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The structural setting and tectonic signicance of the Lolotoi, Laclubar

and Aileu metamorphic massifs, East Timor

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Received 20 June 2000; accepted 21 August 2001

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Ridge House, 1 St. Omer Ridge, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 2DD, UK

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T.R. Charlton

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Abstract

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The Lolotoi and Laclubar metamorphic massifs of East Timor form a part of the Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex. Based on stratigraphic
relationships with the Australian-afnity parautochthonous stratigraphic succession and structural arguments, the Lolotoi Complex is
interpreted as representing Australian continental basement entrained into the Timor arccontinent collision complex by basement-involved
thrusting. The Lolotoi Complex is not synonymous with the Mutis Complex, dened from West Timor, which represents allochthonous
metamorphic basement derived from the pre-collisional Banda forearc. The Aileu Complex is a syn-collisional metamorphic series with an
inverted metamorphic gradient developed beneath overthrust allochthonous peridotite. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Keywords: Stratigraphy; Metamorphic massifs; Thrust belt

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1. Introduction

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E-mail address: charlton@manson.demon.co.uk (T.R. Charlton).

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1977; Chamalaun and Grady, 1978) suggested an important

element of basement-involved thrusting.
With the possibility of East Timor once again being open
for geological research, I have carried out a re-assessment of
published geological studies in East Timor with the aim of
evaluating structural styles in the eastern half of the island.
The main part of this paper summarises the structural and
stratigraphic relationships from three of the better-known
metamorphic massifs in East Timor. I believe that two of
these three massifs (Laclubar and Lolotoi) show clear
evidence of a basement-involved style of thrusting, whilst
the third (Aileu), which has recently been interpreted by
Harris and Long (2001) as showing a basement-involved
style of deformation, instead demonstrates an essentially
thin-skinned style of deformation, and syn-collisional metamorphism.

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Timor Island located in the Neogene collision zone

between the NW continental margin of Australia and the
Banda Island arc system is widely recognised as one of
the nest present-day examples of an arccontinent collision complex (Fig. 1). Despite this classic status, fundamental questions concerning the structure of the island remain,
and these need to be addressed if Timor is to be used (as it
frequently is) as an analogue for ancient collision zones. The
most important outstanding question is the role that Australian continental basement plays in the collision complex.
Politically Timor is divided between newly independent
East Timor (Timor Lorosa'e) and Indonesian `West Timor'
(part of Nusa Tenggara Timur province, Fig. 2). Most recent
geological studies in Timor have been carried out in West
Timor, where the principal thrust belt structures are essentially thin-skinned; that is, the Australian continental cover
succession has been detached by thrusting from the underlying continental basement (e.g. Charlton et al., 1991;
Harris, 1991). In eastern Timor, the situation may be rather
different. Little new geological work has been carried out in
East Timor during the last 25 years through the period of
Indonesian annexation, but prior to this investigations by
Grady and co-workers (Grady, 1975; Grady and Berry,

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2. Geological setting and background

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Timor is situated in the southern forearc of the strongly

arcuate Banda Island arc system (Fig. 1). It faces the Australian northwest continental margin across the Timor Trough,
which is the eastward bathymetric and structural continuation of the Java Trench at the deformation front of the Sunda
Arc subduction system. Through much of the Neogene the
BandaSunda Arc has formed the local boundary between
the Indo-Australian Plate to the south and east and the

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1367-9120/01/$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Fig. 1. Location of Timor Island relative to Australia and the Banda Arc. Volcanic arc islands are shaded black, forearc islands are intermediate grey. The
offshore Australian and Sundaland continental shelves are represented by the dotted and hatched patterns, respectively.

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signicant element within the collision complex. From

before the days of plate tectonics, the numerous metamorphic complexes of Timor (Fig. 2) were widely interpreted as allochthonous bodies, derived by thrusting from
considerable distances to the north (e.g. Wanner, 1913;
Molengraaff, 1913; Brouwer, 1942; Grunau, 1957;
Gageonnet and Lemoine, 1958; Audley-Charles, 1968;
Barber et al., 1977). This interpretation still seems readily
applicable to many of the high-level metamorphic massifs
in West Timor, such as the metamorphic complex forming
Mount Mutis, the highest mountain in West Timor (Rosidi
et al., 1981; Sopaheluwakan, 1989; Ishikawa et al., 2001).
Several lines of evidence including geochemistry, precollisional metamorphic ages and stratigraphic relationships with forearc sedimentary-volcanic successions
suggest that the high-topography metamorphic massifs
of West Timor (e.g. Mutis, Miomaffo, Boi, Mollo: collectively the Mutis Complex, Rosidi et al., 1981) were

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Eurasian/Southeast Asian Plate to the north and west. Now,

however, this simple delineation of plate boundaries no
longer applies. Convergence between the southern Banda
Arc and Australia has now largely ceased, and kinematically
Timor forms a part of the Australian Plate (e.g. Genrich et
al., 1996). Presumably, this region is in a period of tectonic
reorganisation in which delineation of meaningful plate
boundaries is difcult if not impossible.
The Banda forearc is the zone of interaction between the
outer edge of the Australian continent and a former island
arc subduction system related to the `Asiatic' continental
margin of Sundaland (i.e., western Indonesia). The forearc
complex exposed in Timor comprises an imbricate thrust
stack of Australian continental margin sequences, structurally overlain by crustal elements derived from the forearc
of the pre-collisional island arc system.
A primary question concerning the structure of Timor
is whether or not Australian continental basement forms a

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Fig. 2. Simplied structural map of Timor showing the location of the main metamorphic massifs.

