Journal of Southeast Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3/4, pp. 249-258, 1991 0743-9547/91 $3.00+ 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain PergamonPress Ltd

The character and significance of basement rocks of the

southern Molucca Sea region

ROBERT HALL,* GARY NICHOLS,t PAUL BALLANTYNE,* TIM CHARLTON* a n d JASON ALI~
*Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WCIE 6BT,
tDepartment of Geology, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, and
~Department of Oceanography,Universityof Southampton,UniversityRoad, Southampton,SO9 5NH, U.K.

(Receit, ed 22 August 1990; accepted for publication 5 May 1991)

Abstract--Pre-Neogene basement rocks in the southern Molucca Sea region include ophiolitic rocks, arc volcanic
rocks and continental rocks. The ophiolitic complexes are associated with arc and forearc igneous and sedimentary
rocks. They are interpreted as the oldest parts of the Philippine Sea Plate with equivalents in the ridges and
plateaux of the northern Philippine Sea. In the Molucca Sea region igneous components include rocks with a
"supra-subduction zone" character, boninitic volcanic rocks and basic volcanic rocks with a "within-plate"
character; "MORB-type" rocks are rare or absent. The ophiolitic rocks are overlain by Upper Cretaceous and
Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Plutonic rocks of island arc origin which intrude the ophiolites yield Late
Cretaceous radiometric ages and amphibolites with ophiolitic protoliths yield Eocene ages. The "supra-subduction
zone" ophiolites are speculated to have originated during a mid-Cretaceous plate reorganization event. For the
Late Cretaceous and Eocene the present-day Marianas arc and forearc provides an attractive model.
Volcanic rocks form the basement of Morotai, western Halmahera and much of Bacan. These also have an
island arc character and are probably of Late Cretaceous-Paleogene age. Both the arc volcanic rocks and the
ophiolitic complexes are overlain by shallow water Eocene limestones and an Oligocene rift sequence including
basaltic pillow lavas and volcaniclastic turbidites. The distribution of the Eocene~)ligocene sequences indicate
pre-Mid/Late Eocene amalgamation of the ophiolitic and arc terranes. Mid Eocene-Oligocene extension appears
to be synchronous with opening of the central West Philippine Basin.
Continental crust probably arrived in this region in the Late Paleogene-Early Neogene, either due to collision
of the Australian margin with Pacific arc-ophiolite terranes or by terrane movement along the Sorong Fault Zone.

