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Geology of the Kai Islands: implications for the

evolution of the Aru Trough and Weber Basin,
Banda Arc, Indonesia
Article in Marine and Petroleum Geology February 1991
DOI: 10.1016/0264-8172(91)90045-3

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Geology of the Kai Islands: implications for the

evolution of the Aru Trough and Weber Basin,
Banda Arc, Indonesia
T. R. Charlton* and S. J. Kaye
Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London
WC1E 6BT, UK

and H. Samodra and Sardjono

Geological Research and Development Centre, JI. Diponegoro 57, Bandung, Indonesia
Received 23 February 1990; accepted 10 May 1990
The Kai archipelago is situated at the apex of the 1800 bend in the Banda island arc.
Topographically, the islands occupy a forearc position between the Aru Trough to the east and
the Weber (forearc) Basin to the west. However, the structural style of the eastern Kai islands is
very different from the rest of the Banda forearc, being dominated by normal faults
downthrowing to the Aru Trough, with no sign of earlier compressive forearc deformation. The
Aru Trough is an extensional feature, although it is in direct bathymetric continuity with the
compressional Timor-Tanimbar Trough to the south. The Banda Arc thrust front does not
continue simply northward from the Timor- Tanimbar Trough, but steps westward as a result of
extension in the Aru Trough. The thrust front runs N-S through the Kai group, separating an
inactive accretionary complex to the west from active extension in the east. The Weber Basin
results from E-W extension, with pre-existing thrust faults probably reactivated in extension as
low-angle normal faults. Both the compressional and extensional deformation phases have
occurred since the Pliocene
a period of less than 5 My.
Keywords: Kai archipelago, Indonesia; forearc basin; extensional features

Introduction
The Kai archipelago, eastern Indonesia, is located at
the eastern extremity of the Banda Arc, at the apex of
an island arc system which bends through 1800 (Figure
1). Reconnaissance geological and geophysical
fieldwork carried out in the Kai islands in 1987 by
London University and the Indonesian Geological
Research and Development Centre (GRDC) has led to
a significant reappraisal of this eastern segment of the
Banda Arc. and of the adjacent Aru Trough and Weber
Basin.
The Banda Arc is situated in an area of interaction
between three of the earth's major crustal plates: the
Indo-Australian, Eurasian and Pacific plates (Figure 1).
It is a highly anomalous arc system. with old, probably
Mesozoic oceanic crust located on the inner side of the
arc, and Australian continental crust bordering the
outer bathymetric trough around the complete 1800
bend of the arc. The outer trough can be divided into
four segments: the Timor, Tanimbar, Aru and Seram
Troughs anticlockwise around the arc. In cross-section,
the Timor, Tanimbar and Seram Troughs have many of
the structural characteristics of subduction trenches,
and have generally been interpreted in terms of

'Prescnt address: 3421 Canon.:ita Lane. Plano, TX 75023. USA

subduction processes (Katili, 1971: von der Borch,

1979; Hamilton, 1979; Bowin et al., 1980; Schluter and
Fritsch, 1985, Karig et at., 1987). The Aru Trough
immediately east of the Kai islands does not show the
typical subduction zone cross-sectional profile, but has
nevertheless been frequently interpreted as marking
the thrust front in the eastern Banda Arc (Cardwell and
Isacks, 1978; Hamilton, 1979; Schluter and Fritsch,
1985). The interpretation of the Aru Trough as the
thrust front of the Banda Arc places the Kai islands in a
forearc position. However, other studies (e.g. Bowin et
al., 1980, their Figure 16; A. J. Barber, unpublished
report, 1985; Jongsma et al., 1989) have recognised an
extensional rather than compressional origin for the
Aru Trough. and suggested that the thrust front in the
eastern Banda Arc is located further west, bisecting the
Kai islands. The geology of the Kai islands therefore
becomes important for delineating the eastward limit of
compressional deformation in the eastern Banda Arc.
The westernmost islands of the Kai group are
separated from the Banda volcanic arc further west by
the highly anomalous Weber Basin. In terms of its
tectonic position, the Weber Basin is a forearc basin.
However, it is unlike the other forearc basins around
the Banda Are, and is indeed unique globally. Its major
distinguishing feature is its bathymetric depth (>7 km),