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Fig. 3. (a) Mapped outline of the northern Laclubar metamorphic massif,

East Timor (from Grady and Berry, 1977) overlain on a topographic base
(100 m contour interval). (b) and (c) are details from the main map ( 2
linear scale). The Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex (grey) is overlain by two
outliers of the Permian Maubisse Formation (brick pattern). These may
have been placed ca. 1 km too far north by the mapping; the outliers
would then occupy local topographic highs. Dots: Lolotoi outcrop boundary/topographic contour intersections. Dotted lines: generalised stratum
contours. These maps illustrate shallow-to moderately-inclined basementover-cover relationships (presumed thrusts), possible high-angle reverse
faults, and a basement-cored anticlinal culmination. This culmination
(Hatu Hunar) appears to be a direct westward extension of the Cribas
anticline, suggesting that the latter is also a basement-cored structure.
See text for further details.

derived by thrusting from the pre-collisional Banda forearc.

The idea that some of the metamorphic complexes in
Timor may represent Australian continental basement rather
than allochthonous forearc basement was rst suggested by
Grady and co-workers (Grady, 1975; Grady and Berry,
1977; Chamalaun and Grady, 1978). This possibility was

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also considered by Barber and Audley-Charles (1976),

although these authors never subsequently developed this
interpretation. Sawyer et al. (1993) interpreted the involvement of Australian basement in the Timor collision
complex, but only as a single large tectonic ake derived
from the continental margin and thrust as a coherent body
back onto the more internal Australian continental margin.
Most other structural studies of Timor have emphasised
thin-skinned thrustbelt interpretations (e.g. Barber et al.,
1977; Audley-Charles, 1986; Charlton et al., 1991; Harris,
1991; Harris et al., 1998).
Structurally Timor is clearly a fold and thrust belt,
although modied by the predominance of shales in the
Timor stratigraphy which commonly leads to the formation
of tectonic melange in place of coherent thrust sheets
(Hamilton, 1979; Barber et al., 1986; Harris et al., 1998).
Thin-skinned models for fold and thrust belts have been
popular over the last two or three decades (e.g. Boyer and
Elliott, 1982), but increasingly there has been a recognition
of the importance of basement-involved structuring in many
foldbelts. In compilations edited by Cooper and Williams
(1989) and Buchanan and Buchanan (1995), for example,
basement-involved structures were documented within fold
and thrust belts in the western Alps, the northern and southern Pyrenees, the Canadian Rockies, the Moroccan Atlas,
the Argentinian Andes, and in Nias Island, Sumatra; the
latter previously widely quoted as an example of essentially
thin-skinned deformation in an oceanic subduction zone
(Moore and Karig, 1980). An example of the changing
perception of fold and thrust belts is the Papuan Foldbelt,
which is similar in age to Timor, and occupies an analogous
position on the northern continental margin of Australia.
This foldbelt was standardly interpreted in terms of thinskinned fold and thrust belt processes (Hobson, 1986;
Hill, 1990), but more recent work has emphasised the
importance of basement-involved inversion structures
within and below the foldbelt (Buchanan and Warburton,
1996; Fischer and Warburton, 1996; Cooper et al., 1996).
From global comparisons, therefore, basement-involved
thrusting, incorporating Australian continental basement
into the Timor collision complex would seem most probable.
In West Timor the level of erosion is generally not as
deep as in East Timor, and hence exposed Australian-afnity basement massifs, if present, are not really extensive.
However, Barkham (1993), studying some of the oldest
(Permian) rocks of the Australian-afnity cover sequence,
interpreted basement-involved thrusting and inversion as
the most likely explanation for the structural style in several
parts of West Timor. The style of deformation from the
Lalan Asu metamorphic massif illustrated by de Waard,
(1954a,b) is also suggestive of basement-involved reverse
faulting.
In East Timor the Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex, rst
dened and mapped regionally by Audley-Charles (1968),
has been widely regarded as the direct equivalent of the

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Mutis Complex in West Timor (e.g. Barber and AudleyCharles, 1976; Rosidi et al., 1981; Audley-Charles and
Harris, 1990; Harris, 1991), and by implication has been
widely interpreted as allochthonous relative to the main
thrusted Australian continental margin succession of
Timor (the parautochthon). The alternative interpretation
by Grady (1975), Grady and Berry (1977) and Chamalaun
and Grady (1978) that the Lolotoi Complex represents
Australian continental basement rather than allochthonous
forearc basement, was based on the identication of stratigraphic contacts between Lolotoi metamorphics and parautochthonous Australian continental margin cover
sequences; on gravity data which suggests signicantly
greater thickness for the Lolotoi Complex than was implied
by published thrust sheet interpretations; and questioning of
the overthrust model for East Timor as developed by e.g.
Grunau (1957), Gageonnet and Lemoine (1958) and
Audley-Charles (1968), because many of the supposed
thrust contacts reported by these authors proved on closer
examination to be controlled by steep faults (e.g. Berry et
al., 1984).
The work of Grady and co-workers was carried out in
East Timor immediately before the annexation of the terri-

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Fig. 4. Sketch geological map and interpretative cross-section of the Pualaca area, East Timor. Field data from Hirschi (1907), Wittouck (1937), Grunau (1953)
and Nakazawa and Bando (1968).

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tory by Indonesia. Subsequently, the majority of published

eld studies in Timor have been carried out in the western
half of the island, where the Mutis Complex is more clearly
allochthonous. The interpretation of an Australian margin
origin for the Lolotoi Complex has consequently never
achieved widespread support, even though the evidence
favouring this interpretation has not been convincingly
refuted. In Section 3, I re-assess published structural and
stratigraphic evidence from three metamorphic massifs in
East Timor in order to test the alternative interpretations of
allochthonous (Banda forearc) or parautochthonous
(Australian continental basement) origins for these metamorphic complexes.

