Age, origin and tectonic controls on rapid recent exhumation of the Sibela Mountains, Bacan, Indonesia

Abstract

The Sibela Mountains of the island of Bacan in eastern Indonesia contain one of the Earth’s youngest metamorphic complexes that is now exposed at elevations up to 2000 m. New mica 40Ar/39Ar and apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He data from metamorphic and igneous rocks indicate that these rocks were rapidly exhumed in the Pleistocene (c. 0.7 Ma). Exhumation of the metamorphosed Permo-Triassic basement (c. 249–257 Ma) was accompanied by metamorphism (recorded by schists) as well as partial melting (recorded by c. 1.4 Ma granitic dykes). These processes must have occurred at extremely high cooling and exhumation rates. The rapid exhumation on land was associated with significant subsidence in adjacent basins offshore that reach depths up to 2.4 km. Neogene metamorphic core complexes and other metamorphic complexes are well-known from eastern Indonesia, but they usually record much higher exhumation rates than those reported from older classic metamorphic core complexes found in other parts of the world and require a different formation mechanism. Unlike classic metamorphic core complexes that are characterized by low-angle detachment faults, the Bacan metamorphic rocks were exhumed on steep bounding normal faults forming a rectilinear block pattern. We suggest such complexes are termed metamorphic block complexes (MBC). The Bacan MBC is exceptionally young and like the other east Indonesian complexes was rapidly exhumed during subduction rollback. A flexure formed during arc-arc collision as the Sangihe forearc loaded the Halmahera forearc which reactivated steeply-dipping faults in a rectilinear chocolate block pattern.Graphical abstractThe Sibela Mountains of the island of Bacan in eastern Indonesia are formed by one of the Earth’s youngest metamorphic complexes. a Dense rain forest cover and steep flanks of the Sibela Mountains which rise from sea level to more than 2000 m. b Quaternary collision between the Sangihe and Halmahera arcs. Loading of the Halmahera forearc formed a flexure that reactivated steeply-dipping faults, which exhumed the Sibela Mountains metamorphic block. c Rapid cooling paths during exhumation of the Sibela metamorphic complex