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Cenozoic plate tectonics and basin evolution in Indonesia


M. C. Daly, M. A. Cooper and I. Wilson
BP Exploration, London EC2Y 9BU, UK

D. G. Smith
BP Research Centre, S u n b u r y on T h a m e s TW16 7LN, UK

and B. G. D. Hooper
CRA Exploration, Box 175, Belarant, W. Australia 6104, Australia

Received 3 July 1989


SE Asia comprises a complex array of Cenozoic basins. The chronostratigraphic evolution of these basins may be understood within the plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia. The relative motions of India, Australia, the Pacific and Eurasia provide the boundary conditions for this evolution. Indian collision and indentation destroyed a subducting northern Tethyan margin and led to major clockwise rotation of SE Asia. The South China Sea continental shelf developed after collapse of the West Pacific subducting margin. Crustal extension led to sea floor spreading and the formation of the Reed Bank Terrane and, at its trailing edge, the South China Sea. Sumatran basins opened due to back arc extension in the Eocene. Closure of a marginal ocean basin resulted in a major contractional event in the Late Oligocene. The Gulf of Thailand basins and Andaman Sea opened in response to rotation of Indochina and oblique convergence at the precursor to the Sunda trench. Inversion of the southern end of these basins and uplift in Borneo coincided with the collision of the Reed Bank Terrane with Borneo. Opening of the Makassar Straits, Kutei, Tarakan and Barito basins occurred during the Eocene. Inversion of these basins was a result of the collision of Australia and Australian derived microplates in the Late Miocene/Pliocene. Pliocene fold and thrust belt and foreland basin formation in New Guinea was a result of oblique arc collision. Basin evolution of SE Asia is not a result of major lateral extrusion in front of the Indian indenter. The major effect of this collision is in terms of the clockwise rotation of Indochina and extension along the Sumatran active margin.
Keywords: plate tectonics; Indonesia; paleocontinental reconstructions; basin evolution; Cenozoic

Introduction
This paper outlines a model of the tectonic evolution of a large part of SE Asia during the Cenozoic. The area of study (Figure 1) is centred on Indonesia but it incorporates information from a much broader region. The paper presents an internally and globally consistent model of plate evolution and outlines the major constraints on this evolution. The model is presented as a series of plate reconstruction maps and sections from 70 Ma to the present day. Special reference has been made throughout to the basin evolution of SE Asia, with the intention of understanding this evolution in terms of plate motions and their potential influences. Published plate tectonic syntheses of the entire study area are few in number, although numerous scenarios exist for parts of the region. Parker and Gealey (1983) published a synthesis, from Permian to Miocene, with a series of reconstructions. Daines (1985) presented several reconstructions as part of a paper on the West Natuna Basin. Most recently, Audley-Charles et al. (in press) have prepared a series of reconstructions of the 0264--8172/91/010002-20
1991 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd 2

region using computer modelling techniques. Hamilton's syntheses of 1979 and 1988 provide the basic tectonic framework for much of what follows.

Geological and geophysical constraints


It must be stressed from the outset that the geological and geophysical data available from SE Asia are insufficient to define a unique plate tectonic model. However, the data clearly restrict the possible interpretations. Before discussing the model, we therefore give an outline of the nature of the constraints which we consider to be important.

Plate motions
The major constraint on any plate tectonic study is the relative motion between the plates concerned. Indonesia is today under the influence of the Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Philippine and Pacific plates. The motion of these plates through the Tertiary period

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


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is reasonably well understood, being constrained by ocean-floor magnetic anomalies and by other paleomagnetic data. Unfortunately, much ocean-floor of early Paleogene age has been subducted and the precise plate motions therefore have to be derived by indirect means. In particular, the motion of India relative to Eurasia has to be derived via the circuit India-Antarctica Africa-North America-Eurasia. The movement histories of the major plates are described in outline in the next section of this paper,

Continental paleomagnetism
A significant rock paleomagnetic data set exists for SE Asia; it was reviewed by Halle and Briden (1982). Since that review, a large number of data, mostly peripheral to Indonesia, have been published, both supporting and contradicting the 'reliable' data as outlined by

Halle and Briden (op. cit.). In spite of the inconsistencies and sparseness of this data set, this study has identified a small number of paleomagnetic results which appear to be reliable in that (a) they are technically acceptable as far as the paleomagnetic technique is concerned (McElhinny, 1973), and (b) they are supported by duplicate studies or by other geological data. Some control on microplate movements within the region under consideration is provided by paleomagnetic results from the smaller ocean basins: the South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea and Banda Sea (Figure 1). The identification of magnetic isochrons is still controversial for each of these. In the South China Sea, E W trending magnetic lineations have been identified as chron 11 (32 Ma) to chron 5D (18 Ma) (Taylor and Hayes, 1983). This would imply a
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M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y , 1991, Vol 8, F e b r u a r y

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Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


N - S spreading system leading to the formation of the South China Sea. However, unidentified N E - S W lineations also exist in the SW arm of the basin, implying a phase of N W - S E extension. An alternative interpretation of the E - W anomalies is that they are actually aligned N E - S W , being generated by N W - S E extension, but that closely spaced transform faults may have rearranged the anomalies such that sampling by the rather few marine traverses available to date has given a false impression of their azimuth (Briais et al., 1987). A N W - S E opening for the South China Sea is preferred here on regional arguments. Magnetic lineations in the Celebes Sea were initially identified by Weissel as chron 18 (42 Ma) in the south, to chron 20 (45 Ma) in the north. Recent ODP work (Nicol, personal communication) has supported this Eocene age and also identified a late Miocene age for the Sulu Sea oceanic crust. The interpretation from this is that the Sulu Sea is a recently formed oceanic basin whilst the Celebes Sea represents a portion of trapped oceanic crust, possibly derived from the Indo-Australian plate (Lee and McCabe, 1986). The northern Banda Sea may also be part of this trapped plate (Silver et al., 1985). beyond the tenets of 'classical' plate theory, in which plates are essentially rigid bodies which undergo deformation only at their margins. This is clearly not the case in Indonesia, as in many other parts of the world (Molnar and Chen, 1982). Intra-plate deformation is often clearly related temporally to plate boundary deformation, implying the existence of extensive detachments within the crust that allow the transmission of displacements across substantial distances.