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3. Metamorphic complexes in East Timor

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3.1. Laclubar massif

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The Laclubar massif (Fig. 2) is the largest of the metamorphic bodies assigned to the Lolotoi Complex by AudleyCharles (1968). Stratigraphic contacts between the Laclubar
metamorphic massif and the parauthochthonous cover

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The Lolotoi Complex overlies the sedimentary sequence,

presumably above a north-dipping thrust plane.
In the peninsula region around Hatu Hunar, stratum
contours at the Lolotoi boundary dene a domal culmination, which in this case the cover sequence overlying the
Lolotoi Complex. This is most simply explained if the
contact between the Lolotoi Complex and the sedimentary
succession is stratigraphic, as for the Permian outliers overlying the northern Laclubar massif, described by Grady and
Berry (1977). The Hatu Hunar culmination probably represents either a hangingwall anticline above a thrust ramp at
depth, or the hangingwall basement block of an inverted
formerly extensional half-graben. It is notable that the
crest of this anticline lies directly west along strike from
the Cribas anticline, which exposes Permian and Triassic
basinal strata from the deepest level of the Timor parautochthon (Gageonnet and Lemoine, 1958; Audley-Charles,
1968). It is therefore likely that the Cribas anticline is also
a basement-cored structure, an along-strike continuation of
the Hatu Hunar anticline, but with a slightly shallower level
of erosion.
Structural relationships in the Pualaca area (Fig. 4) yield
further evidence in support of an Australian margin origin
for the Laclubar massif. Pualaca is situated near the eastern
boundary of the Laclubar massif, to the south of the area
covered by Fig. 3c. Stratum contours at the basement-cover
boundary on the eastern edge of the Laclubar massif indicate a contact dipping eastward, with the cover sequence
overlying the metamorphic rocks. The dip of the contact
decreases eastwards from 20 to 98 over a distance of about
2.5 km. Bedding dips in the cover sequence above this
contact oppose the dip of the basement-cover contact,
ranging from approximately 308W in the west near the
Laclubar massif, to 55658W further east near Pualaca
village.
The cross-section through the Pualaca area (Fig. 4) interprets the basement-cover contact as the deep section of a
listric normal fault downthrowing to the east away from the
Laclubar massif. The bedding-dip pattern in the cover
sequence, opposing the dip of the basement-cover contact
and increasing into the hangingwall, is the normal pattern
associated with a growth rollover anticline in the hangingwall of a listric normal fault. The cover sequence consists of
the Triassic Aitutu Formation and the Jurassic Wai Luli
Formation, both of which are elements of the parautochthonous Australian margin succession. This suggests that the
eastern boundary of the Laclubar massif near Pualaca is
probably an original Australian passive margin grabenbounding fault downthrowing to the east, which was not
signicantly reactivated during collisional deformation.
This again implies that the Laclubar metamorphic massif
represents Australian continental basement.
Relatively detailed geological data for the southern
part of the Laclubar massif is only available from the
Mount Cablac area, in the extreme southwest of the
metamorphic complex. Fig. 5 shows the mapping of

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succession provide the rst line of evidence that the Laclubar massif originated as Australian continental basement.
Basement-cover stratigraphic contacts have been reported
from two places on the massif. In the north (Fig. 3), Permian
limestones of the Maubisse Formation overlie the Laclubar
metamorphics, a contact interpreted by Audley-Charles
(1968) as a thrust surface. Grady and Berry (1977),
however, described this as an irregular, generally shallowly
dipping sedimentary contact, separating the Lolotoi metamorphic complex below from Permian sediments above.
The Lolotoi Complex in this area is represented by lowgrade metavolcanics, interbedded with dark blue-grey phyllites. Overlying these are Permian limestones containing
occasional compound rugose corals and other shallowwater faunas. The basal limestones contain clastic fragments
derived from the underlying metavolcanics.
Further south near Pualaca (Fig. 4), Wittouck (1937,
reproduced in van Bemmelen, 1949, g. 240) mapped
stratigraphic contacts between limestones, then interpreted
as Triassic in age, and Permian or older meta-igneous rocks
of the Laclubar massif. Subsequently the limestones and
associated volcanics were dated as old as Early Permian,
based on bryozoans and fusulinids (Grunau, 1953; Nogami,
1963), again suggesting a pre-Permian age for the Laclubar
metamorphics.
Structural arguments also support an Australian basement
origin for the Laclubar massif. Fig. 3 shows the regional
boundary mapping of the northern Laclubar massif by
Grady and Berry (1977, g. 1) overlaid on a topographic
basemap (Missao Geograca de Timor, 1967). The two
areas shown in detail in Fig. 3b and c yield particularly
clear results. In Fig. 3b on the western side of the massif,
stratum contours suggest that the northern boundary of the
re-entrant of cover sequence into the Lolotoi Complex is
formed by a low angle surface dipping 6108 northward,
with the Lolotoi metamorphics overlying the cover
sequence. This is most likely a gently northward dipping
thrust plane. The southern boundary of the re-entrant is
probably controlled principally by steep faults. These
steep faults appear from the fault-topography relationships
to dip inward towards the Lolotoi Complex, and are therefore most likely high-angle reverse faults. Locally thrust
contacts pre-dating the steep faulting might still be recognisable in the angle between the intersecting steep faults,
and also to the SW in the angle between the high-angle
reverse fault and the interpreted NWSE trending normal
fault. In both places the Lolotoi-over-cover contact is at an
elevation of just over 600 m, consistent with the southward
extrapolation of the gently northward dipping thrust plane
dened at the northern boundary of the re-entrant.
In Fig. 3c on the eastern margin of the massif, two reentrants of cover sequence surround a narrow and irregular
`peninsula' of Lolotoi Complex (Hatu Hunar). At the northern Lolotoi-cover sequence contact, on the northern slopes
of Hatu Tunor, stratum contours on the nearly EW trending contact indicate that the contact dips northward at 338.

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this area by Carter et al. (1976) overlain on a topographic basemap (Missao Geograca de Timor, 1967).
This mapping indicates that the Early-Middle Miocene
Cablac Limestone overlies both the Laclubar Metamorphic Complex, and the Jurassic Wai Luli Formation,
which is a part of the parautochthonous Australian continental margin succession, unconformably (see the new
cross-section in Fig. 5). This same relationship has
been previously recognised by Audley-Charles (1968)
and Reed et al. (1996) in this massif and elsewhere in
East Timor. These structuralstratigraphic relationships
suggest that the Laclubar basement was juxtaposed
against the Australian continental margin cover sequence
in the Early Miocene, well before the onset of arccontinent collision in the Late Miocene. This is most simply
explained if the Laclubar massif, the Wai Luli Formation

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Fig. 5. Mount Cablac regional geology and cross-section. Mapping by Carter et al. (1976) overlain on topography (100 m interval). Slight local mismatch
between rivers and valley bottoms is a consequence of the overlaying.

