Plate Tectonic Reconstructions Robert Hall

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The Cenozoic was a period of major tectonic events which influenced life and climate in SE Asia and the SW Pacific. Early in the Cenozoic there was collision of India with Eurasia, and later the collision with Australia led to connections between Australia, Eurasia, and the Pacific. The geological evolution of this region is complex, fascinating and important. Many geological ideas of great significance have originated here: for example, those concerning the links between gravity and ocean trenches, early global mobilistic speculations, and hypotheses concerning the development of island arcs. It is no coincidence that Wallaces ideas on evolution developed here, nor that these original thoughts were closely linked to ideas of geological evolution. Much of the region has emerged from the sea very recently providing opportunities for new life and the incredible diversity of plant and animal species, and the region continues to change at a rapid rate. Although it is a spectacular region of volcanic activity and seismicity this wonderful natural laboratory is still not geologically well known. Reconstructions of this region can help to understand its development. Three new animations are now published. The paper and CD can be obtained directly from Elsevier. Three main animations are on the CD; a global view of the reconstructions and two projections covering SE Asia and the SW Pacific. The computer animations have a number of formats which should allow them to be displayed on a variety of computers (PC, Macintosh and Unix platforms) using several different types of software. These include Microsoft PowerPoint versions, Apple QuickTime movie versions and animated GIF files which can be viewed with a web browser such as Microsoft Explorer or Netscape. In addition there are files on the CD required to produce an animation for those using other software. The CD also includes vector (cgm) and bitmap (gifs) formats of all the maps at 1 Ma intervals, and Coreldraw and

Adobe Illustrator version of the recnstruction figures which accompany the paper. Download the new 2002 animations (Quicktime movies) Download the old 1996 animations (Powerpoint movies)

Sumatra

Present tectonic setting of Sumatra

Sumatra is situated on the southern edge of Sundaland north of the Sunda Trench. The Sumatran Arc has a classic morphology of trench, accretionary prism, outer-arc ridge, forearc and volcanic chain with active andesitic volcanism, and there is a welldefined Benioff zone. Between north Sumatra and Java the subduction direction changes from oblique to almost orthogonal and India-Sundaland motion is partitioned into trench-normal subduction and dextral slip on the Sumatran Fault and related strands. A sliver plate is thus decoupled from the Sunda and Indian Plates and moves northwest although it is not entirely rigid but is subject to arc-parallel stretching. This part of the Sundaland margin has a very long subduction history which extends back to at least the late. Sumatra is underlain by continental crust dating from the Permo-Carboniferous to which were accreted a number of terranes during the Mesozoic and the island acquired a structural grain broadly parallel to its length. A

collision between Sumatra-West Java and a narrow Woyla terrane terminated Mesozoic arc activity and Cenozoic rocks unconformably overlie Mesozoic rocks. Regional uplift was followed by extension and subsidence in the early Cenozoic although this is not well dated; the oldest parts of the sequence include volcanic rocks and sediments devoid of fossils. The origin of the Sumatra Basins is uncertain, partly because of the uncertainty in their age of initiation. Both strike-slip and extensional controls have been proposed. There was short-lived plutonism in the Early Eocene (60-50 Ma) but most Cenozoic activity dates from the early Miocene (20-5 Ma) when the present forearc-arc-backarc became established. The Sumatran Fault became active during the early to middle Miocene and has been the subject of two studies by Andy McCarthy and Imtihanah, now back with GRDC. Inversion in the Sumatran forearc also dates from the early Miocene. There are various estimates for the amount of offset on the Sumatran Fault and the link to the Andaman Sea spreading suggests about 400 km offset at the northern end decreasing to zero at the southern end since the middle Miocene. This has been has been accommodated by deformation within the forearc. Subsequent tectonism and uplift in the Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene caused inversion of the Cenozoic basins, folding and fault reactivation.