INTRODUCTION (Hamilton 1979, Cardwell et al. 1980) with less than

THE MOLUCCASEA (Fig. 1) is one of several small ocean
basins in the western Pacific margin and is situated in the
tectonically complex triple junction of the Australian,
Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. The age of the
Molucca Sea crust is unknown. To the east and west are
the active Sangihe and Halmahera volcanic arcs, to the
north is the Philippines archipelago, and to the south are
numerous small, non-volcanic islands extending between
the larger islands of Sulawesi and New Guinea. The
Molucca Sea will soon disappear; the Sangihe and
Halmahera arcs are colliding and have over-ridden the
Molucca Sea Plate (Hatherton and Dickinson 1969,
Hamilton 1979). Collision has created a central ridge
which is being thrust outwards onto the two colliding
forearcs. The central zone, marked by intense shallow
seismicity and a gravity low, is the Molucca Sea "col-
lision complex" (Silver and Moore 1978, Hamilton 1979)
and is exposed on the island of Talaud (Moore et aL
1981). The connection northwards between the collision
zone and the southern Philippines is uncertain (e.g.
Moore and Silver 1983, Hall and Nichols 1990, Pubellier
et al. 1991).
East of the Molucca Sea the Philippine Sea Plate is
rotating clockwise with respect to Eurasia about an
Euler pole near its northern edge (Ranken et aL 1984,
Seno et al. 1987, Barrier et al. 1991) and the rate of
convergence between Eurasia and the Philippine Sea
Plate increases southward. North of 2°50'N the principal
expression of this convergence is westward subduction
at the Philippine Trench; the trench is very young
249
150 km of subducted lithosphere. South of 2°50'N an
accretionary prism of deformed sediments becomes a less
pronounced feature and dies out, together with bathy-
metric expression of the trench and seismic activity, at
I°20'N (Nichols et al. 1990). There is no physiographic
evidence or seismicity indicating a link between the
Philippine Trench and plate boundaries to the southeast,
and the southern end of the Philippine Trench is inter-
preted by Nichols et al. (1990) to be linked to the
Molucca Sea Collision Zone via a NE-SW dextral
strike-slip zone. The area between eastern Halmahera
and Waigeo therefore forms part of the Philippine Sea
Plate.
South of the Molucca Sea is a complex fault zone
which broadly separates the Australian Plate from the
Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates. In the northern
Bird's Head region of New Guinea (Visser and Hermes
1962) the northern boundary of the Australian Plate is
the left-lateral Sorong Fault (Tija 1973, Dow and
Sukamto 1984). West of the Bird's Head, this fault
splays out into the Molucca-Sorong Fault, the North
Sula-Sorong Fault (Hamilton 1979) and the Buru
Fracture (Tjokrosapoetro and Budhitrisna 1982). Linea-
ments with broadly E-W orientations, interpreted as
left-lateral splays, can be identified on bathymetric
maps of the region (Mammerickx et al. 1976), observed
on seismic lines (Letouzey et al. 1983) and are seen
on GLORIA records crossing the fault zone (Masson
1988). We use the term Sorong Fault Zone for the entire
zone of faulting between the Bird's Head and east
Sulawesi.
250 R. HALL et al.

0
I
5o0,. /

PHILIPPINE SEA
OANA PLATE
~.P~T'E'aq~ e~'~ (.~.
5*
CAROLINE
""" ' ,ouoN .# i PLATE

0°_

I INEWGUlN'EIA
5~

i~o o 1~ ° t~o° la~o

Fig. 1. Principal tectonic features of the region. Filled circles are the locations of recent volcanoes of the Molucca Sea region.

The movement of Australia northward towards the
Pacific has resulted in the development of an orogenic
belt which may provide a modern analogue for terrane
accretion in older orogenic belts (e.g. Silver and Smith
1983). The basement rocks of the Molucca Sea region
are of particular interest since they provide an insight
into the processes of terrane movement and amalgama-
tion in this orogenic belt. The nature of the older crust
provides the best evidence for the identification and
ultimate source of different terranes. Tracing the history
! !
of these terranes can identify the sequence of events in
the Australia-"Pacific" collision, and the effects of
strike-slip faulting at the Eurasia-Pacific-Australia
triple junction where there is oblique convergence at the
northern Australian margin. In collaboration with the
Indonesian scientists from the Geological Research and
Development Centre, Bandung we have been investi-
gating the region of the southern Molucca Sea and
Sorong Fault Zone (Fig. 2) for the past several years.
This paper summarizes some of the results of this
!

Ce
Sea
ebes L
Jig M__ATAI
W u/..tu Pacific
./'-) Molucca J ~ Ocean

S / ~ ' - ~ - ~ ~ ~-..~ WAIGEO

, \

i l ~ I Banda Sea [ 500

B5~

Fig. 2. Location map showing the principal islands of the Sorong Fault Zone and major strands of the Sorong Fault after
Hamilton (1979) and Letouzey et al. (1983). Those areas investigated during this project are shaded.
 Basement rocks of the southern Molucca Sea region 251

~/ N E N ~ S KEY
OB ~ ~
~0 I~ NeogeneVolcan~B~rl
Neogene 25 N N SedimentaryRocks
m VOlcaniclastic
| f S a ~ and
BasaE
l cPilowLavas
! I
~ SubaedalClas~cand
;v;v( "v'v
vv~ ~i ShallowMarine
LI
ivvv~ vVvV, SedimentaryRocks
~ Arc Volcanicand
Paleocene ~,,v~,v i ••• Foreatc Volcanidas~c
,v£,v
--,-66 Iv',
/VvV.{
,,VvV,~
~,V,
vV~
~Y.vv~ ,VvV SedimentaryRocks
,VvV
~,vbv, ~VGv,
~ Arc Volcanicand
Lower VolcaniclasticRocks
CrCaceous I
--+--144
Jurassic ! l OphioliticRocks
-- 211 ! l
Triassk~
----+-248
m Mesozo/c
SedimentaryRocks