0264-8172/911010062-08
1991 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd

62

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

PACIFIC

OCEAN

0"

NEW
GUINEA

IOOS~

INDIAN

ARAFURA

SHELF
IO"S

OCEAN
AUSTRALIA

120"E

Figure 1 Location of the Kai archipelago in the Banda Arc, eastern Indonesia

5S--~------------,-----~--------------------------------------~------~,-------------5S

~ \,

132E:

\,,\~WESTERN PR~VINCE ~

\\.,
s

30

km

EASTERN PROVINCE

Depths in km

CENTRAL PROVINCE

OKUR

line ot section

~-----:-.\9
Cfl

I)

OFADOL

TAYANDU
ISLANDS
\

-.
b

00

~'~h

, 6

60s

..

60s

Figure 2 Location map of the Kai islands showing bathymetry (in km) and location of the line of section in Figure 5

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

63

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

which makes it the deepest point in the world's oceans
...------------------...,
not situated in a subduction trench. The origin of this
N
basin is important to a full understanding of the Banda
Arc, and clues to its origins can be gained from the
geology of the adjacent Kai islands.

Geology of the Kai Islands

km

The Kai archipelago can be divided into three

geological regions (Figure 2): an eastern province
consisting of Kai Besar; a central province including the
islands of Kai Kecil, Kai Dulah and the Tayandu
islands; and a western province comprising Kur, Fadol
and adjacent islands. The geology of these three
provinces will be described in order from east to west.

Eastern province (Kai Besar)

The island of Kai Besar (Figure 3) is a long, narrow (85
x 10 km) and rugged (up to 800 m) island elongated in
a NNE-SSW direction. It is bordered to the east by the
inner slope of the Aru Trough, and to the west by the
relatively shallow Nerong Straits. During our 1987 visit,
reconnaissance fieldwork was carried out in the central
portion of the island near Elat, around the village of
Mun on the northern west coast, and south from Elat
near the village of Wetuar (Warkuk on the map of
Achdan and Turkandi, 1982). The fieldwork
complemented aerial photographic studies carried out
beforehand.
Stratigraphy. The stratigraphy of Kai Besar has
most recently been described during compilation of the
GRDC 1:250000 geological map of Kai (Achdan and
Turkandi, 1982). The oldest stratigraphic unit consists
of flat-bedded poorly fossiliferous calcilutites and marls
interbedded on a decimetre scale (Elat Formation).
Achdan and Turkandi (1982) reported Upper Eocene
ages from planktonic foraminifera in the marls, with
reworked Middle-Upper Eocene benthic foramini
mera in the calcilutites. They estimated the formation
to be about 500 m thick. In 1987, we logged
approximately 450 m of this unit from continuous
coastal exposures north and south of Mun, and we
suspect that the total exposed thickness may be
somewhat greater, perhaps 600-800 m. The Elat
Formation is interpreted as pelagic or hemipelagic
carbonates deposited in a distal continental slope
setting, possibly slightly shallowing upward.
The Elat Formation is overlain (disconformably?) by
yellowish or reddish-brown shallow water limestones of
the Tamangil Formation (Heim, 1939) or Member
(Achdan and Turkandi, 1982). The limestone is a
characteristic
calcirudite
containing
numerous
Lepidocyclina benthic foraminifera up to 6 cm
diameter. Achdan and Turkandi (1982) reported a
Middle-Upper Oligocene age for this unit, and
identified a stratigraphic thickness of up to 50 m. In our
opinion the unit is sufficiently distinct to warrant
separate formational status.
The overlying Weduar Formation consists of reef
limestone, calcilutite, calcarenite and marl deposited in
neritic shelf environments. It is believed to be entirely
Miocene in age. According to Achdan and Turkandi
(1982), the formation is approximately 500 m thick.
The youngest stratigraphic unit recognised in Kai
Besar by Achdan and Turkandi (1982) is the Weryahan
.64

KAI
BESAR

1~~~Itjj~j:~jl ~~~~tT~~~rgli;:~~~ene)
Elat Formation
(Eocene)
-..........