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and the Cablac Limestone all formed part of the Australian continental margin at that time.
As with the Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex, however, the
Cablac Limestone has been widely interpreted as an
allochthonous element, derived from the pre-collisional
Banda forearc. Although some Miocene limestones in West
Timor may have a Banda forearc origin, interbeds of
calcalkaline volcanic, volcaniclastic or tuffaceous rocks
have not been reported from Mount Cablac, and there is
therefore no direct evidence of a forearc origin for the Cablac
Limestone in its type area. Limestone deposition was widespread on both the Asiatic and northern Australian continental margins during the Miocene, and the Cablac Formation in
its type area and elsewhere in East Timor (e.g. in the Mata
Bia Range) is interpreted in this study as analogous to the
very thick carbonate buildups that developed locally on

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morphic Complex, is located in southwestern East Timor

(Fig. 2). To the south of the massif is a belt of parautochthonous, Australian continental margin sedimentary rocks,
consisting of the Triassic Aitutu Formation and the Jurassic
Wai Luli Formation, both strongly deformed and gradational from broken formation into melange of the Bobonaro
Complex (e.g. Brunnschweiler, 1977). To the south is a
coastal belt of late NeogeneQuaternary sediments, which
extends offshore as the Suai sub-basin, one of the several
syn-to post-orogenic basins developed on top of the Timor
fold and thrust belt. North of the Lolotoi massif are further
parautochthonous cover sequences of PermianJurassic
age. At its eastern end the Lolotoi massif abuts the axis of
the Bazol anticline, a large coherent anticline developed
within the parautochthonous succession that plunges eastward away from the Lolotoi massif. The mapping of
Audley-Charles (1968) interpreted the Lolotoi metamorphic
massif as thrust over the crest of the Bazol anticline. In
contrast, the mapping of Bachri and Situmorang (1994)
shows closure of the parautochthonous cover succession
around the Lolotoi massif, suggesting that the Lolotoi
block forms the basement core to the Bazol anticline. The
western end of the Lolotoi massif is located close to the
border with West Timor, and structural relationships there
are uncertain. However, Giani (1971) reported that in
the Masin river, on the border between East and West
Timor, the parautochthonous Maubisse Formation overlies
the Lolotoi Complex unconformably.
The structural relationships between the Lolotoi basement massif, the parautochthonous succession and the
Suai sub-basin are illustrated in Fig. 6. The upper part of
Fig. 6 is a line drawing of an offshore seismic section across
the Suai sub-basin (Crostella and Powell, 1976, g. 10),
together with an extrapolation onshore to wells in the
SuaiMatai area. The Suai sub-basin itself is broadly triangular in prole, with a relatively steeply dipping inner
boundary controlled by a listric growth normal fault. In
Fig. 6 this normal fault is interpreted to link downwards
into a sub-basinal thrust, in effect interpreting the Suai
sub-basin as developed over a huge landslip-like surge
structure.
At the northern end of the section, what is interpreted as
the frontal nose of the Lolotoi metamorphic massif is
imaged at a depth of about 3s TWT. The upper surface of
this basement block slopes up to the north, and in the Cota
Taci-1 well Lolotoi basement was intersected slightly above
the base of the well, which reached a total depth of 2806 m
(e.g. Reed et al., 1996). Extrapolating the upper surface of
the Lolotoi Complex northward, the basement block
emerges at the ground surface as the Lolotoi massif some
15 km inland.
As with the Laclubar massif, the reported stratigraphic
contact between the parautochthonous Maubisse Formation
and the Lolotoi Complex suggests an Australian basement
origin for the Lolotoi `type' massif. The structural evidence
from the Lolotoi massif also strongly supports an Australian

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isolated structural highs on the outer Australian continental

margin during the Miocene (e.g. Scott Reef and Ashmore
Reef: Craig, 1968; BOCAL, 1971; Beardsmore and O'Sullivan, 1995; Exon and Colwell, 1994).
To the south of Mount Cablac, along the southern boundary of the Laclubar massif north of Same, the mapping by
Carter et al. (1976) (Fig. 5) indicates a stratigraphic contact
between the Lolotoi Complex and the Palelo Group. The
CretaceousPalaeogene Palelo Group in West Timor forms
part of the allochthonous sequence, consisting of cherts and
volcanics of the Noni Formation succeeded by volcanogenic
turbidites of the Haulasi Formation (e.g. Earle, 1983). The
rocks in the Same area mapped by Carter et al. (1976) were
described as comprising conglomerate, siltstone, cherty
limestone and chert. Whilst all these lithologies occur in
the Palelo Group, the apparent absence of arc-related volcanics and volcaniclastic sediments must raise questions as to
the assignment of the Same succession to this group. A
closer analogue for this succession might be the condensed
Early Cretaceous sequences found on structurally isolated
parts of the outer Northwest Shelf, e.g. shale, lithic, glauconitic and argillaceous sandstone, and calcarenite between
75968102 ft in the Ashmore Reef-1 well (Craig, 1968;
Beardsmore and O'Sullivan, 1995). Grunau (1953)
described similar successions elsewhere in East Timor as
the Bibileu series, and Gageonnet and Lemoine (1958)
recognised the Bibileu series near Same. Gagenonnet and
Lemoine (1958) also described their Same series from the
area of Fig. 5. The Same series is characterised by Eocene
nummulitic limestones, and these may also have accumulated on a structurally isolated horst block located on the
outer continental margin of Australia.
In summary, both stratigraphic and structural evidence
points to the Laclubar metamorphic massif of central East
Timor as having originated as part of the Australian continental basement. The Laclubar massif formed a structural
high during the Permian when shallow marine limestones
accumulated on the massif, whilst basinal clastics of the
Atahoc and Cribas Formations were deposited in a graben
to the east of the block. The Laclubar massif remained a
structural high through the Triassic and Jurassic, when it
formed the footwall block to an active half-graben in the
Pualaca area, and in the CretaceousPalaeogene and EarlyMiddle Miocene, when the southwestern extremity of the
massif formed a structural high on which condensed
sequences of the Bibileu series and shallow marine carbonates of the Same Formation and Cablac Limestone were
deposited. During Neogene deformation the Laclubar structural block was shortened on predominantly northwarddipping thrusts, but the NS oriented eastern margin of the
high in the Pualaca area retained its essential pre-collisional
horst-graben structure without signicant inversion.