Java

Java from the space shuttle, its magnificent volcanoes and beautiful coast

Java is a calc-alkaline volcanic island arc formed by the northwards subduction of the Indian plate. Java's geological evolution has been influenced both by abundant volcanism, supplying copious amounts of volcaniclastic material, and an equatorial position, providing an ideal setting for carbonate production. The geological history of Java is surprisingly poorly known. Western Java includes Mesozoic rocks accreted to the Sundaland core and offshore are plutonic rocks representing the termination of the Late Cretaceous Asian active margin which extends from South China. There was a marked change in the Eocene and shallow water Eocene sediments rest on older

rocks in a few places in Java. A land connection persisted through the central Java Sea into south Kalimantan until the early Miocene. West of this NE-SW-trending ridge is now an almost flat shelf, about which little is known due to absence of drilling, where Quaternary sediments rest unconformably on pre-Cenozoic rocks. The offshore northwest Java Basins are asymmetric half-graben with thick Paleogene syn-rift sequences which are mainly Oligocene but may locally be as old as Eocene overlain by thick Neogene post-rift sequences. The sediments were derived from the north and northwest. East of the ridge sedimentation began earlier. In the East Java Sea there are Lower Eocene non-marine clastic sediments which pass into Middle Eocene and younger marine sequences. The Paleogene basin history is dominated by extension and subsidence whereas regional contraction and uplift began in the early Miocene. Southern Java is much less well-known due to the absence of significant oil exploration. There are a small number of K-Ar ages from the 'Older Andesites' of van Bemmelen indicating Eocene-Oligocene volcanic activity and relatively deep water conditions in south Java. In south and west Java the 'Older Andesites' and other rocks are overlain by shallow marine limestones and there appears to be only limited volcanic activity during the Early and Middle Miocene. Volcanic activity became extensive again only during the late Middle or Late Miocene. Relatively deep marine sediments of Mio-Pliocene age are folded and thrust in west and north Java, and in south Java the 'Older Andesites' and overlying sequences were elevated to form the mountains now more than 3500 m above sea level. Eko Lelono studied palynomorphs found in the Nanggulan Formation in order to establish palynological zonation within the formation, to interpret vegetation changes during deposition, and the regional distribution of lower Paleogene palynomorphs across the region. Stephen Lokier's project attempted to evaluate the complex interplay of factors affecting carbonate sedimentation, sequence development and biotic assemblage in an area of active volcanism. Although volcanic arcs commonly provide sites for extensive shallow-water carbonate production, there have been few studies of carbonate sedimentation contemporaneous with volcanic activity. Helen Smyth's current project is examining the early development of east Java.

Makassar Strait: Origin and Evolution

The Makassar Strait has long been recognised as a zone of major geological importance. It is situated between major mountain belts of western Sulawesi and fold belts of east Borneo and is the site of the original Wallace's Line separating Australian and Eurasian faunas and floras. Lower crust (and possibly sub-crustal mantle) basement is exposed in west Sulawesi and there has been major late Tertiary contraction. The main depocentre contains up to 17 km of sediment and on both sides there are major and potential hydrocarbon-containing basins. The Makassar Strait was originally interpreted as a failed rift and it is still uncertain if parts of the basin are floored by highly stretched continental or oceanic crust. Recently there have been suggestions that it is a foreland basin, and although there is clear evidence of a major westward-directed thrusting and development of an fold and thrust mountain belt in west Sulawesi, the great thickness of sediments argue against this interpretation. The apparently very recently uplifted deep crustal basement might suggest a core-complex setting. The volcanic and plutonic rocks of west Sulawesi suggest an extensional episode during the Miocene, possibly related to the development of Bone Gulf. All in all the Makassar Strait is in an unusual situation, has an enigmatic origin and history, and is ripe for a closer look. There are now two deep seismic profiles across (E-W) and down (N-S) the strait, numerous company seismic lines, and there is major interest in the region. Rifting in the Makassar Straits moved western Sulawesi away from Borneo some time during the Eocene. Since then sedimentation in this area has been affected by a series of collisions between the stable Sundaland craton, which includes Borneo, and microcontinental fragments derived from the Pacific and Australia. It is thought that the basins acquired their present day shape at some time during the Miocene. Recent work by Ian Cloke, in east Kalimantan argued that the Makassar Strait is underlain by oceanic crust. Stephen Calvert worked on basins on the west Sulawesi side,where the Lariang and Karama basins of western central Sulawesi have been the target of oil exploration for many years. The petroleum potential of the area has been evaluated but how the region fits into the bigger picture for Sulawesi has been largely ignored.