Movements of the major plates


The following section briefly reviews the Late Cretaceous to Recent motion of the major plates around the Indonesian region (Figure 3).

Eurasia
The apparent polar wander (APW) path for Eurasia from 100 Ma to the present indicates that Eurasia has undergone a small clockwise rotation over this period of time (Irving, 1977). Studies of plate motions with respect to the hot spot reference frame (Morgan, 1983) give an essentially similar result, with a 10 degree clockwise rotation being estimated from 60 Ma to the present day.

Neotectonics and se&mology


The Indonesian region is currently seismically active. This seismicity indicates active deformation along many of the major plate and microplate boundaries in the region. Seismicity commonly relates to upper crustal deformation (upper 15 km) and is an indicator of the present deformation of plate boundaries and hence of the motion of the plates. From earthquake fault plane solutions, the style of deformation can be deduced and the neotectonic setting of an area can be determined. From this present day framework, extrapolation back through time for periods of 2 to perhaps 5 Ma is reasonable. Several earthquake studies of Indonesia have been published, and they form a sound data base for understanding Indonesian neotectonics (McCaffrey and Nabelek, 1986; Cardwell and Isacks, 1978; Hamilton, 1979; Fitch and Molnar, 1970). These data have been used to constrain the plate scale evolution of Indonesia back to the Late Miocene, the quality of this constraint decreasing with increasing age from the present.

India
Patriat and Achache (1984) have calculated a detailed relative motion for India from chron 32 (70 Ma) to the present, based on an analysis of marine magnetic anomalies in the vicinity of the Antarctica, India and Australia triple junction. Figure 3 shows this northward drift with respect to a fixed Eurasia. From this analysis, there appear to have been three phases to the Tertiary drift history of India: (1) From chron 32 to chron 22 (70-50 Ma), India moved northwards with a mean velocity of between 150 and 200 mm/yr. As Eurasia remained essentially fixed during this time, this motion of India approximates to the relative convergence velocity of the two continents. (2) From chron 22 to chron 13 (50-37 Ma), the velocity of India decreased erratically to less than 100 mm/yr, and the relative convergence velocity stabilized at about 50 ram/yr. (3) From chron 13 (37 Ma) to the present, India continued its northward movement at a steady 50 mm/yr whilst undergoing an anticlockwise rotation. The marked decrease in convergence velocity beginning at 50 Ma is taken as the age of the continental collision between India and Eurasia (Patriat and Achache, 1984). The broad time interval occupied by the slowing down of India coincides with the erratic movements beginning at anomaly 22. These shifts are interpreted as collisional modifications due to plate boundary conditions rather than more fundamental changes in global plate dynamics.

Chronostratigraphy
Although there is controversy over the relative roles of tectonics and eustatic sea level changes in driving the stratigraphic development of sedimentary basins, we here take the view that the role of tectonics is primary, and that most regional and many local stratigraphic events relate directly to plate motions and local structural environment. Hence the plate tectonics of the region have great potential for elucidating chronostratigraphy, while regional unconformities may provide clues to changes in plate motions. The chronostratigraphy of most of the basins of SE Asia and Indonesia has been summarized as an integral part of this paper and, although it is inappropriate to present the details here, a selected summary of these data are presented in Figure 2 and are interpreted below in terms of plate motions wherever reasonable. By interpreting within-plate basin histories as relating directly to plate margin activity, we are going

Australia
The break-up of Australia from Antarctica has most recently been estimated as mid-Cretaceous (95 + 5 Ma) (Veevers, 1986). This represents a revision of earlier estimates of 90-112 Ma (Cande and Mutter, 1982),

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.

Figure 3 Relativeplate motions of India and Australia with respect to a fixed Eurasia (after Patriat and Achache, 1984) (India positions Chrons, Australia positions in My) and precisely coincides with the dating of the break-up unconformity of the southern Australian margin. During this early break-up period the motion of Australia was erratic, and in absolute terms it was largely eastward. By 50 Ma the motion of Australia had changed from eastward to northward as rapid ocean-floor spreading began in the southern Indian Ocean. The onset of this more rapid ocean-floor spreading episode is coincident with the onset of the continental collision between India and SE Asia. The Cenozoic northward motion of Australia is well documented by the ocean floor magnetic lineations of the southern Indian Ocean (Figure 3). the Pacific. It has been suggested that this reorganization occurred due to the subduction in the Aleutian Trench of the Pacific-Kula spreading ridge (Engebretson et al., 1984). Hilde et al. (1977) suggested that the sub-perpendicular change in Pacific motion resulted in the reactivation of many of the older NNW transform faults as subduction zones. This process is here taken to account for the origin of the Philippine plate at about 42 Ma.