I Ma ~ m N :~ High-gradeContt'nontal
MetamorphicRocks

Fig. 3. Summary of the stratigraphy of the islands of the southern Molucca Sea.

investigation, in particular the character of the pre- 2. Arc volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks are known
Neogene basement rocks and their significance. The from Morotai, NW Halmahera, SW Halmahera,
Neogene sequences are discussed elsewhere (Hall et al. and north and south Bacan.
1988b, Nichols and Hall 1991, Nichols et al. 1991). 3. Continental metamorphic complexes are known
from central Bacan and Obi.

CHARACTER OF THE OLDEST CRUST

Three distinctly different groups of pre-Neogene base- OPHIOLITIC ROCKS AND FOREARC
ment rock types are known from the islands around the SEDIMENTARY COVER
southern Molucca Sea (Figs 3 and 4). Igneous and metamorphic rocks
1. Ophiolitic complexes overlain by Upper Creta-
ceous and Eocene forearc sedimentary rocks are Ophiolitic rocks, associated with arc-related sedimen-
found on east Halmahera, Waigeo, Gebe, Gag and tary rocks, form the basement of east Halmahera and
Obi. Waigeo, and many of the small islands between these
two larger islands, such as Gag and Gebe. In all these
I
islands, the ophiolitic rocks are situated in the north of
N MOROTA~ ~ High.gradeContinental
the Sorong Fault Zone and now form part of the
Philippine Sea Plate. Similar ophiolitic rocks and Creta-
~tamoq~hicRocks
~ Arc Volcanicand ceous-(?)Eocene sedimentary rocks form the basement
Volcanidas~cRocks of northern and central Obi, within the Sorong Fault
Idolucca Oph~ Rocks Zone.
Sea The only detailed studies of the ophiolitic rocks are
WAHERA those of Halmahera where the dismembered ophiolite
has been described by Hall et al. (1988a, in press) and
Ballantyne (1990, 1991). Components of each level of an
- o* WAIGEO - intact ophiolite (Coleman 1977, Moores 1982), with the
KASIRUT, ]EBE'~
possible exception of sheeted dykes, are present. Peri-
GAG BATANTA dotites include abundant serpentinized harzburgites and
BACAI rare lherzolites; the harzburgites record a high degree of
mantle partial melting and are similar to those of oceanic
TAPAS~ ~ SALAWATI~
forearcs. In contrast, the lherzolites are less depleted
than the harzburgites, and compatible with a mantle
100 k m OBI MISOOL~ residue after extraction of a mid-ocean ridge basalt
--='=" I 130"E (MORB). Cumulates are common and include dunites,
olivine clinopyroxenites, wehrlites, and olivine gab-
Fig. 4. Distribution of different basement rock types in the southern
Molueea Sea region. PAC313 is the location of part of a multi-channel bronorites. They are the product of a moderate to high
seismic line across Weda Bay (Letouzey et al. 1983) shown in Fig. 5. degree of partial melting and chemical and miner-
252 R. HALL et al.
alogical evidence (Ballantyne 1991) indicates a gen-
etic link between the harzburgites and the cumulates.
Burgath et al. (1983) reported diabase dykes in central
Halmahera, associated with pillow lavas, but no sheeted
complex has been found elsewhere in east Halmahera
(Hall et al. 1988a) although microgabbros are abundant.
Hornblende-rich diorites and rare trondhjemites intrude
the microgabbros and are not cogenetic with the ophi-
olitic plutonic rocks. 4°Ar/39Ar dating of diorite horn-
blendes (Ballantyne 1990) indicates two phases of Late
Cretaceous arc-related igneous activity (94-80Ma:
Cenomanian-Campanian and 75-72 Ma: Campanian-
Maastrichtian). Volcanic rocks in the ophiolite complex
include boninitic rocks interpreted as cogenetic with the
cumulates, arc tholeiites, and amygdaloidal alkaline
basalts (Ballantyne 1991) of similar chemistry to ocean
island volcanic rocks and seamounts (Dietrich et al.
1978).
The age of the ophiolitic rocks remains uncertain.
The radiometric dating of amphiboles from arc-related
igneous rocks intruding the ophiolite (Ballantyne 1990),
and the ages of the oldest overlying sedimentary rocks
