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Banda Forearc Metamorphic Rocks Accreted to the Australian Continental Margin: Detailed Analysis of the Lolotoi Complex of East Timor

Petrologic, structural and age investigations of the Lolotoi Complex of East Timor indicate that it is part of a group of thin metamorphic klippen found throughout the region that were detached from the Banda forearc and accreted to the NW Australian continental margin during Late Miocene to Present arc-continent collision. Metamorphic rock types are dominated by (in order of greatest to least abundance), greenschist, graphitic phyllite, quartz-mica schist, amphibolite and pelitic schist. Mineral, whole rock, and trace element geochemical analyses of metabasites indicate that protolith compositions are consistent with tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite with mixed MORB and oceanic arc affinities. Metapelitic schist compositions are consistent with mafic to intermediate oceanic to continental arc provenance. Geothermobarometric calculations show peak metamorphic temperatures in pelitic rocks range from 530°C to 610°C for garnet-biotite pairs and peak pressures of 5 to 8 kbar for garnet-aluminosilicate-quartz-plagioclase assemblages. Analyses of amphibole in amphibolites yield temperatures of 550°C to 650°C and pressures of 6 to 7 kbar. Lu-Hf analyses performed on garnet samples from two massifs in East Timor yielded four ages with a mean of 45.36 ± 0.63 Ma, which is interpreted to represent the approximate age of peak metamorphism. Detrital zircons from one amphibolite sample in East Timor yields a bimodal U-Pb age distribution of 560 Ma and 80 Ma, indicating deposition occurred after the 80 Ma closure of the zircon grains. The sequence of deformation as indicated by field measurements is similar to that reported from other klippen throughout the Timor region. Contact relationships with adjacent units indicate that the metamorphic terrane is in thrust contact with underlying Gondwana Sequence rocks. Overlying the metamorphic rocks are Asian affinity volcanic and sedimentary cover units found mostly in normal fault contact on the edges of Lolotoi Complex klippen. Geochemical, age, petrological and structural data imply the Lolotoi Complex formed part of the eastern Great Indonesian arc, which began to collapse in the Eocene, was incorporated into the Banda arc in the Miocene, and accreted to the Austrailian continental margin from Pliocene to Present.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-2303
Date29 January 2007
CreatorsStandley, Carl Eldon
PublisherBYU ScholarsArchive
Source SetsBrigham Young University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations
Rightshttp://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

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