Philippine
This plate, which lies between the much larger plates of Eurasia and the Pacific, consists entirely of oceanic crust bordered by island arc systems. The evolution of the Philippine plate is well constrained back to about 17 Ma, from magnetic lineation and paleomagnetic data. Prior to 17 Ma, the evolution is more speculative. However, for most of the Philippine plate's existence, the Eurasian-Philippine pole of rotation has been situated somewhere close to the northern tip of the plate. The implication of this is that, for most of its development, the Philippine plate has been moving west to NW with respect to Eurasia, as is the case today (Minster and Jordan, 1978; Ranken et al., 1984). In the model presented here, the Philippine plate developed due to the sub-perpendicular change in Pacific plate motion at 42 Ma. Prior to this the oceanic

Pacific
The motion of the Pacific Plate can be plotted with respect to the formation of linear volcanic chains thought to have formed above relatively stationary mantle hot-spots (Morgan, 1972). From about 70 Ma to 42 Ma, the Emperor Seamount chain developed as the Pacific plate moved in a NNW direction. At about 42 Ma, the movement direction changed to WNW. This resulted in the 42 Ma to present WNW trending line of the Hawaiian Ridge (Farrar and Dixon, 1981). The timing of the change in Pacific plate motion coincides broadly with other events in the evolution of

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


VI

Vt

Vu

during particular time intervals. The relative velocities between the major plates are shown in units of ram/yr. Structures generated during the time slices are shown diagrammatically, with an emphasis being placed on the timing of rifting and rift sedimentation, fault displacements and basin inversions. The maps are complemented by three plate tectonic evolution diagrams outlining the model in cross section.
extensional arc

Summary of main tectonic events


During the period studied, the tectonic configuration of the Indonesian area underwent several profound changes. These are listed below as the major events influencing the tectonic evolution of Indonesia during the Tertiary. (1) At about 50 Ma, the southern Eurasian margin changed from being a convergent margin to a continent/continent collisional orogenic belt as India collided. (2) At 42 Ma, the Pacific plate motion changed from NNW to WNW, relative to the hot-spot frame of reference. (3) At about 40 Ma (Middle to Late Eocene), extension generated the Sumatran basins in a back arc setting. During the Late Oligocene the southernmost of these basins experienced a major contractional event due to reversal of the arc and closure of the back arc basin. (4) At 32 Ma, ocean-floor spreading began in the South China Sea, with concomitant subduction in NW Borneo. (5) At about 25 Ma, the northern passive margin of Australia came into direct contact with the Pacific plate. (6) At 17 Ma, ocean-floor spreading ceased in the South China Sea as Palawan and the Reed Bank Terrane collided with Borneo. (7) At about 8 Ma, the Banda Arcs collided with northern Australia.

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Figure 4 Sketch showing the subduction zone implications of the relative velocity of subduction zone rollback (V0 and the velocity of the upper plate (Vo)

crust that now forms the Philippine plate was part of the Pacific plate. In general terms, the Philippine plate has moved approximately to the NW through time, and a large part of it has been subducted beneath the eastern Eurasian margin.

Subduction rollback
In the present model an important aspect of Indonesian tectonics is the formation of back arc basins. Back arc basins are thought to be generated by extension behind a subduction zone by oceanward trench migration. Migration occurs due to rollback of the trench line with respect to the upper or overriding plate. In a mantle reference frame, the trench line will retreat oceanward with a velocity V1 due to vertical sinking of the subducting plate (Figure 4). Dewey (1980) argued that the tectonic environment of an arc is a result of the relative magnitude of rollback velocity Vt and the velocity of the overriding plate Vo (Figure 4). If Vo is greater than V, the overriding plate advances over the trench line resulting in a compressive arc. If Vo is less than Vt, an extensional arc will be generated and may result in back arc basin formation. Absolute values for V,, and Vt are difficult to estimate. However, in general, the older the slab the more dense it is and the faster it sinks, thus the more likely rollback is to occur. A further consideration is the length of the trench line. A long, straight trench line will roll back more slowly than a short arcuate trench line due to the problem of material needing to be removed to allow rollback to occur.

Outline of the plate tectonic model


Maps representing seven time intervals from 70 Ma to the present day are provided as the basis of the reconstruction model. The reconstructions show the major tectonic features and basins believed to be active

70 Ma reconstruction, Late Cretaceous (Figure 5) In our first reconstruction, the relative positions and motions of India, Australia and 'mainland' Eurasia are well-constrained. The detailed reconstruction of the northern margins of India and Australia, and the southern and eastern margins of Eurasia, are necessarily more speculative. India at this time had separated from Africa, and was moving rapidly NNW, converging on Eurasia with a velocity of between 150 and 200 mm/yr (Patriat and Achache, 1984). Oceanic crust of the Indian plate was being subducted to the north beneath Eurasia. Australia was drifting slowly eastwards. The reconstruction shows the southern margin of Eurasia restored as a WNW trending magmatic arc. This configuration emphasises the effects of the Indian collision with Eurasia. During the Late Cretaceous, the southern and eastern margins of Eurasia were dominantly subducting margins. These arcs are today seen as the Cretaceous Trans-Himalayan batholith (Zhang et al., 1984) and the I-type granites of Burma, Malaya and China (Cobbing et al., 1986). The rapid northward movement of India presumably led to a fast subduction rate along the margin of northern Tethys. The extent of the Eurasian margin shown is a compromise between geologic (Coward and Butler,
7

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia." M. C. Daly et al.