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3.2. Lolotoi massif

The Lolotoi massif, the type area of the Lolotoi Meta-

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3.3. Aileu Complex

The Aileu Metamorphic Complex (the Aileu Formation of

Audley-Charles, 1968) occupies a single large massif in
northwestern East Timor (Fig. 2). The complex has recently
(Harris and Long, 2001) been described as a Barrovian metamorphic complex with a normal (non-inverted) metamorphic
gradient and an Australian margin protolith. The associated
Hili Manu Lherzolite (Fig. 7) was interpreted by Harris and
Long (2001) as upthrust basement derived from the Australian continental marginoceanic transition zone. This implies
a basement-involved style of deformation, as interpreted
above for the Laclubar and Lolotoi massifs. The more detailed
examination, however, suggests that this is not the case.
In its type area near Aileu town in the south-central part
of the massif, the Aileu Complex consists of shale, phyllite,
slate and occasional low grade metamorphosed eruptive
rocks, with the sedimentary protolith interpreted as a ysch
sequence (Audley-Charles, 1968). Further northeast (Fig. 7),

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the Aileu Complex consists of pelites, psammites and metalimestone interlayered with metabasites (Berry and Grady,
1981). The grade of metamorphism increases from SW to
NE through the area, from low (or sub-) greenschist near
Aileu (e.g. Harris et al., 2000) to upper amphibolite grade at
the eastern end of the complex. Berry and Grady (1981)
interpreted a medium pressure metamorphic regime, with
peak temperatures in the range 3506508C and pressures
of 57 kbar in the eastern Aileu Complex.
In the western Aileu Complex, metamorphic rocks pass
transitionally southward into unmetamorphosed Permian
rocks of the Maubisse Formation (Barber and AudleyCharles, 1976; Barber et al., 1977). This suggests a parautochthonous (Australian continental margin) origin, and at
least a partly Permian age for the Aileu protolith in this area.
A Permian age is conrmed by brachiopods (Gageonnet and
Lemoine, 1958) and ammonoids (Brunnschweiler, 1977),
whilst crinoid ossicles are of Palaeozoic aspect (Barber et
al., 1977). Brunnschweiler (1977) also recorded an Upper
Jurassic Buchia-Belemnopsisfauna within the Aileu Formation near the southern boundary of the complex, but interpreted much of the complex as composed of Early
Cretaceous ysch. However, no fossils of Early Cretaceous
age have been recorded from the Aileu Complex.
In the western Aileu Complex the most prominent
structures are related to thrust faulting: primarily southdipping thrusts in the north, and north-dipping thrusts in

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basement origin. Considering the great depth of the Lolotoi

Complex below the Suai area (deeper than 4 km subsurface?: Fig. 6), it is difcult to see how this metamorphic
complex could have been emplaced into its present position
below the bulk of the parautochthonous cover succession of
Timor if the Lolotoi Complex is to be interpreted as an
allochthonous structural element.

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Fig. 6. (Upper) cross-section through the Suai sub-basin, offshore SW East Timor, based on seismic data (Crostella and Powell, 1976, g. 10), with an onshore
extrapolation to the Cota Taci-1 well. (Lower) natural scale extension of the upper section across the Lolotoi metamorphic massif. The area covered by the
upper section is indicated by the box in the lower section. See Fig. 2 for location.

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The dykes and sills within the pelite/quartzite association

were probably intruded during this extension, and D1 was
interpreted by Berry and Grady (1981) as having developed
during Mesozoic rifting on the margin of Australia.
D2, which represents the climax of deformation in the
Aileu Complex, produced tight to isoclinal folds of indeterminate vergence. This deformation phase was interpreted by
Berry and Grady (1981) as marking the main arccontinent
collision event. D2 was completed by 5:5 ^ 0:2 my (Berry
and McDougall, 1986).
The peak of prograde metamorphism occurred between
D1 and D2 (Berry and Grady, 1981). Berry and McDougall
(1986) and Harris and Long (2001) interpreted the peak of
prograde metamorphism in the Aileu Complex as predating
70 my, based on radiometric age determinations from Berry
and McDougall's (1986) group-A amphibolites. Berry and
Grady (1981) and Harris and Long (2001) interpreted this
Mesozoic metamorphism as the result of passive margin
rifting during formation of the present Australian northwest
continental margin. However, the four group-A samples
were all collected from the amphibolite body at the extreme
eastern end of the mapped area in Fig. 7, east of the Hili
Manu Lherzolite. These amphibolites are structurally separate from the Aileu Complex proper, and radiometric ages
obtained from these cannot therefore be used, with any
condence, to date the age of metamorphism in the main
Aileu Complex. Furthermore, according to Berry and Grady
(1981), the temperature at the start of D2 was only about
508C less than the thermal maximum at the end of the

