Forearc deformation and tectonic significance of the ultramafic Molucca central ridge, Talaud islands (Indonesia)

Abstract

Abstract The Molucca Sea is a narrow basin located south of Mindanao (Philippines) and underlined by a north-south ophiolitic ridge. This ridge represents the outer ridge of the Sangihe subduction zone and emerges by uplift in the central part of the basin, in the Talaud Islands. Field studies indicate that forearc sediments rest uncomformably on (i) a dismembered ophiolitic series and (ii) thick melanges. Structural analysis indicates two deformation events, one of which is oriented east-west coaxial with the present state of strain. We interpret the earlier (N20°E) direction as a thrusting event that affected an ophiolitic basement associated with the edge of the Celebes Sea. Thrusting within the oceanic crust and sediments also generated olistostromes (melanges). The style of deformation is characterized by flattened rhombs of peridotites which exists in situ in the upper section of the crustal sequence and were also found inside the melange. Incipient Sangihe subduction around 15 Ma uplifted the deformed crust and buried the melanges beneath the forearc sediments. Recent east-west shortening during subduction of the Snellius Plateau reactivated the melanges within thrusts cutting the forearc series.