Normal fault

Figure 3 Simplified geological map of Kai Besar from fieldwork

and aerial photo-interpretation

Formation, which consists of shallow water limestone

and marl of Pliocene age. On their map, Achdan and
Turkandi (1982) indicated stratigraphic contacts
between the Weryahan Formation and both the Elat
Formation (Eocene) and Weduar Formation
(Miocene). This suggests that the Weryahan Formation
has an unconformable relationship with these older
sequences. In our fieldwork we visited the locality
south of Wetuar village (Figure 3) where the Weryahan
Formation was indicated in stratigraphic contact with
the Eocene rocks. We were unable to confirm these
relationships: the area indicated consisted of unbroken
outcrops of the Elat Formation. At the second
indicated locality of the Weryahan Formation
immediately north of Wetuar village, a simple
gradation was observed in a series of outcrops from the
Weryahan Formation down into the Weduar
Formation. Bedding dips in the Weryahan and Weduar

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

Formations are similar, indicating that the boundary is
area is structurally more disturbed, as reflected in the
at most a disconformity.
greater scatter of poles to bedding from this area
compared with Mun (Figure 4). The offset between the
two halves of the island suggests a right-lateral
Structure. The structural geology of Kai Besar is
remarkably simple considering its apparent position
displacement. This is also suggested by the clockwise
within the Banda forearc. From aerial photographic
rotation of the mean bedding dip in Figure 4b
compared to Figure 4a.
interpretation (Figure 3), two sets of lineaments clearly
stand out: a dominant set oriented NNE-SSW parallel
An alternative interpretation which has been
to the long axis of the island; and a secondary set
previously considered (see for instance Jongsma el al.,
oriented WNW-ESE, approximately at right-angles to
1989) is that the NNE~SSW set of lineaments are
the first set. However, despite the stronger expression
left-lateral wrench faults. We believe this interpretation
to be incorrect because: (1) the lineaments are
of the NNE - SSW set, these lineaments often terminate
expressed as large escarpments predominantly facing
or are displaced by the WNW - ESE set.
Morphologically, the NNE-SSW lineaments are
eastward. This seems more consistent with normal
faulting. (2) The regularity of bedding dips does not
expressed as spectacular east-facing escarpments up to
appear consistent with a major wrench fault zone. (3)
several hundred metres high. In the northern half of the
The NNE~SSW lineaments are offset or terminated by
island, three or four such escarpments are seen across
the island, giving the island a sawtooth topographic
the WNW-ESE lineaments. At the very least, this
suggests that the NNE~SSW lineaments are not active
profile. The scarps are interpreted as recently active
normal faults down throwing to the east towards the
wrench faults. (4) Extensional calcite veining shows a
very regular orientation parallel to the NNE~SSW
Aru Trough. The much gentler western back slopes of
the escarpments are virtual dip slopes, reflecting highly
lineaments. This suggests extension normal to the
uniform bedding dips to the west at about 5-15. This
lineaments, which is better explained by normal
faulting than by wrench faulting.
uniformity of bedding dip is clearly demonstrated by a
stereographic plot of poles to bedding recorded from
The normal faulting and associated transfer faulting
the Mun area (Figure 4a). In other localities, the only
is the only significant deformation to have affected Kai
exception to this gentle westward dip occurs near to the
Besar since at least the Eocene. The timing of this
normal faults, where dips of up to 4SO eastward are seen
deformation is well constrained by our fieldwork.
According to Achdan and Turkandi (1982), the
in small footwall anticlines and hangingwall synclines.
Pliocene Weryahan Formation rests unconformably on
The WNW-ESE set of lineaments are less clearly
the Eocene Elat Formation near Wetuar. If this were
expressed morphologically, although they frequently
correspond to topographic depressions cutting across
true, it would suggest that the main deformation phase
the elevated spine of the island. As noted above, the
was probably pre-Pliocene. However, we were not able
second set of lineaments displace or terminate the first
to find such an unconformable relationship. Instead, we
set, and they are interpreted as transfer zones linking
found a simple stratigraphic contact between the
extension on the NNE-SSW normal faults. Although
Pliocene Weryahan Formation and the Miocene
Weduar Formation. The Pliocene rocks are folded in a
these transfer zones are presumably strike-slip in
footwall syncline to one of the major normal faults, and
character, their field expression is often as normal
faults. For instance, the rather minor transfer fault
are cut by a minor normal fault oriented E- W. The
3 km south of Mun (Figure 3) consists primarily of a
Pliocene rocks are therefore as deformed as the older
Tertiary rocks. This suggests that the normal faulting
steep normal fault downthrowing to the north. On the
coast just north of this fault, two low-angle normal
has occurred in post-Pliocene times.
faults downthrowing to the south are seen. These
In summary, the structure of Kai Besar is dominated
by normal faults downthrowing towards the Aru
appear from the aerial photographs to link into the
Trough. This normal faulting occurred in post-Pliocene
larger normal fault inland. In cross-section, this
transfer zone would probably have the form of a
times, and is the only significant deformation to have
affected the island since at least the Eocene.
divergent flower structure.
In the central segment of Kai Besar near Elat, the
Central province
cross-lineaments trend more nearly NW-SE. This may
represent a more fundamental break between the
The central geological province of the Kai islands
northern and southern halves of the island. The Elat
(Figure 2) consists of low-lying islands composed
predominantly of Quaternary reef. The eastern islands
of Kai Kecil and Kai Dulah are dissected by long
N
N
lagoonal channels with a N-S orientation. These
Mun
channels have been interpreted (Heim, 1939; Achdan
and Turkandi, 1982) as the result of recent structural
warping of the reef terraces. Locally the Weryahan
Formation (Pliocene) crops out in south-central Kai
Kecil, possibly in the core of such an anticlinal warp .
. .ii..
: . ..:.
y.
The
other notable characteristic of the central Kai
'#'~ :~~5: ~
o
geological province is the presence of mud volcanoes.
Within the Kai islands, mud volcanoes are only
found in the central geological province. The mud
volcano indicated by Achdan and Turkandi (1982) on
the east coast of Kai Besar has been searched for by
A. J. Barber (unpublished report, 1985) and by our
Figure 4 Stereographic plots (equal area, lower hemisphere) of
poles to bedding, Kai Besar. (a) Mun area; (b) Elat area
selves without success. It seems likely that the mud
o