17o Ma 90

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5 Late Cretaceous reconstruction showing a postulated northern Tethyan and East Asian margin characterized by oceanic subduction. The Kolistan Island arc had accreted by this time

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1985) and plate tectonic interpretations (Klootwijk et al., 1985). Southern Tibet is returned some 1700 km southwards, to a latitude compatible with the paleomagnetic results from the Cretaceous Takena formation of the Lhasa area (Achache et al., 1984; Lin et al., 1986). The latitude of Khorat does not appear to have changed significantly since the Cretaceous, being comparable to that of South Tibet at this time (Achache et al., 1983). The relative positions of the continental units of SE Asia are shown in what is believed to be their orientation at this time. The reconstruction has been arrived at by rotating Indochina anticlockwise so as to give the Mesozoic paleo-pole of the Khorat plateau a northward azimuth (Maranate and Vella, 1986). The continental fragments of Reed Bank and North Palawan have been restored to a position adjacent to the southern passive margin of China. This in turn closes the South China Sea, which (from the evidence of the magnetic anomalies) is known to have been closed at that time. At the southeastern corner of Eurasia the Meratus terrane of SE Kalimantan was being actively generated at the convergent margin. This accreted terrane comprises a melange of blueschists and ocean floor fragments known as the Meratus thrust belt. Although

it mostly comprises material scraped off subducting oceanic crust, the associated Paternoster granite and other continental fragments suggest that some continental material was involved in this accretion process. We see this margin as an analogue of the Franciscan terrane of California (Ernst, 1970). The thrust transport direction of the Meratus terrane indicates that the margin was open to Pacific subduction. The reconstruction shows a diagrammatic north Indian passive margin, the former extent of which is similar to that proposed by Veevers et al. (1975). The northern passive margin of Australia has been reconstructed with Timor's continental basement in essentially its present position in relation to mainland Australia. The positions of Seram and Buru have been reconstructed by rotating both clockwise and siting them against the Australian passive margin. This is compatible with the paleomagnetic results (Haile and Briden, 1982), which require a Cenozoic anticlockwise rotation of Seram by 80 degrees. It also agrees with the stratigraphic similarity between these fragments and the Australian passive margin, as demonstrated by Pigram and Panggabean (1984). The microcontinental fragments of Buton and Banggai Sula (presently part of or adjacent to Sulawesi) have been restored to a

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al. certain is that there was significant deformation of the Himalayan arc and associated sediments prior to the main Indian collision. There is also evidence that the Trans-Himalayan arc was elevated prior to the collision of India (Burg and Chen, 1984), much as the Andes are today. Thus, a contractional regime similar to that of the Sub-Andean ranges may be expected to have preceded the collision. Such deformation is expressed m the Late Cretaceous folding of the Takena Formation of Tibet. The relative NW motion of Australia lasted from about 60 to 40 Ma and it resulted in strike-slip motion between the oceanic portion of the Australian plate and SE Borneo. The Meratus terrane together with the 55 Ma reconstruction, E n d Paleocene (Figure 6) Schwarner Block and western Sulawesi are shown. In the 55 Ma reconstruction, India continues to Similarly, Sumatra and Java are shown, also envisaged converge on Eurasia, and Australia is now moving to as the products of progressive accretion of material, the NW. including the products of volcanism, along a subducting Prior to the main continent-continent collision plate margin. between India and Asia, there was an earlier collision In the South China Sea area, there is a suggestion of between the Trans-Himalayan margin and the Kohistan extension during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene in island arc, probably during the Late Cretaceous. There the Pearl River Mouth Basin. The South China Sea is much discussion relating to the timing and sequence Late Cretaceous/Paleocene rifting, although poorly of collisions in the Himalaya (Brookfield and Reynolds, understood, occurred in NE/SW trending rifts (Ru Ke 1981; Coward et al., 1986). However, what does seem and Pigott, 1986). The implied NW/SE extension is
position north of the Kepala Burung (the 'Bird's Head' peninsula of Irian Jaya). The precise position of these fragments is poorly constrained; however, they do show strong stratigraphic evidence of derivation from the Australian passive margin. An important feature of the reconstruction of the northern Australian margin is the eastward displacement of the Kepala Burung and the northern half of mainland New Guinea by about 200 km with respect to the Australian mainland. This has the effect of removing the hook-like projection of this peninsula around the Banda Sea. The Banda Sea is interpreted to have grown as a minor back-arc basin in the latest Miocene-Recent.
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Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


(a) LATE CRETACEOUS/ EARLY PALEOCENE Accreted terrane, strong
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Figure 7 Plate tectonic sketch showing a s e q u e n c e for the evolution of the South China Sea. The s u g g e s t e d subduction of oceanic
material below the Reed Bank Terrane is not s u p p o r t e d by volcanic evidence

thought to relate to gravitational collapse of a crust thickened due to Cretaceous terrane accretion (Figure 7).
40 M a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , L a t e E o c e n e (Figure 8)

Continental India collided with the Eurasian margin at about 50 Ma. The precise timing and sequence of the Indian collision is still the subject of debate (Brookfield and Reynolds, 1981; Honneger et al., 1982); however 50 Ma is the age of the abrupt decrease in India's northward velocity at chron 22 (Patriat and Achache, 1984). This reduction in velocity is approximately contemporaneous with the increase in ocean-floor spreading rate between Antarctica and Australia at 52 Ma; it slightly preceded the change in motion of the Pacific plate at 43 Ma (Farrar and Dixon, 1981). The change in motion of the Pacific may have resulted in the generation of a number of micro-plates in the W Pacific by reactivation of transforms and fracture zones as subduction zones (Hilde et al., 1977). One of these western Pacific 'buffer' plates (between the Pacific proper and Asia) was the precursor of the 10

present day Philippine plate. Along the western margin of this plate, eastward subduction gave rise to the arc terranes of the Philippines and west Sulawesi some distance (circa 2000 km; Seno and Maruyama, 1984) to the SE of their present location. The Eocene collision between India and Eurasia also corresponded temporally with the initiation of much of the basin evolution in SE Asia. This coincidence strongly supports a genetic relationship and has been modelled as such by Tapponnier et al. (1986). With regard to the reconstruction, it is sufficient to say that the block rotations predicted by the extrusion model of Tapponnier et al. (op. cit.) appear to be acceptable in that they are supported by the limited paleomagnetic data. However, the very large displacements on strike-slip faults which Tapponnier et al. predicted are geologically unproven. Tapponnier et al. assumed little N - S shortening in Tibet and therefore postulated that the large-scale contraction required was achieved by extrusion along major strike-slip zones. However, fieldwork in Tibet has demonstrated extensive thrusting and N - S shortening (Shackleton et al., 1986). The contractional deformation predicted by the