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the south (Prasetyadi and Harris, 1996). These authors also

identied two ductile phases of deformation in the western
area, corresponding to the rst two of ve deformation
phases recognised by Berry and Grady (1981) further east.
In the eastern Aileu Complex two main lithological
associations can be recognised (Fig. 7). At the extreme eastern end of the complex Berry and Grady (1981) mapped
amphibolite, pelitic and calcareous schist and marble (the
`amphibolite association' in Fig. 7). The protoliths of this
sequence were probably basic igneous rocks, together with
pelitic and calcareous sediments. The western part of the
area covered by Fig. 7 comprises pelitic phyllites and schists
interlayered with quartzites and quartz schists, and lensoidal
bodies of amphibolite (the `pelite/quartzite association' in
Fig. 7). This second association is here interpreted as a
continental margin succession, comprising interbedded
sandstones and shales, probably the ysch sequence identied by Audley-Charles (1968) further west. The amphibolite lenses within the pelite/quartzite association may in part
represent basic sills intruding the metasediments, based on
their anastomosing and slightly cross-cutting relationships.
In less deformed areas, however, dykes predominate over
sills (A.J. Barber, personal communication).
Berry and Grady (1981) recognised ve deformation
phases within the eastern Aileu massif, but found only a
simple metamorphic history, with one prograde neocrystallisation followed by gradual cooling. The rst deformation
phase (D1) was extensional in origin, producing a widespread layer-parallel schistosity but no recognisable folds.

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Fig. 7. Geology of the eastern Aileu massif (mapping by Berry and Grady, 1981, g. 2, slightly simplied).

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Fig. 8. Cross-sections through the eastern Aileu Complex. (a) Plunge projection of the mapping in Fig. 7. (b) Simplied and interpreted version of the plunge
projection section.

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strike-slip fault that developed contemporaneously with D5,

based on parallelism with nearby D5 folds. The next oldest
fault (B in Fig. 7) forms the contact between the Aileu
Complex and a small serpentinite body to the east. Berry
and Grady (1981) interpreted this fault as postdating D5, as it
cuts across a macroscopic F5 fold hinge. The next fault to be
active in the area covered by Fig. 7 was the Laclo Fault,
which forms the southern boundary of the eastern Aileu
Complex. This fault dips 40608 southward for most of its
length, but swings to a 708 eastward dip at its eastern end, on
the eastern boundary of the serpentinite pod. The Laclo
Fault is marked locally by a narrow shear zone containing
mixed blocks of serpentinite, metamorphic rocks and
PermianMesozoic sediments.
Berry and Grady's (1981) mapping of the eastern Aileu
Complex (Fig. 7) shows structural closure suggestive of an
overall antiformal or synformal structure; regional dips on the
S1 schistosity (parallel or subparallel to lithological layering)
suggest an antiform. Metamorphic isograds show a similar
structural closure. However, if the isograds are folded into a
regional antiform, then the metamorphic gradient in the Aileu
Complex is inverted. Hamilton (1979) suggested an inverted
metamorphic gradient for the Aileu sequence, an interpretation considered possible but unproven by Berry and Grady
(1981). In contrast, Berry and Grady (1981) and Harris and
Long (2001) interpreted a normal gradient Barrovian metamorphic zonation through the Aileu Complex. With an interpretation of normal metamorphic gradient, the Hili Manu
Lherzolite presumably represents the lowest structural levels
of the metamorphic complex, or an overthrust body unconnected with metamorphism in the Aileu Complex.

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prograde phase of metamorphism. It is unlikely that the

Aileu Complex would have cooled by only 508C in the
.65 my between the supposed Mesozoic peak of metamorphism and the retrogressive phase shortly before
5.5 my. It is more likely that the relatively small temperature drop between the peak of prograde metamorphism and
the onset of the D2 deformation indicates that the thermal
maximum occurred immediately before D2. Several samples
analysed by Berry and McDougall (1986) show large argon
losses at about 8 my, and this date may correspond approximately to the peak of the prograde metamorphism. Utoyo
and Permanadewi (1994) dated the peak of metamorphism
at 7.68 my, based on three KAr radiometric determinations
on hornblende from amphibolites sampled in the eastern
part of the main Aileu Complex.
Deformation phase D3 is marked by mesoscopic open to
close folds which plunge predominantly to the east or southeast in the area of Fig. 7. D4 produced small open folds
trending NS subparallel to D3, and occasional macroscopic
folds of similar orientation. The nal deformation phase, D5,
produced mesoscopic and macroscopic folds which strike
predominantly about 1008 azimuth, although macroscopic
folds in the western half of the Aileu massif more commonly
strike NWSE.
Berry and Grady (1981) also established a relative chronology of fault movements on the boundaries of the Aileu
massif. The oldest fault forms the southern boundary of the
Hili Manu Lherzolite (Berry, 1981; Fault A in Fig. 7). In its
present orientation this fault is steep, strikes approximately
1008, and has a gently eastward-plunging slickencryst lineation. Berry and Grady (1981) interpreted this as a left-lateral

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the apparent vergence of the fold in the pelite/quartzite