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

65

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

volcano designation refers rather to the well known gas

seep at this location (e.g. Brouwer, 1921). In other
parts of the Banda Arc, mud volcanoes are widely
found in the forearc accretionary complex (Barber et
al., 1986), and in particular close to the forearc
deformation front where shale-rich sedimentary
sequences enter the subduction system (Breen et al.,
1986). The central geological province of the Kai
islands is therefore interpreted as the foremost part of
the Banda Arc accretionary complex. The Quaternary
reef was presumably deposited unconformably on the
accretionary complex after thrusting had ceased. The
Weryahan Formation was not examined in detail on
Kai Kecil, and so it is not known whether this unit is
part of the imbricated sequence, or part of the
post-deformation sedimentary drape. The thrust
related deformation in the central province is therefore
certainly pre-Quaternary, but cannot at this stage be
more accurately dated. The present day mud volcanism
may be occurring along faults active after the main
deformation, as is also seen on Timor (Barber et al.,
1986). These might be wrench faults as on Timor, or
normal faults related to the extension seen in Kai
Besar.

Western province
High grade metamorphic rocks (silicic schists, gneiss
and migmatite; Bowin et al., 1980; Achdan and
Turkandi, 1982) outcrop on the islands of Kur and
Fadol in the western geological province of Kai. They
are found together with Late Miocene- Pliocene
claystone and sandstone (Bowin et al., 1980) and
Quaternary reef. The nature of the contact between the
metamorphics and the Miocene sediments (structural
or stratigraphic) has not been recorded.
The western province of Kai is interpreted as the
innermost part of the west Kai forearc complex. The
acid metamorphic rocks are probably Australian
continental basement emplaced by thrusting on to the
imbricated Australian cover sequence of the central
Kai province. The metamorphics of western Kai
probably occupy a similar structural position to the
Kobipoto Complex on Seram (Audley-Charles et al.,
1979; Tjokrosapoetro and Budhitrisna, 1982).
The western boundary of the west Kai geological
province is the east flank of the Weber Basin (Figu.re 2).
The boundary between the Kai block, which is

emergent or covered by water less than 200 m deep,

and the floor of the Weber Basin is a steep submarine
slope descending 5 km vertically over a distance of
about 15 km. The extreme depth of the Weber
(forearc) Basin must result from vertical movements
post-dating formation of the west Kai forearc complex
on which it is presumably built. Extension in the Weber
Basin suggests that from east to west the eastern Banda
Are consists of two active extensional zones (the Aru
Trough and Weber Basin) separated by an inactive
zone of compression (the west Kai accretionary
complex).