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


40 Ma EASTERN LIMIT OF MAJOR STRAINS ASSOCIATED WITH INDIAN INDENTATION -30

oS/"

Figure 8 Latest Eocene reconstruction showing the collision of India and Eurasia as well established. Decelerating convergence resulted in back arc extension and spreading south of Sumatra. Widespread extension occurs elsewhere in SE Asia accompanying progressive rotation of Indochina and an abrupt change in Pacific convergence direction

paleomagnetic results appears to be distributed, being dissipated in thrust and extensional belts within Tibet and mainland Asia, rather than being concentrated on major fault zones that transported large rigid blocks thousands of kilometres. Also, recent indentation experiments have not repeated the extensive lateral extrusion originally achieved (Davy and Cobbold, 1988). Our reconstruction therefore accepts the paleomagnetically determined rotations of Indochina and Sumatra, and it also accepts minor strike-slip displacements on the major fault structures. However, it allows most of the hinterland deformation of the Indian collision to be accommodated by crustal shortening in Asia rather than by large scale eastward extrusion. The partitioning of the strains associated with the Indian collision is a subject of active research and it cannot be modelled more effectively at present. The basin systems of Sumatra, Java, Malaysia, Thailand and Borneo were initiated during this Eocene period. In Sumatra and Java, basin formation occurred due to back arc extension. This led to the formation of a small oceanic basin and offshore island arc in the Late Eocene and Oligocene (Figures 8 and 9). The present day Sumatran forearc basins developed as a passive margin during this phase. A further consequence of this

interpretation is that the Sunda subduction system was not active until the marginal basin closed in the Late Oligocene, a feature that explains an apparent lack of arc volcanics in Sumatra and Java during the Late Eocene and Oligocene. The Gulf of Thailand and Malaya basin systems comprise a sequence of small north-south trending grabens on land, that pass into the larger Thai and Malay basins offshore to the SE. This system was generated by dextral displacements resulting in a series of dominantly extensional basins on a series of major E S E - W N W trending faults. The dominantly dextral sense of displacement on the faults of Thailand and the Malay Peninsula argue against the extrusion mechanism proposed by Tapponnier et al. (1986). The present model envisages them developing as a response to increasingly oblique subduction due to rotation of the subducting continental margin by the indentation of India (Figure 10). In the Late Eocene, a phase of regional uplift in the Pearl River Mouth Basin is marked by a major unconformity. The unconformity is succeeded by a rift sequence and, in the Oligocene, by a drift or thermal subsidence sequence (Ru Ke and Pigott, 1986). Rifting was thus established in the South China Sea region in
11

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Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


the Late Eocene-Oligocene. During the Eocene, possibly as early as the Paleocene, the Tarakan, Kutei and Barito basins of Borneo were receiving rift sediments. The implied extension also resulted in formation of the deep basin of the Makassar Straits by Miocene time. These basins do not appear to relate directly to the deformation caused by the collision of India. They comprise large half-graben systems that face east in the Kutei and Tarakan basins, and west in the Barito basin. We view the initiation of these basins as being related to
(a) LATE CRETACEOUS/ PALEOCENE

back-arc extension that occurred along the Pacific margin, reactivating the earlier Meratus thrust terrane. The Adang flexure of Borneo marks a major transfer zone between east and west facing half-graben systems. The 40 Ma reconstruction also shows the first appearance of the Sepik Arc, which today forms north central New Guinea. We have placed the source of the Sepik Arc along the boundary of the Philippine plate and Indo-Australian plate. The Philippine plate migrates NW with time, whilst the western boundary swings clockwise on a collisional course with Australia.

Northern Tethyan Margin

(b) MID-LATE EOCENE (~ ,4 Back-arc passive margin r~ No volcanism

__Y

~
(c) OLIGOCENE
!iiiiiiiiiiiii!ii!ili!!!i!iiiiiill

lab rollback

Arc

No

r~

reversal

volcanism

(d) EARLY MIOCENE

Arc terrane (Burma?)


/%

Collision

Basin inversion

Volcanism renewed

(e) PRESENT-DAY

Semangko fault

CSB

Figure 9 Plate tectonic sketch showing an evolutionary sequence for Sumatra. The closure of the back-arc basin is achieved by a
subduction polarity reversal. The colliding terrane is removed to the west by margin parallel strike-slip and may form a part of present-day Burma 12 M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y , 1991, V o l 8, F e b r u a r y

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.

Suture
\

\
\
-.......

Gulf of Thailand and Mergui basins initiated as Asian margin rotated and an increasing strike-slip couple was generated by indentation.
\ \

9
3.

Rotation of the Asian margin implies extension parallel to the margin - causes opening of the Andaman Sea (AS) and Sunda Basin (SB)

ili?

SKF

;B

Figure 10 Sketch showing a rotational, active margin related model to explain basin evolution in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman
Sea. Oblique subduction and margin parallel extension is invoked as the basin-forming mechanism, not extrusion. (MPF) Mae Ping Fault; (3PF) Three Pagodas Fault; (MGB) Mergui Basin; (AS) Andaman Sea; (SKF) Sermangko Fault; (SB) Sunda Basin

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

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Cenozoic p/ate tectonics in Indones/a: M. C. Daly et al.