association depends critically on the orientation of the line
of section relative to the fold axis, and the line of section is
slightly oblique to the main fold axis. Nevertheless, the
northward bend at the eastern end of the fold axis does
suggest northward vergence, and for this reason a northward
vergent thrust is interpreted to underlie the Aileu metamorphic complex.
The structure interpreted in Fig. 8b can be tted neatly
with the metamorphic and deformational history proposed
by Berry and Grady (1981). The earlier phase of thrusting
presumably represents arccontinent collision as it
emplaced the allochthon onto the parautochthon. This therefore corresponds to the D2 deformation event, which
probably commenced at about 8 my (see discussion
above). The subsequent backthrusting can probably be
related to D3, with the eastward-plunging fold structures
that characterise this event developed during the formation
of the steeply eastward-plunging antiform. The phase of
rapid cooling recognised by Berry and McDougall (1986)
at 5.5 my may have resulted from uplift associated with this
backthrusting. The D4 deformation event is not well
displayed in the Aileu Complex, but might correspond to
obliquely oriented ESE-directed thrusting recognised
locally elsewhere in East Timor, e.g. in the Mata Bia
Range (Fig. 2). The shortening direction associated with
folding in the D5 deformation is similar in orientation to
shortening associated with PlioceneQuaternary thrusting
in the northern slope of the Timor Trough. This is therefore
consistent with the dating of the backthrusting at about
5.5 my.
The order of fault activity deduced by Berry and Grady
(1981) is also consistent with the history of deformation
outlined above, although the inferred relationship in timing
between the faulting and folding is not in agreement. Berry
and Grady interpreted Fault A as having developed contemporaneously with deformation phase D5, with the fault
formed by left lateral wrench movement. Although it may
have been subsequently reactivated as a wrench fault, it is
suggested here that Fault A was originally a southwarddirected thrust that was steepened during subsequent deformation. Fault B, which Berry and Grady interpreted as
cross-cutting to D5 folds, was probably folded by this
younger deformation, and may well have formed the
original southward continuation of Fault A. The Laclo
Fault postdates Faults A and B in both Berry and Grady's
interpretation and the interpretation proposed here.
In summary, based on the eld mapping of Berry and
Grady (1981), the Aileu Complex is here interpreted as a
metamorphic series with an inverted thermal gradient
(Hamilton, 1979) developed by the emplacement of hot
forearc elements on top of the Australian continental margin
sedimentary and igneous succession during the early stages
of arccontinent collision (c. 85 my). Signicantly, this
new structural interpretation of the Aileu Complex also
indicates an important element of thrusting with a northward

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In an attempt to further dene the structure of the Aileu

massif, a cross-section of the area mapped in Fig. 7 was
constructed by plunge projection. This was achieved by
manipulation of the map in a computer drawing package.
First the map was re-oriented so that the nominal line of
section was horizontal, then the re-oriented map image was
shortened vertically until the Laclo Fault approximated to a
558 southward dip (as indicated in the original map by Berry
and Grady, 1981). The resultant `section' (Fig. 8a) is purely
an alternative display of the original mapping, with no additional interpretation apart from the selection of the strike
section line and the degree of shortening normal to this.
Fig. 8b is a simplied interpretation of the plunge projection section. Five lithotectonic elements are distinguished,
three assigned to the allochthon, and two to the parautochthon. The parautochthon is divided simply into non-metamorphic and metamorphic elements separated by the Laclo
Fault. The allochthon comprises metamorphic rocks overlying the metamorphic parautochthon (the `amphibolite
association'), an ophiolitic body including the Hili Manu
Lherzolite and the associated igneous amphibolites, and
the serpentinite pod at the eastern end of the Aileu massif.
In the cross-section, the Hili Manu Lherzolite occupies a
very high structural position (cf. Harris and Long, 2001).
The section also suggests that the Aileu Complex is not
entirely parautochthonous, but is composite in origin with
allochthonous elements (the amphibolite association) overlying parautochthonous elements (the pelite/quartzite
association). The contact between the two is thus interpreted
as the primary thrust suture between the pre-collisional forearc complex and the continental margin sequence.
Two phases of thrusting are interpreted from the Aileu
Complex. The older had a southward direction of override,
and this was presumably related to the emplacement of the
forearc onto the continental margin. The inverted metamorphic gradient in the Aileu Complex developed at
about the same time, with heat from the base of the obducted
forearc ophiolite conducted down through the higher grade
`metamorphic allochthon' into the transitionally lower
grade `metamorphic parautochthon'. Subsequently, thrusting with a northward sense of override, emplaced the nonmetamorphic parautochthon on top of the Aileu Complex
along the Laclo Fault, and produced north-verging folds in
the underlying metamorphic complex (e.g. Prasetyadi and
Harris, 1996).
It is possible that the blind thrust indicated in Fig. 8b is
not a real feature; it is inferred to explain the large S-shaped
fold developed in the contact between the metamorphic
allochthon and metamorphic parautochthon in the plunge
projection section (Fig. 8a). However, this `fold' results
from a relatively gentle along-strike curve in the lithological
boundary in Fig. 7, and could result alternatively from local
topography (which is not taken into account in the simple
plunge projection technique used here). Similarly, the north
vergent folding shown by the amphibolite and quartzite
layering may be less dramatic than is shown by the section;

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It has been presumed that the Lolotoi Complex of East

Timor is the direct equivalent of the Mutis Complex in West
Timor (e.g. Barber and Audley-Charles, 1976; Rosidi et al.,
1981; Audley-Charles and Harris, 1990; Harris, 1991). The
present study suggests that this correlation is not valid. The
Lolotoi Complex represents Australian continental basement entrained into the arccontinent collision complex
by basement-involved thrusting, while the Mutis Complex
represents basement, derived from the pre-collisional Banda
forearc. It should, of course, not be assumed that all metamorphic complexes in West Timor, that to date have been
assigned to the Mutis Complex, are fragments of allochthonous forearc basement, nor that all metamorphic complexes
in East Timor outside the Aileu massif are Lolotoi-type
Australian continental basement. Examples of metamorphic
complexes in West Timor that are probably better assigned
to the Lolotoi Complex include the Lalan Asu massif (de
Waard, 1954a,b), the Noil Laka massif in the south of the
island, and the large Usu massif in north-central West Timor
(de Waard, 1959). On the other hand, reviewing the rather
limited geological evidence from East Timor does not show
up any obvious examples of metamorphic massifs that are
better assigned to the Mutis Complex rather than the Lolotoi
Complex.
Mutis-type
allochthonous
metamorphic
complexes occupying high structural positions may
formerly have existed in East Timor, but presumably been
removed by deep erosion.
Several criteria can be used to distinguish between
Australian continental (Lolotoi-type) and Asiatic forearc