Structural interpretation of the Kai region

Figure 5 shows a crustal scale cross-section through the
Kai region from the Aru islands on the Australian
continental margin (Arufura Shelf) to the centre of the
Weber Basin. The location of the line through the Kai
islands is shown in Figure 2. The eastern half of the
section follows approximately the same line as the
gravity profile of Untung (1985). The major controls on
the cross-section in Figure 5 are: (1) our own field
geological observations and Bouguer gravity
measurements from Kai Besar, Kai Kecil, Kai Dulah
and the Tayandu islands; (2) bathymetry, gravity and
shallow seismic control over the Aru Trough and
Weber Basin from Jongsma etal. (1989); and (3) crustal
thickness values beneath the Arafura Shelf, Aru
Trough and Weber Basin from seismic refraction
experiments reported by Bowin et al. (1980).
The Aru Trough is interpreted as a zone of recent
crustal extension. There is, however, a marked offset
between the bathymetric low at the axis of the Aru
Trough and the Bouguer gravity anomaly high centred
on Kai Besar (J ongsma et al., 1989, their Figu.res 3 and
6b). This implies that the brittle upper crustal extension
responsible for the Aru Trough bathymetric low is
offset relative to lower crustal extension which accounts
for most of the Bouguer gravity anomaly. The young
extension in the eastern Kai islands and the Aru
Trough is therefore interpreted in terms of a
Wernicke-type extensional model (Wernicke, 1981),
linking brittle upper crust extension under the axis of
the Aru Trough with ductile extension of the lower
continental crust beneath Kai Besar. The steep gravity
gradient recorded between Kai Kecil and Kai Besar

tI>

g 200

<0

!!!
0

a<

100

~.