Borneo Geology and Evolution

Processes and Rates of Terrane Amalgamation: the Sorong Fault Zone, eastern Indonesia

Borneo, the third largest island on Earth, occupies a central position in SE Asia but geologically remains a heart of darkness. The island has an ancient core (Palaeozoic or older) to which material was accreted during the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic. These rocks are overlain and surrounded by considerable thicknesses of younger sedimentary rocks. In Neogene times the island supplied sediment to adjacent basins at a rate similar to the Himalayas. The SE Asia Research Group has completed several PhD studies in Borneo with others underway. These projects have included structural and sedimentological work, Neogene melanges and sedimentary basins, geochemistry and ophiolites in Sabah, a study of geophysics and geology of the Kutai basin, the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Sandakan basin. In addition, we have supported

Cartoon of plate geometry in the region of the Sorong Fault Zone, eastern Indonesia

The Sorong Fault Zone is a major left-lateral fault system separating Australia from the Philippine Sea Plate and the Molucca Sea Plate. The fault zone juxtaposes Mesozoic-Tertiary continental and arc/ophiolitic rocks. Continental crust was derived from the Australian margin. Crust of Philippine Sea Plate origin has a basement of ophiolitic and/or arc origin. Ophiolites are remnants of an early Mesozoic intra-oceanic arc rather than Pacific ocean floor. They are overlain by, and imbricated with, arc volcanic and sedimentary rocks of Late Cretaceous-Eocene age; arc plutonic rocks intrude the ophiolites. This arc is correlated with the Paleogene arc of New Guinea, parts of the eastern Philippines, and ridges of the north Philippine Sea. A regional unconformity at ~45 Ma corresponds to the change in Pacific Plate motion and plate reorganisation. Older rocks are overlain by shallow water Late Eocene limestones and an Oligocene extensional sequence including basaltic pillow lavas and volcaniclastic turbidites. These are thought to be the product of an volcanic arc at the edge of the Philippine Sea Plate. Arc activity ceased at the end of the Oligocene or earliest Miocene. Fragments of Australian and Philippine Sea Plate origin have a common stratigraphic history after the early Miocene. The geology of the region indicates that arccontinent collision between the Philippine Sea and Australia occurred at ~25 Ma and led to creation of the left-lateral Sorong Fault Zone. Subsequent Neogene convergence between East Asia and the Philippine Sea Plate occurred by subduction to produce the Halmahera arc. Arc activity started earliest in the south, in Obi, and ceased earliest in the south. Neogene movement of Australia northward has occurred without subduction although accompanied by movements of small fragments and local 'collisions'. The Australian-Philippine Sea plate boundary has been a strike-slip zone since the early Miocene. This implies northward movement of the plate boundary in the Sorong Fault Zone region at a similar rate to that of Australia. All Cretaceous-Neogene rocks of Philippine Sea Plate origin in the Halmahera region record shallow inclinations and formed at low latitudes. Our data indicate southward translation of this part of the plate between ~50 and ~25 Ma and northward translation during the Neogene. Geologically composite islands immediately adjacent to the Sorong Fault Zone include continental and arc/ophiolitic rocks. Palaeomagnetism indicates latitudinal shifts similar to the Philippine Sea Plate and both counter-clockwise and clockwise rotations interpreted as block movements