(Hall et al. 1988a, in press), indicate a pre-Late Creta-
ceous age for the ophiolitic basement rocks.
The basement complex of east Halmahera is poly-
genetic (Ballantyne 1990, 1991) and is interpreted as
representing the basement of a largely non-accretionary
forearc similar to the present-day Mariana forearc. The
peridotites, cumulates and microgabbros represent
different parts of a single ophiolite, now dismembered;
the petrology and chemistry of these rocks indicate a
"supra-subduction zone" (Pearce et al. 1984) setting for
their formation. The association of depleted harzbur-
gites and less-depleted lherzolites suggests a multi-stage
melting history resulting from the construction of an
island arc upon older oceanic lithosphere. Cumulates of
the Halmahera ophiolite closely resemble those dredged
from the inner slope of the Mariana Trench (Bloomer
and Hawkins 1983). Boninitic volcanic rocks are
interpreted as cogenetic with the cumulates, but other
volcanic rocks are not cogenetic with the ophiolitic
plutonic rocks; most represent magmas formed in an arc
environment. There are also volcanic rocks of within-
plate character and these alkaline basalts are interpreted
as slivers scraped from subducting seamounts and
accreted into the forearc basement (cf. Bloomer
1983). Possible MORB compositions are rare. Late
Cretaceous arc magmatism in east Halmahera, post-
dating ophiolite formation, is indicated by petrology,
geochemistry, radiometric ages and the stratigraphic
record.
The Halmahera rocks show the effects of subduction
zone metamorphism. The volcanic rocks exhibit zeolite,
prehnite-pumpellyite and greenschist facies metamor-
phism, different from that of oceanic crust (Alt et al.
1985). Prehnite-pumpellyite facies assemblages are rare
in ophiolites interpreted as displaying ocean-floor meta-
morphism (Liou 1979) and are generally considered
diagnostic of a subduction zone setting (Maruyama and
Liou 1988). The association of both blueschists and
amphibolites with sheared serpentinite suggests exhuma-
tion of forearc basement along fault zones, possibly due
to diapiric rise of serpentinite. The Mariana forearc is
marked by widespread serpentinite diapirism (Fryer
et al. 1985) and the forearc adjacent to such diapirs
contains low-grade metamorphic rocks (Johnson et al.
1987).
Forearc sedimentary cover
Cretaceous to Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks
rest unconformably upon, and are imbricated with, the
ophiolitic rocks in eastern Halmahera. All are con-
sidered to have been deposited in a forearc setting (Hall
et al. 1988a, in press). Similar rocks are known from
Waigeo (Charlton et al. 1991) and from Obi (Brouwer
1924; our unpublished results).
The Upper Cretaceous rocks from Halmahera in-
clude calcalkaline volcanic and hypabyssal igneous
rocks, volcaniclastic breccias, conglomerates, sandstones
and siltstones containing calcalkaline debris, red mud-
stones, and redeposited and pelagic limestones. In the
NE arm rocks of this age were assigned to the Gau
Limestone and Dodaga Breccia Formations (Hall et al.
1988a), and in the SE arm their equivalents were
assigned to the Gowonli Formation (Hall et al. in
press). Volcanic rocks in the Gowonli Formation
(Ballantyne 1990) are porphyritic calcalkaline basalts
and andesites. They are similar to products of the
Sangihe (Morrice et al. 1983) and Mariana arcs (Dixon
and Batiza 1979) and resemble products of the active
volcanoes of the modern Halmahera arc (Morris et al.
1983). Coarse volcaniclastic rocks are dominated by
volcanic lithic material with rare clasts of reef lime-
stones. Graded lithic arenites contain abundant debris
typical of an arc volcanic origin, such as strongly zoned
plagioclase with glass and mineral inclusions, and highly
porphyritic lithic clasts. Minor alteration of minerals
and lithic clasts indicates a low metamorphic grade (clay
minerals, silica polymorphs, zeolites and calcite). Vol-