'3

<0

~~~~~~--------'

9
WEBER
BASIN

0
0

11)

'0

:;:.

-;;: 20
~

< 40
"

::I:

MANTLE

o
I

km

50
I

Figure 5 Crustal-scale cross-section through the Kai islands from the Weber Basin to the Aru islands (Arafura Shelf)

66

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

and Fadol. The basal decollement as drawn in Figure 5

places a strong constraint on the western limit of lower

crustal extension. The marked gravity low centred on
the west-central Kai islands indicates that the lower
continental crust beneath central and western Kai has
typical continental thickness, similar to that under the
Arafura Shelf. The crustal extension in the Aru Trough
is therefore restricted to a zone bounded by the western
edge of the Arafura Shelf in the east, and Kai Besar in
the west. Within this zone, about 35 km of extension is
estimated, corresponding to a 40% extension factor
(~= 1.4).
Present day shallow seismicity in the eastern Banda
Arc is primarily associated with extension in the Aru
Trough. This is shown by the concentration of
earthquake epicentres in the Aru Trough with fault
plane solutions indicating either normal or strike-slip
faulting (Hamilton, 1974; Cardwell and Isacks, 1978;
McCaffrey, 1988). The primary extension direction
indicated by the normal fault earthquake mechanisms is
approximately perpendicular to the long axis of the
trough. The strike-slip mechanisms commonly show a
roughly N -S and E- W quadrantic arrangment of
nodal planes in which any particular quadrant can be
either compressional or dilatational with about equal
likelihood. Such a pattern is inconsistent with
left-lateral wrench faulting parallel to the long axis of
the Aru Trough (e.g. Jongsma et al., 1989), where the
earthquake mechanisms should show the SW and NE
quadrants as predominantly compressional, and the NE
and SW quadrants predominantly dilatational.
Alternatively, this pattern is consistent with transfer
faulting associated with roughly E- W extension,
similar to that seen on Kai Besar. The transfer faults on
Kai Besar have both left- and right-lateral offsets, and a
similar fault pattern in the Aru Trough would account
for the mixed polarity of the strike-slip earthquake
mechanisms.
Earthquake epicentres are particularly concentrated
under the eastern flank of the Aru Trough, suggesting
that the extension system is growing eastward by
footwall collapse. The seismicity in the Aru Trough
dies out southward at the junction with the Tanimbar
Trough, and forms an approximately triangular zone
northward up to the Tarera-Aiduna Fault in the north
(e.g. Jongsma et al., 1989, their Figure 5). This suggests
that the extension may be induced by drag on the
left-lateral Tarera-Aiduna Fault. The primary
extension direction in the Aru Trough, as indicated
both by earthquake fault plane solutions and by the
geology of Kai Besar, is WNW-ESE, which is the
expected extension direction associated with left-lateral
wrench faulting parallel to the Tarera-Aiduna Fault.
Prior to this phase of extension, the central and
western parts of the Kai islands were the site of
compressive deformation related to subduction of the
Australian continental margin beneath the Banda Arc.
The western and central Kai islands are modelled in
Figure 5 as an imbricate stack of Australian continental
basement and cover thrust back on to normal thickness
Australian continental crust. The deformation front of
this forearc/accretionary complex is situated to the west
of Kai Besar in the Nerong Straits. The dip of the basal
decollement to the accretionary complex is constrained
by gravity modelling and by the necessity for the
decollement to intersect the Australian basement at the
western margin of the Kai block in order for
continental basement to be raised to the surface in Kur

dips westward towards the Weber Basin at about 8.

A peculiarity of the present arrangement of
structural elements in the Kai area is the apparent
continuity of the extensional Aru Trough with the
compressional Timor- Tanimbar Trough to the south.
The nature of the change northward from compressive
tectonics near Tanimbar to recent extension south-east
of Kai Besar is well illustrated by seismic lines across
the Tanimbar-Aru Trough figured by Schluter and
Fritsch (1985, their Figures 12-14). Line drawings of
these seismic sections are shown here as Figure 6.
These lines show that several of the arcward dipping
reflectors in the forearc complex have normal rather
than the expected reverse fault offsets. The extension
in the Aru Trough therefore presumably links
southward into the northern Tanimbar Trough by
reactivation of forearc thrusts as low-angle normal
faults. Further north, at the latitude of the Kai islands,
the extension has been entirely taken up within the
previously undeformed Australian crust forward of the
Banda Arc deformation front. The inactive Kai thrust
front, located between Kai Besar and Kai Kecil in the
Nerong Straits, has been displaced westward relative to
the Tanimbar Trough thrust front by this extension in
the Aru Trough. The two inactive thrust fronts must be
joined by a left-lateral transfer fault located south of
the Kai islands and oriented approximately
WNW - ESE. The present limited seismic coverage of
this area does not constrain the precise position of this
inferred transfer fault.
To the west of the Kai islands, the Weber Basin is a
second zone of active E- W extension. Raised Bouguer
gravity values (>250 mgal: Bowin et al., 1980; Jongsma
et al., 1989) and seismic refraction data (Bowin et al.,
1980) suggest considerable reduction in crustal
