The tectonic emplacement of Sumba in the Sunda-Banda Arc: paleomagnetic and geochemical evidence from the early Miocene Jawila volcanics

Abstract

The island of Sumba is a continental fragment in the fore-arc region near the transition between the Sunda Arc and Banda Arc in southeastern Indonesia. Paleomagnetic and geochemical evidence from the early Miocene volcanics of the Jawila Formation in western Sumba constrain the final drift stage and tectonic emplacement of the island. The lavas range from predominantly andesites to dacites, and display textural evidence for a weak metamorphism. Rock magnetic and mineral chemical data point to pseudo-single- to multi-domain (titano)magnetite (Fe 2.5–3Ti 0.5–0O 3), with grain sizes up to 10 μm, as the main carrier of remanence. The Jawila Formation reveals a ChRM direction with declination = 4.6°, inclination = − 19.2°, α 95 = 9.9° and a paleolatitude of 9.9°S, which corroborates earlier results (Chamalaun and Sunata, 1982). Taking paleomagnetic evidence from other formations on the island into account, we conclude that the Sumba fragment has occupied approximately its present position since the Miocene. The calc-alkaline affinity and trace-element signatures of the lavas point to an origin in an arc environment. This occurrence of subduction-related volcanic activity in the early Miocene on Sumba implies that a volcanic arc existed south of the present-day East Sunda Arc, or that the island was located within the latter arc between Sumbawa and eastern Flores, and still had a minor southward drift to cover.