caniclastic sandstones a n d siltstones are turbiditic in
origin and are interbedded with both redeposited and
pelagic limestones.
Middle Eocene volcaniclastic rocks assigned to the
Sagea Formation (Hall et al. in press) closely re-
semble the Upper Cretaceous rocks. They comprise
graded volcaniclastic sandstones, siltstones, red mud-
stones, and redeposited limestones containing calcaika-
line debris. The limestones differ from the Cretaceous
limestones in containing abundant coral, algal and mol-
lusc debris, and large foraminifera of shallow water
origin. The Eocene rocks are interpreted as deposits of
a forearc sedimentary basin in which most clastic ma-
terial was deposited as turbidites, with subordinate
debris flows. New sections discovered during fieldwork
in 1990 resemble Franciscan melanges (Cowan 1985) and
are interpreted as debris flows and olistostromes de-
formed in the forearc, perhaps during Eocene sediment
accretion.
 Basement rocks of the southern MoluccaSea region
ARC VOLCANIC ROCKS AND
VOLCANICLASTIC ROCKS
Arc volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks form the base-
ment of Morotai, NW Halmahera, SW Halmahera, and
north and south Bacan. The age of all of these rocks is
currently uncertain. They are covered by Miocene-
Recent sedimentary and volcanic rocks and generally
lack material suitable for palaeontological dating. Par-
ticularly characteristic of the basement volcanic rocks is
the abundance of basalts and the rarity/absence of
hornblende-bearing andesites; in contrast the Neogene
volcanic sequences throughout the region are dominated
by andesites, typically containing hornblende, and all
rocks are very fresh. Radiometric dating of the basement
volcanic rocks is made difficult by alteration and low-
grade metamorphism. Early reconnaissance mapping
(Apandi and Sudana 1980, Supriatna 1980, Yasin 1980)
assigned these rocks to the Bacan Formation, but our
more recent work has established that this "formation"
includes rocks with a variety of origins and ages (Hall
et al. 1988a, our unpublished results). Petrological,
chemical and radiometric studies are in progress to
establish the age and character of these rocks.
The only detailed study of the basement volcanic
rocks is that of Hakim (1989) dealing with the Oha
Formation of central and SW Halmahera. The higher
and most rugged western parts of central and SW
Halmahera consist predominantly of volcanic rocks
which are monotonous basalts and andesites, often
amygdaloidal and porphyritic. There is generally no
indication of their attitude and they are locally brec-
ciated, altered and sheared. There are monomict and
occasionally polymict volcanic breccio-conglomerates.
The volcanic rocks are basalts and subordinate andesites
of calcalkaline character typical of island arc volcanic
rocks (Hakim and Hall 1991, Pearce et al. 1984). The
REE patterns of more evolved rocks are closely similar
to those of Cretaceous volcanic rocks from east Halma-
hera. The more primitive compositions resemble tholei-
ites of arc basalt series reported from areas such as the
Marianas and New Hebrides (Gill 1981). Zeolite and
local sub-greenschist facies alteration indicates deep
burial and/or high heat flows. Dating of overlying
sedimentary rocks show that volcanic basement rocks
are older than Late Miocene; a Late Cretaceous or
Eocene age is suspected since petrographically and
chemically the volcanic rocks closely resemble the arc
volcanic rocks of Cretaceous and Eocene age from east
Halmahera. Clasts taken from breccias and conglomer-
ates at the northern end of the SW arm include recrys-
tallised limestones of probable Early Eocene age. Eocene
limestones associated with volcaniclastic rocks were
collected in central Halmahera (Hall et al. 1988a) and
similar limestone clasts have been found in breccio-
conglomerates as float further south in the SW arm.
Since all the dates are from clasts their significance is