within the left-lateral Sorong Fault Zone. In the region north of the Sorong Fault Zone we interpret declination shifts to indicate long-term clockwise rotation although rotation was discontinuous. Upper Neogene rocks record small clockwise declination deflections suggesting rotation rates of approximately 1/Ma consistent with amounts that would be expected from angular velocities and rotation poles calculated for the Philippine Sea Plate for the interval 0-~5 Ma. Rocks of ages between ~20-25 Ma and ~38-42 Ma show clear clockwise declination deflections of ~40. We interpret results from Lower Miocene-Upper Eocene rocks as indicating that (1) approximately 40 of clockwise rotation occurred after ~20-25 Ma and (2) no significant rotation took place between ~20-25 and ~38-42 Ma. The very large area over which consistent declination shifts are observed in sites of post-Eocene age indicate that this region has behaved as a single block since the end of the Eocene. We assume rigid block behaviour since the beginning of the Eocene. Lower Eocene sites record declinations of ~270 interpreted as indicating ~45 of clockwise rotation between ~50 and 38-42 Ma. Cretaceous rocks record primary magnetisations wi northward declinations and shallow inclinations. We interpret these results to indicate large clockwise rotations between the Late Cretaceous and the Early Eocene of the order of ~90. The new palaeomagnetic data from eastern Indonesia provide a means to determine the history of motion of the Philippine Sea Plate in the interval 0-~50 Ma. These data support previous models indicating large clockwise rotations but indicate more complex latitudinal translations than previously suggested. An important constraint in locating possible rotation poles is the need to satisfy the condition that all palaeomagnetic investigations of the plate north of Halmahera report northward motions for the period ~50-25 Ma whereas the Halmahera region moved south during most of this interval. An additional geological condition is evidence of a major regional unconformity at the beginning of the Miocene representing collision of a Philippine Sea Plate volcanic arc with the Australian margin. Thus, rotation poles must satisfy the requirement that the Halmahera-Waigeo block should be on or near the Australian margin at ~25 Ma. This provides an important limit for pole positions. Using the new data, earlier palaeomagnetic data, and this geological condition we can estimate quite accurately the positions of rotation poles for the plate with respect to magnetic north. We describe the motion of the plate using the Philippine Sea Plate-Eurasia pole of Seno et al. (1987) for the interval 0-5 Ma. Two poles best fit the palaeomagnetic declination and inclination data for the period 5-50 Ma: for the interval 5-25 Ma 15N 160E 1.75/Ma, for the interval 25-50 Ma 10N 150E 2/Ma.

Publications
ALI, J. R. & HALL, R. 1995. Evolution of the boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and Australia: palaeomagnetic evidence from eastern Indonesia. Tectonophysics, 251, (1-4), 251-275. HALL, R., ALI, J. R. & ANDERSON, C.D. 1995. Cenozoic motion of the Philippine Sea plate: palaeomagnetic evidence from eastern Indonesia. Tectonics, 14, 1117-1132. HALL, R., ALI, J. R., ANDERSON, C. D. & BAKER, S. J. 1995. Origin and motion history of the Philippine Sea Plate. Tectonophysics, 251, (1-4), 229-250. HALL, R., FULLER, M., ALI, J. R. & ANDERSON, C. D. 1995. The Philippine Sea Plate: Magnetism and Reconstructions. In: TAYLOR, B. & NATLAND, J. H. (eds.) Active Margins and Marginal Basins: A Synthesis of Western Pacific Drilling Results. American Geophysical Union Monograph, 88, 371-404. Hall, R. 2000. Neogene history of collision in the Halmahera region, Indonesia. Proceedings of the Indonesian Petroleum Association 27th Annual Convention, 487493. [pdf]

Mantle Structure and Tectonic Evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific

260 km layer through Pwave model of Wim Spakman for SW Pacific

Slice through tomographic model crossing Molucca Sea region

Tectonic reconstructions predict where lithosphere has been subducted through geological time and consequently how much lithosphere has been consumed in plate convergence zones. Tomographic methods can provide new information which can help to test and improve tectonic models. In general terms, subducted lithosphere produces a strong temperature anomaly in the upper mantle which causes slabs to be seismologically detectable as regions with relatively fast seismic wave speeds. Thus, tomographic models provide an additional and independent source of information on tectonic evolution which can be exploited to test tectonic reconstructions while plate tectonic models of a region can help in developing new interpretations of imaged mantle structure. The region of SE Asia and the SW Pacific is a complex and actively deforming part of the globe which includes some of the fastest relative plate motions on Earth. Presentday plate motions offer some insight into the recent history of the region but even a cursory study of the region shows that present motions provide only a snapshot of the tectonic history. Plate motion models indicate that Australia has moved rapidly north since the Eocene and that this movement has been accompanied by subduction and collision events. To reconstruct the region in the past requires an interpretation of the evidence remaining, but the nature of subduction and collision means that some of the evidence is destroyed. Thus, there are many different tectonic models and distinguishing between them can be difficult. With seismic tomography the preserved record of former plate convergence can be made visible, within spatial resolution limits. Recent developments in data analysis and tomographic techniques have led to a new

generation of global models which are capable of resolving smaller details of mantle structure. In particular, the P-wave speed model of Wim Spakmans group at the Vening Meinesz Research School of Geodynamics Utrecht shows details of slab morphology comparable to those previously seen only in studies of smaller regions of Australia and the SW Pacific. So far, Wim Spakman and Robert Hall have been comparing the tomographic model and tectonic interpretations of a region extending from the Molucca Sea eastward to Tonga, and from the Australian craton north into the Pacific, in order to understand the evolution of the northern Australian plate margin during the Cenozoic. This allows a qualitative comparison of predictions of subduction derived from the tectonic reconstruction to imaged mantle structure for the region extending from the Molucca Sea eastwards to Tonga, and from the Australian craton north into the Pacific. It has been possible to interpret several enigmatic, spatially large, wave speed anomalies at great depth in the mantle as remnants of old (pre-25 Ma) subduction systems. The tomographic images of the mantle beneath the region extending from the Molucca Sea eastward to Tonga, and from the Australian craton north into the Pacific, reveal a number of distinctive positive anomalies. The anomalies can be interpreted as subducted slabs and the positions of the slabs can be compared to predictions made by tectonic models for the region. Several strong anomalies are due to present-day subduction and the slab lengths and positions are consistent with Neogene subduction at the Tonga and the New Hebrides trenches, where the anomalies suggest rapid rollback of subduction hinges since about 10 Ma, and beneath the New Britain and Halmahera arcs. There are several generally flat-lying deeper anomalies which are not related to present subduction. Beneath the Birds Head and Arafura Sea is an anomaly which we interpret to be the result of north-dipping subduction beneath the Philippines-Halmahera arc between 45 and 25 Ma. A very large anomaly, which extends from the Papuan Peninsula to the New Hebrides and from the Solomon Islands to the east Australian margin, is interpreted as the result of south-dipping subduction beneath the Melanesian arc between 45 and 25 Ma. The interpretation implies that a flat-lying slab can survive for many tens of millions of years at the bottom of the upper mantle. There is a huge anomaly in the lower mantle which extends from beneath the Gulf of Carpentaria to Papua. This is suggested to be a slab subducted before 45 Ma which may be correlated with a Cretaceous slab beneath the Australian-Antarctic discordance or an early Cenozoic slab subducted north of Australia. The anomaly is located above the position where there must have been a change in polarity in subduction at the boundary between the north and south-dipping subduction zones north of Australia between 45 and 25 Ma. All of these have been overridden by Australia since 25 Ma. One subduction system predicted by the tectonic models, the Marumuni arc of Papua New Guinea, is not seen on the tomographic images.