thickness under the Weber Basin relative to the Kai
block and Banda volcanic arc on either side. Previous
interpretations (e.g. Bowin et al., 1980) took this to
indicate that the Weber Basin is underlain by oceanic
crust. Alternatively, the thinner crust beneath the
Weber Basin may be the result of extreme attentuation
of continental or intermediate crust resulting from a
high degree of E- W extension. The east flank of the
Weber Basin is interpreted as a zone of normal faulting
superimposed on the older Banda forearc deformation.
Thrust planes within the west Kai accretionary complex
may have been reactivated as low angle normal faults,
as is seen at the junction of the Aru and Tanimbar
Troughs (Figure 6).
Subduction in the Kai region had evidently ceased
before the deposition of undeformed Quaternary reef
sediments which overlie deformed sequences in central
and eastern Kai. This is similar to what is seen in the
Tanimbar islands to the south, where subduction also
ceased prior to the Pleistocene (de Smet et al., 1990),
and is also similar to the Timor forearc where
subduction virtually ceased during the Quaternary
(Veevers et al., 1978; Johnston and Bowin, 1981;
Charlton, 1988). This suggests that the southern and
eastern segments of the Banda Arc have been largely
inactive as subduction zones for 1-2 My. As in Timor
and the Tanimbar islands, the collision phase between
the Banda Arc and the Australian margin in the Kai
area is probably an essentially Pliocene event (Johnston
and Bowin, 1981; Audley-Charles, 1986; de Smet et al.,
1990).

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

67

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Charlton et al.

oI

km

10

Figure 6 Line drawings of seismic sections across the Tanimbar Trough (from Schluter and Fritsch, 1985). Note the increasing
extension from south to north

The E- W extension in the Aru Trough and Weber

Basin can be explained as a result of subduction largely
ceasing around the Banda Arc since the Pliocene. The
continuing northward convergence of Australia on the
Eurasian
and
Pacific
plates
during
the
Pleistocene- Recent has led to N -S compression across
the Banda Sea region. This had led to E- W
compensatory expansion within the Banda Sea,
primarily taken up on left-lateral wrench faults oriented
ENE-WSW (McCaffrey, 1988; Figure 7a). The Weber
forearc basin, located at the apex of the bend in the
Banda Arc, is analogous to an incompetent lithological
horizon between two competent horizons (the volcanic
arc and the Kai block) at the hinge of a fold. Continued
tightening of the fold leads to zones of alternating

68

compression and extension in the hinge (Figure 7b).

The contrast in structural rigidity between the Weber
Basin and the adjacent crustal blocks focuses extension
in the forearc basin region. Extension within the Aru
Trough can be seen as a second zone of extension at the
hinge of the Banda 'megafold', with extension
concentrated on an old line of weakness within the
Australian continental basement (the northward
continuation of the Halls Creek Mobile Zone: Figure
1).

Conclusions
The apparent continuity of geological structures around
the Banda Arc is not as simple as first impressions

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 1991, Vol 8, February

Evolution of the Banda Arc, Indonesia: T. R. Char/ton et al.

Figure 7 Comparison of the tectonics of the Banda Arc la) with the strain pattern around a fold Ib) from Dieterich, 1969 via Hobbs et a/.,
1976. Shaded area in ta) is the volcanic arc. Short lines in (b) are parallel to the long axes of strain ellipses at those points. Note the two
zones of E-W extension (the Aru Trough and the Weber Basin) at the eastern apex of the arc, and the corresponding zones of extension
in the fold

would indicate. Not only is the northern Banda Arc

separated from the southern and eastern arcs by the
Tarera-Aiduna Fault (Cardwell and Isacks, 1978), but
the Kai islands and adjacent Aru Trough are not simple
northward continuations of the Timor-Tanimbar
forearc ridge and the Timor-Tanimbar Trough,
respectively. The Kai islands can be divided into two
structural zones. Firstly there is an eastern zone
consisting essentially of Kai Besar. This is a fragment of
the Australian continental margin isolated in
post-Pliocene times by extension in the Aru Trough.
The second structural zone consists of the central and
western Kai islands. This region has a very different
structural history, probably having been deformed
within a forearc setting during the Pliocene. This
forearc region can be subdivided into the central Kai
islands which are composed of imbricated Australian
continental margin sediments, and the western islands
which are largely composed of back thrust Australian
continental basement. The Kai structural block is
bordered on its western edge by the Weber Basin,
which is interpreted as a zone of extreme forearc
extension superimposed on earlier subduction-related
compression.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Tony Barber (Royal Holloway and Bedford
New College, London University) for useful
discussions; to Herman Sugilar and Zainal Hayat
(GRDC) who worked with us in Kai, and to GRDC
(former Director Dr M. Untung; present Director Dr
R. Sukamto) for logistical arrangements. The fieldwork
was sponsored by Union Texas (SE Asia) Inc. and
Idemitsu Oil Development Co., with special thanks to
Haydn Rickard (UTSEA) for discussions and support.
Thanks to Janet Baker and Colin Stewart for the
artwork.

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