uncertain; the clasts may have been reworked at about
the period of volcanism, or much later. It is also possible
that the volcanic rocks are of Oligocene age although
253
Oligocene volcanic rocks (see below) appear quite differ-
ent from the Oha Formation volcanic rocks of SW
Halmahera: the former are dominated by well preserved
amygdaloidal pillow basalts, almost always associated
with well bedded volcaniclastic turbidites, and show
fewer signs of deep burial and alteration.
Similar rocks form the basement on Morotai and
north and south Bacan (Fig. 3). On Morotai volcaniclas-
tic rocks consist largely of monomict basaltic breccias,
intruded by basaltic to pyroxene-andesite feldspar por-
phyries. They are overlain by Miocene clastic sedimen-
tary rocks (Yasin 1980). The Morotai volcaniclastic
basement rocks are considerably more altered and indu-
rated than Oligocene basalts and sandstones of NW
Halmahera suggesting a greater age. In north Bacan
basement rocks include basaltic breccias, volcaniclastic
turbiditic sandstones and mudstones, metamorphosed
under conditions up to lower greenschist facies. They
are overlain in the north Bacan area by Oligocene
pillow lavas and turbidite sandstones. The deposi-
tional environment of the basement rocks is not clear.
Locally, pillow structures are recognizable, and the
presence of volcaniclastic turbidites on Bacan indicates
submarine accumulation. Elsewhere, coarse angular and
poorly-sorted monomict breccias, locally interbedded
with coarse sandstones, may indicate a subaerial
environment.
EXTENSIONAL BASIN SEQUENCE OF
EOCENE-OLIGOCENE AGE
The ophiolitic and arc volcanic basement complexes
have previously been speculatively explained as part of
a single complex terrane (Hall et al. 1988a, Hall and
Nichols 1990). Our recent fieldwork supports this specu-
lation since both these basement rock complexes are
overlain throughout the region by a newly-discovered
basinal sequence, dominated by pillow lavas, thick vol-
caniclastic turbidite sandstones, siltstones and mud-
stones, locally with pelagic limestones. A Late Eocene-
Early Oligocene hiatus previously interpreted (Hall et al.
1988a, b) appears now to be largely a result of a
combination of circumstances: poor exposure of rocks of
this age in the areas investigated earliest, and difficulties
in dating the material sampled.
There is a marked unconformity between ophiolitic
and arc volcanic basement and younger Eocene sedimen-
tary rocks on Halmahera (Fig. 3). Late Cretaceous and
Middle Eocene volcaniclastic rocks are folded and
faulted, and locally dip steeply. In contrast, younger
rocks are not strongly deformed except in areas of Late
Neogene shortening, such as the central Halmahera
foldbeit (Hall et al. 1988b, Nichols and Hall 1991). The
Middle-Upper Eocene Paniti Formation (Hall et al. in
press) of SE Halmahera includes several hundred metres
of conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones, mudstones,
coals and limestones with most non-carbonate debris
derived from ophiolitic rocks. The conglomerates are
very distinctive, being composed dominantly of well
254 R. HALLet al.
rounded serpentinite pebbles with rare clasts of red
cherts and gabbros and some oyster shells. These pass up
into fine conglomerates and sandstones, again domi-
nated by serpentinite clasts, with coal seams. The se-
quence of coals and conglomerates passes laterally into
shallow water limestones containing abundant serpen-
tinite debris. Fossils are typically large benthonic
foraminifera and in some beds there are shell accumu-
lations and small oyster shell banks. Most limestones
contain bioclasts of algae, miliolids, coral, and
foraminifera of Middle-Late Eocene age. Identical shal-
low water limestones from the NE arm were dated as
Middle Eocene and assigned to the Geledongan For-
mation (Hall et al. 1988a). The character of the Paniti
Formation suggests deposition in a littoral to shallow
