The significance of the metamorphic rocks of Timor in the development of the Banda Arc, Eastern Indonesia

Abstract

The metamorphic rocks of Timor are reinterpreted in the light of reconnaissance mapping of the whole island. All metamorphic rocks that crop out in Timor are allochthonous. Several metamorphic massifs are reported for the first time, the outline of others is revised. On the basis of their grade, three distinct groups can be mapped: lustrous slate, amphibolite-serpentinite, and a granulite-amphibolite-greenschist complex. Each group has distinctive structural relations to other allochthonous elements. The granulite facies meta-anorthosite in Timor must have originated near the boundary between the continental mantle and the crust. These and related high-grade metamorphic rocks may represent slices of an ancient Asian continental basement. These rocks imply that the history of the Mesozoic-Cinozoic fold belt of the Outer Banda Arc extends into the Precambrian Era. The metamorphic rocks of Seram appear to be remarkably similar to those of Timor in grade, distribution and structural relations. The overthrust directions of the metamorphic rocks in Timor is southwards, in Seram it is northwards. As the islands are separated by the 4–5 km deep Banda Sea, these directly opposite thrusts may be explained in terms of the Banda Arc acquiring its sinuosity after the emplacement of the metamorphic rocks.