The NNW to WNW switch in plate motion of the Pacific and the beginning of rotation of SE Asia are broadly coincident in time, and are together thought to be the events that isolated part of the Indo-Australian plate. Remnants of this 'trapped' oceanic crust, shown on the reconstruction, are here taken to form the Celebes Sea. The mechanism of isolation of this piece of ocean floor from the rest of the Indo-Australian plate is poorly understood, as is the timing. opening of the South China Sea to be a response to the 'rollback' of pre South China Sea oceanic crust trapped between the China margin and Borneo. Due to extension and subsequent sea floor spreading, a marginal sea was formed and the Reed Bank Terrane migrated southwards as a detached piece of thinned continental crust (Figures 7 and 11). The oldest magnetic anomaly recorded in the South China Sea is chron 11 (32 Ma). During the sea floor spreading episode the continental fragments of Reed Bank, North Palawan and the Macclesfield Bank were rifted off the South China margin. The subsequent southward migration of these fragments implies the subduction of crust along northern Borneo. It has to be assumed that this was a remnant of older, pre-existing Mesozoic ocean floor. This postulated subduction helps to explain the existence of the accretionary complex of Sarawak and Sabah (Hamilton, 1979). That a major south dipping thrust exists along the northern margin of Borneo is well documented by seismic data, but the detailed evolution of the margin remains poorly understood. In Sumatra and Java a major contractional event is

30 Ma reconstruction, Oligocene (Figure 11)


Two fundamental changes occurred between the 40 and 30 Ma reconstructions. Firstly, the South China Sea developed an active sea floor spreading centre, and secondly the present basins of Sumatra and Java were placed under a contractional stress that resulted in their inversion. The dominant structures of the South China Sea continental margin are ENE to east-west trending extensional faults. Subsurface data suggest that many of these extensional structures formed in a basement with a strong pre-existing fabric. We interpret the

30 Ma

90

\
30

"30

120

.~J~-~,.

Figure 11 Oligocene reconstruction showing closure of the Sumatran back-arc basin and opening of the South China Sea. Subduction of the proto South China Sea crust is established in Borneo and the Cagayan Ridge and is suggested to occur beneath the Reed Bank Terrane to generate the terrane by subduction rollback

14

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Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.

Figure 12 Early Miocene reconstruction showing the emplacement of the Sepik arc on the Australian passive margin of New Guinea.
Onset of tectonic shaving of protuberances from the Australian margin

recorded in the present-day forearc region. This is interpreted as a result of reversal of the offshore arc and subsequent closure of the marginal basin and arc collision (Figures 9 and 11). The collided products may in part be evident offshore Sumatra and Java today. However an interesting possibility shown in the present model is that much of the material was displaced to the west into what is now Burma. The Tarakan, Kutei andBa-rito back-arc basins were subsiding throughout this period, due to thermal subsidence. By the Oligocene, the Philippine plate was well established as the principal buffer plate between the Pacific plate and Asia. Australia was moving north but had not yet collided with the Sepik arc. The Philippine arc swung clockwise with time to subduct part of the trapped Indo-Australian ocean crust. After collision with Eurasia, India and Tibet underwent an anti-clockwise rotation. The timing of this rotation is poorly understood. The present model distributes it from 50 to 30 Ma, believing the rotation to reflect collisional readjustments (Klootwijk et al., 1985).

20 Ma reconstruction, Early Miocene (Figure 12)


A critically important change had taken place by the time of this reconstruction. Whereas at least one island arc system had formerly lain between Australia and the Pacific proper, those arcs now began to collide with the northern margin of Australia. This had the effect of bringing the northern passive margin of Australia into direct contact with the essentially westward-moving Pacific/Philippine plate system. At about the same time, the rate of spreading of the Pacific Plate increased (Hilde et al., 1977) and spreading ceased in the Caroline Plate (Weissel and Anderson, 1978). The collisional events have been modelled here in two stages, although we recognize that this may be an oversimplification of a more complex multiphase process. The oblique collision of the Sepik Arc occurred at about 25 Ma (Figure 13). This Early Miocene collision emplaced the New Guinea ultramafic belt, and is represented by a regional unconformity and minor basin inversion in Irian Jaya. The Inner Melanesian Arc collided diachronously from 10 Ma to the present, beginning in the west. This younger event
15

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al. the mainland has been subjected to oblique instigated the present-day tectonic regime of New convergence for most of the Neogene. Guinea. Sea floor spreading in the South China Sea continued The collision of northern Australia with the Pacific well into the early Miocene, and subduction of a wedge and its buffer plates instigated the evolution of of late Mesozoic to Paleocene oceanic crust (Holloway, Indonesia as we see it today. Probably the most 1982) occurred along NW Borneo. North-facing important aspect of this collision is the commencement accretion accompanied this subduction (Hamilton, of the tectonic erosion of the irregularities of the 1979). Australian passive margin by the oblique motion of the Philippine plate. This resulted in the detachment of the (Australian) Banggai-Sula and Buton microcontinental 10 Ma reconstruction, Middle Miocene (Figure 14) fragments (and perhaps others as well) in the form of tectonic flakes. They were transferred from the Kepala By the middle Miocene the South China Sea had ceased spreading. This coincided, at 17 Ma, with the collision Burung (Bird's Head) peninsula on to the Philippine-Pacific plate, and were transported of Palawan, Reed Bank and the Dangerous Grounds at westwards towards their present positions. Their the subducting boundary of Borneo (Figure 7). The westward motion caused the rotation of north Sulawesi collision of this buoyant material is believed to have and the choking of subduction in west Sulawesi (Figure been responsible for the cessation of sea floor spreading 11). in the South China Sea. Uplift in south and central The configuration of the oceanic microplates Palawan occurred slightly later, in the Late Middle between the Pacific plate and New Guinea is extremely Miocene (Holloway, 1982), suggesting that subduction complex and its reconstruction prior to 20 Ma is not at did not terminate until that time. present possible. However, the tectonic effects of the By the Middle Miocene, the fragments of Buton and interaction of those microplates with the mainland are Banggai-Sula had collided with eastern Sulawesi. The observable in the stuctural evolution of New Guinea. In contractional regime that accompanied the collision general terms, the structures developed indicate that between Banggai-Sula, Buton and east Sulawesi was

(a) OLIGOCENE Australian ~ Plate

Early Mesozoic passivemargin

__

Sepikarc

(b) MIDDLE MIOCENE Australian Plate

ObliqueSepikarc collision

(c) LATE

MIOCENE Australian ~ Plate

Oblique subduction ~ i:. , % J

(d) PRESENT-DAY

PTB

Obliquearc collision ~ RMF BismarckSea


..