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4. Discussion

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(Mutis-type) metamorphic complexes in Timor. In addition

to basement-cover stratigraphic relationships and relative
structural position already discussed, these include:
1. The geochemistry of intrusions into the metamorphic
complexes: Australian basement should be intruded by
feeder dykes to PermianEarly Cretaceous volcanism in
the parautochthonous succession, which is tholeiitic to
mildly alkaline in composition (Berry and Jenner, 1982).
In contrast, a calcalkaline geochemistry would be expected
from dykes intruding Mutis-type metamorphics.
2. Radiometric dating: The peak of metamorphism in
Australian basement metamorphics should be Permian or
older in age, especially in metamorphic complexes further
south in the island, which are unlikely to have been signicantly affected by collision-related (Aileu-type) metamorphism. Radiometric ages of basement intrusives
should also be signicantly different: PermianEarly
Cretaceous ages for those intruding Australian basement;
Late CretaceousTertiary ages for those intruding
allochthonous forearc basement.
3. Metamorphic grade and pressure regime: The Aileu
and Mutis Metamorphic Complexes are medium or
medium-high pressure assemblages, ranging up to amphibolite and locally granulite grade (Berry and Grady, 1981;
Earle, 1981; Brown and Earle, 1983; Sopaheluwakan,
1989). The metamorphic conditions prevailing during
formation of the Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex have not
been described in any detail, but Audley-Charles (1968)
reported low grade regional metamorphic conditions. Similar low- to medium-grade regional metamorphic conditions
have also been reported from the Lalan Asu (de Waard,
1954a,b) and Usu (de Waard, 1959) massifs in West
Timor, which are here interpreted as possible Australian
basement (Lolotoi-type) metamorphic complexes.
4. Association with ophiolite: The Mutis Complex in
West Timor is usually associated with fragments of a
dismembered ophiolite complex (e.g. Rosidi et al., 1981;
Sopaheluwakan, 1989), as is the Aileu Complex (Berry
and Grady, 1981). Although the Lolotoi Complex includes
metabasic and meta-ultrabasic lithologies (Audley-Charles,
1968), these have not been described as ophiolitic. The
composition of the basic and ultrabasic rocks in the Lolotoi
Complex should therefore be examined for comparison with
ophiolitic material in the Mutis Complex, and for comparison with basic Australian basement terranes such as
Precambrian gabbro encountered at the base of the
Koba-1 well on the western Arafura Shelf (SPT/Pertamina,
1992).

1235

sense of override (i.e. in a backthrust sense with respect to

the southern Banda Arc). This backthrusting is likely to be
on a scale comparable to that interpreted from the BIRPS
deep seismic reection proles (Fig. 1) located immediately
east of Timor (Richardson, 1993; Richardson and Blundell,
1996; Snyder et al., 1996). The dating of this backthrusting
at about 5.5 my is also signicant, both locally in Timor and
for interpretation of the BIRPS proles, as it suggests that
backthrusting developed relatively early in the collision
history.
With regard to the main theme of this paper, i.e. evidence
for the involvement of Australian continental basement in
the collision complex, deformation in the Aileu Complex is
essentially thin-skinned, with superimposed syn-collisional
metamorphism. The Aileu metamorphic complex has an
inverted metamorphic gradient, as suggested by Hamilton
(1979), not a normal Barrovian gradient as interpreted by
Berry and Grady (1981) and Harris and Long (2001). The
Aileu metamorphic complex represents parautochthonous
and allochthonous cover sequences metamorphosed during
arccontinent collision, and not Australian continental
basement (or continentocean transitional basement), as
interpreted by Harris and Long (2001).

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5. Conclusions

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The Aileu, Lolotoi and Laclubar massifs of East Timor

provide evidence of both thin-skinned thrusting (Aileu
Complex) and basement-involved thrusting (the Laclubar
and Lolotoi massifs, both assigned to the Lolotoi

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Fig. 9. Northsouth cross-section from Dili to Betano, East Timor. See Fig. 2 for location.

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critieria, including basement-cover stratigraphic relationships, relative structural position, the composition and age
of intrusions into the metamorphic complexes, and the
temperaturepressureage parameters of the metamorphic
rocks.
The predominant basement-involved style of deformation
in East Timor contrasts with West Timor where a thinskinned style of thrusting is dominant (Charlton et al.,
1991; Harris, 1991). This difference probably reects fundamental differences in pre-collisional passive margin
structure in the eastern and western halves of Timor
(Charlton, 2001; Charlton et al., submitted). Whereas
western Timor formed a relatively unstructured, essentially
basinal area prior to collision, eastern Timor was an overall
higher-standing area, but with a marked horst and graben
structure. During arccontinent collision, relatively thick
stratigraphic successions in western Timor accommodated
compression by the development of a thin-skinned fold and
thrust belt. In contrast, compression in eastern Timor was
accommodated by the development of basement-involved

TE

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Metamorphic Complex by Audley-Charles, 1968). The

structural styles interpreted for East Timor are illustrated
in cross-sections in Figs. 6, 9 and 10. Fig. 9 shows a regional
cross-section and palinspastic restoration from Dili in the
north to Betano in the south. Fig. 10 shows a section through
the eastern Aileu Complex and the eastern Laclubar area
based on Figs. 3 and 8.
Three distinct types of metamorphic complex are present
in Timor. The Aileu Complex is a syn-collisional metamorphic series, formed by the obduction of hot allochthonous peridotite onto an Australian continental margin
sedimentary/igneous succession. Consequently, the Aileu
Metamorphic Complex has an inverted metamorphic
gradient, and yields syn-collisional radiometric ages. The
Lolotoi Complex represents Australian continental basement entrained into the collision complex by basementinvolved thrusting. The Mutis Complex represents basement
derived from the pre-collisional Banda forearc. The terms
Mutis Complex and Lolotoi Complex are not synonymous,
and the two can be distinguished based on a number of

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Fig. 10. Cross-section through the eastern Aileu Complex and eastern Laclubar massif. Vertical hatching represents allochthonous units; dotdash pattern is
the parautochthonous cover sequence. See Fig. 2 for location.

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Acknowledgements

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Thanks to Tony Barber, Ron Harris and Brian Windley

for constructive review comments on earlier versions of this
paper.

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