Cenozoic. Research interests: Regional geology
of SE Asia and the western Pacific. Island arc origin and
evolution. Plate tectonic reconstructions of SE Asia and the
west Pacific. Seismic tomography, mantle processes and
tectonics of the region. Tropical sedimentation: links to
provenance, climate and tectonics. Implications of plate
tectonics for biogeography of SE Asia.
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(Eds), Tectonic Evolution of Southeast Asia: Geological
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Australia and Neighbours in Gondwanaland. Gemoc
Press, Sydney.
Tom Fraser was born in Scotland
and educated at Queen Mary
College, London University under
the eagle eye of Prof. Jake
Kirkaldy. Tom’s baptism into the
oil and gas industry was by
mudlogging in the North Sea. He
progressively worked his way into
interpretation and New Ventures
tasks. He has worked in
17 different countries, including South America and West
Africa. During the last 15 years he has worked principally in
South East Asia, in both Mesozoic and Tertiary basins. His
principal interests are in integration of seismic and geological
information, and the quantification and display of Petroleum
System attributes. He enjoys a significant after-hours
relationship with his Fender bass.
Keith Myers graduated in
geology at Curtin University,
Western Australia and
undertook post-graduate
studies in petrology and
mineralogy. After a period in
gold exploration, he moved to
petroleum consulting firm Dolan
& Associates in 1992, working
on projects in various locations
in Australia, South East Asia and Africa. In 1999, he joined
Western Geophysical as Manager of Exploration &
Reservoir Services, with continued involvement in Asia,
especially China and Indonesia. After the formation of
the WesternGeco joint venture, he moved to Kuala Lumpur
as Business Development Manager for the Asia Pacific
region. Keith is a member of PESA, SEAPEX and the
Geological Society of Malaysia.