,ust

,an

Plate

....

';;

Figure13
16

Plate tectonic sketch showing an evolutionary sequence for the New Guinea passive margin

M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y , 1991, Vol 8, F e b r u a r y

10 Ma

9i)

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al. J ~'\

30

31)-

i!!i!i!!iiiiiiiii
iiii~iiiiii~!?~i~i!i!?i!iiiii!iiii!iii!iiii~i!i?i i!i~ii!iii ili~i~!ii

ii!i~i~i!~i~i~!iiii:i!i!~i~i~!~!~!i~i!iiiiii! i!iii ? ~ii ~ ~:~i

Figure 14 Late Miocene reconstruction s h o w i n g the tectonic shaving and bending of the Banda Arc area. Onset of opening of the A n d a m a n Sea basin with continued rotation and oblique convergence along the Sunda trench

largely extinct by 15 Ma, as a large proportion of the thrust belt is overlain by undeformed Mid-Miocene sediments (Kundig, 1956). However, following the thrusting, a phase of ENE trending sinistral strike-slip faulting occurred that cut the thrust belt and displaced Banggai-Sula to the NW. In the reconstruction, east Sulawesi moves with the resolved velocity of the Pacific and Australian plates. Halmahera at this time is envisaged as a part of the Philippine plate, possibly as an oceanic plateau or other shallow marine feature. In the Late Miocene, the northern Philippine archipelago began to collide with north Palawan. In New Guinea, the Pacific-related deformation led to the establishment of the Lengguru thrust belt, and also to deformation and rotation of the islands of Seram and Buru. East Sulawesi continued its westward motion, subducting parts of the trapped Indo-Australian oceanic crust as it went. Further constriction of the northern section of the trapped basins was due to migration of the Philippine arc, ending in collision with north Palawan in the Late Miocene (10 Ma). This caused uplift in the outer Sulu Sea, forming the Cagayan Ridge, and subduction to the south below the Sulu arch. The Philippine collision involved a significant

component of sinistral strike-slip deformation. The collision resulted in a small anti-clockwise rotation of Luzon and the northern Philippines. A result of the collision was to choke the west-facing subduction zone which then flipped to be east facing. A little after collision in Palawan, the Luzon arc terrane collided with Taiwan. This resulted in a NW facing thrust terrane between the Ryukyu and Manila trench systems. At the southern end of the Philippine chain, Sulawesi, under the direct influence of the Pacific, continued its rapid westward motion. North Sulawesi rotated clockwise in the process (Otofuji et al., 1981). The WNW-directed sinistral strike-slip motion between Buton and Banggai-Sula may have continued through to this time; however, it appears to have ceased by the Pliocene. Under the influence of the oblique relative convergence of the Pacific plate, New Guinea deformed during the Late Miocene and continues to do so today. The oblique convergence has resolved itself into south to SW directed thrusting, and east trending sinistral strike-slip (Figure 11). One of the most important structures within this suite is the Tarera fault. This east to ENE trending sinistral

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

17

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


strike-slip fault links to the Bismarck fault in the E, and has translated the whole of northern New Guinea to the west. This displacement is thought to have commenced by the Late Miocene (Figure 12). The earlier Andaman Sea strike-slip pull-apart rifting was generating ocean crust by this time (Curray et al., 1978). Although poorly constrained due to the thick sedimentary cover, the age of the oldest oceanic crust in the Andaman Sea is thought to be about Late Miocene (11 Ma). At about this time, structural inversion began in several of the earlier formed back-arc basins of Sumatra, including the Mergui and central Sumatran basins; the inversions climaxed somewhat later, in the Pliocene. Also in the Late Miocene, the Indo-Burman thrust belt was well established, imbricating part of the Indian passive margin sequence, together with sediment derived along strike from the Himalayan collision. The westward vergence of the thrusting is thought to be a result of the pinning and rotation of the thrust belt at the NE margin of the Indian indenter.

5 Ma reconstruction, Early Pliocene (Figure 15)


The important tectonic event that occurred at about 5 Ma was the northward collision of the NW Australian passive margin with the Sunda trench and Banda forearc. This collision generated the Timor allochthon of Audley-Charles (1981); a detailed account of the timing and evolution of the collision zone is given in Milsom and Audley-Charles (1986). The dynamic effect of the collision was to generate a SSW-directed thrust belt and foredeep basin on the Australian passive margin, and NNW-directed thrusting to the north of Timor. The latter is represented by the Flores and Wetar thrusts. The NNW-directed contraction generated a series of major NNW-trending strike-slip shear zones, north of the Banda arc in south Sulawesi. This deformation cross-cuts the earlier thrust and ENE-trending strike-slip faults and is expressed today as the Walanae and Palu fault zones. These two anastomosing fault zones have associated thrust and extensional structures and locate the centres of active volcanicity in Sulawesi

5 Ma

9()

1;~0

i!i iiii!Z!il ii!iilZ!i il i~i i ii !:i ii !iiiiiili!iii!ii i{i i i i ! ii iil iiiiiiiiiiii{ii i!

.............

MB

~DF~'

"~

30

,0t

Figure 15 Pliocene reconstruction s h o w i n g m a j o r arc collision in New Guinea generating a fold/thrust belt and foreland basin. Widespread inversion in SE Asia as Australia collides (circa 8 Ma) with the Banda Arc

18

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Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly et al.


(Berry and Grady, 1986). The Walanae fault is also responsible for the deformation of the Bone basin and the Walanae depression of south Sulawesi. The temporal and kinematic coincidence of this NNW-directed displacement in Sulawesi and the NW-directed inversion of the Kutei, Tarakan and Barito basins demonstrates that the inversion of these basins can be directly linked to the contractional tectonics of the Australian collision with the Banda arc. The Barito, Kutei and Tarakan basins of east Borneo developed in response to rifting in the Makassar Strait during the Eocene, and the Kutei basin experienced a mild inversion during the Early Miocene. During the early Pliocene, all three basins experienced major structural inversion by reactivation of the basin-forming extensional faults. Hamilton (1979) shows large transfer faults associated with the margins of the three basins. We suggest that the inversions must have occurred by compression at a high angle to the strike of the basins and to the strike of the original half-graben structures. The Early Pliocene age of the Kutei basin inversion correlates temporally with the collision of Australia with the Banda forearc. This collision resulted in SE-SSE-directed thrusting of the arc onto the Australian foreland. Contemporaneous back-thrusting generated the Flores and Wetar thrusts, and instigated N W - N N W strike-slip displacements in southern Sulawesi along the Walanae fault system (Audley-Charles, in press). A feature of this collision is that the associated contractional displacement dies out to the west, where the Australian margin is not yet in contact with the Sumatra-Java trench. The NW-NNW-directed displacements on the collisional back-thrust system, the N W - S E contraction that has caused the basin inversion, and the temporal association of this collision and inversion, together indicate that the inversion of the west Borneo basins is a direct result of Australian collision. This interpretation implies a mid-crustal connection between the Banda arc back-thrust system, the Walanae fault system of Sulawesi, and the reactivated extensional faults of Borneo. It is suggested that the connection is by means of a thrust which is structurally lower than the Wetar-Flores thrust, and which has carried the whole arc to the NW. The Walanae strike-slip fault is a lateral ramp within this system and its displacement does not need to offset the Banda volcanic arc. This interpretation is supported by the presence of north-south trending sinistral strike-slip faults that apparently cut the Banda volcanic arc. From present day seismicity in the region (Nishimura and Suparka, 1986), the NNW directed displacements are continuing today. This argues strongly for the large-scale transmission of tectonic displacements across the western part of the Banda Sea. It also provides a compelling scenario for the dynamics of the Barito, Kutei and Tarakan inversions. This interpretation is taken further to suggest that the generation of the southward-subducting Sulu Arch was also due to the NNW contraction generated by the Australian collision. Also at about 5 Ma, the west-facing Philippine trench had flipped to be east facing. This resulted in the westward progression of Halmahera into its present position and the consequent formation of the Molucca Sea and its associated accretionary wedges (Silver and Moore, 1981).-The initial westward subduction of the plate west of Halmahera led to the generation of the deep subducted slab below the Sangihe arc (Hatherton and Dickinson, 1969). In Irian Jaya, the sinistral strike-slip motion on the northern margin of New Guinea translated the Kepala Burung westwards, rotating Seram anticlockwise (Figure 11) and opening the triangular Teluk Basin in the process. This displacement led to the present hook-like appearance of the northern part of New Guinea and presents a feasible dynamic model for the evolution of the arcuate nature of the Banda arc. It is important to note that focal mechanism data indicate that the subduction zones forming the south and north arms of the Banda arc are not continuous with each other. The northerly one is the more recent feature, and it is not connected to the major Sunda Trench forming the south Banda arc. By the Pliocene, the remaining mainland parts of the reconstruction were essentially established in their present configuration. The lndo-Burman thrust belt is wider at the present day, and the Andaman Sea is larger; however, the kinematics of these systems have not otherwise changed significantly. In marked contrast to this, the changing nature of eastern Indonesia is emphasized by our reconstruction.

Conclusions
Basin formation in Indonesia and nearby areas is related to the following: (1) Back-arc extension due to subduction rollback (Sumatra/Java, South China Sea). (2) Strike-slip movements due to increasingly oblique convergence between the Indian plate and Eurasia (Thai-Malaya basins, Andaman Sea). (3) Back-arc extension related to subduction rollback in the west Pacific (Tarakan, Kutei, Barito basins). The widespread occurrence of structural inversion of originally extensional and transtensional basins in Indonesia and neighbouring areas can now be identified with several quite different dynamic settings, three of which are time-related and the fourth of which is time-independent. (1) Late Oligocene inversion of the Sumatra-Java forearc basins by marginal basin closure. (2) Mid-Miocene inversion and uplift in Borneo and the Natuna basin was due to the collision of continental fragments in the South China Sea. (3) Pliocene inversion of the Barito, Kutei and Tarakan basins of Borneo was due to the collision of Australia with the Banda arc; structural connection was provided by strike-slip fault systems through Sulawesi. (4) Late Miocene to Recent inversions in Sumatra and the East Java Sea (Madura) are localized along the Palaeogene back-arc rift system and are associated with strike-slip displacements.

Acknowledgement
M.C.D., M.A.C., D.G.S. and I.W. gratefully acknowledge permission from The British Petroleum Company to publish this paper.

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

19

Cenozoic plate tectonics in Indonesia: M. C. Daly References

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