marine environment, very close to well vegetated land.
Interbedded conglomerates, coals and limestones suggest
shifting marginal marine to marine conditions. These
rocks are deformed by open folds but show no cleavage
and no signs of deep burial.
On Waigeo there is also an important change in the
character of sedimentary rocks within the Eocene (Fig.
3). Sandstones of the Lamlam Formation (Supriatna and
Apandi 1982) rest unconformably upon the Ophiolite
Complex and probably upon older Eocene arc volcanic
sandstones (Charlton et al. 1991). The Lamlam For-
mation may be equivalent to the Middle-Upper Eocene
rocks of SE Halmahera; it is also dominated by ultraba-
sic clastic debris and contains red chert fragments, as
well as limestones with volcaniclastic, ultrabasic and
shallow water bioclastic debris. The ultrabasic sand-
stones of Waigeo are succeeded by olistostromes and
turbiditic volcaniclastic sandstones and siltstones of
Early Oligocene age although the contact is not seen.
No contact has been found between the Mid-Late
Eocene shallow water sedimentary rocks of NE and SE
Halmahera and Oligocene rocks. In NE Halmahera the
Oligocene is probably represented by amygdaloidal
basalts, volcaniclastic sandstones and pelagic limestones;
pelagic limestones from disrupted parts of this sequence
were assigned to the Onat Marl Formation by Hall et al.
(1988b) and are Early Oligocene in age. On Kasiruta,
north of Bacan, and on islands off NW Halmahera
(Fig. 3) the Oligocene sequence consists of magnificently
exposed pillow lavas and sedimentary rocks. A similar
sequence is present in parts of NE Halmahera, although
exposure and stratigraphic relations are less clear.
Basaltic pillow lavas, lava flows and lava breccias con-
tain interpillow sediment and hyaloclastic debris locally
containing coralline debris and microfossils. In some
areas well-bedded fine-grained sedimentary rocks, are
interbedded with the lava flows. The lava sequence is
undeformed, except for slight tilting and minor normal
faults, and has suffered only very low-grade alteration;
amygdales contain zeolites and clay minerals. The pillow
lava and sediment sequence is conformably overlain by
well-bedded volcaniclastic turbidite sandstones and silt-
stones which show grading, low structures, dewatering
structures and rare cross lamination. In places there are
coarse conglomerates in the sequence representing mass
flow deposits. The age range of these rocks is not yet
certain but the youngest parts identified so far are
Mid-Oligocene.
Structural and sedimentary features, including syn-
sedimentary normal faults, intraformational unconfor-
mities and slumped horizons, displayed in the sea cliffs
of Kasiruta and NW Halmahera indicate syn-deposi-
tional extension. Because of the problems of rain-forest
exposure, evidence for such extension is less certain
inland. However, the structural and sedimentary fea-
tures of all the sequences observed suggest a consistent
pattern of syn-depositional extension and rapid depo-
sition. Abundant thick pillow basalts in the Oligocene
sequences also suggest an extensional setting. Seismic
reflection profiles (Letouzey et al. 1983) across the Weda
Bay area of south Halmahera show that in the centre of
the bay Miocene limestones rest directly on a sequence
of well-stratified older deposits. The distribution and
thickness variations in these older rocks suggest depo-
sition during a rifting phase (Nichols and Hall 1991).
We suggest that this previously unidentified pre-
Miocene sequence is equivalent to the Eocene-Oligocene
sequences seen on land (Fig. 5).
These late Paleogene sequences appear to represent
regionally important events. First, it appears that there
is a major tectonic event of about Middle-Late Eocene
age causing basement uplift and exposure of ophiolites.
This tectonic event was succeeded by extension, marked
initially by shallow water deposits including clastic sed-
imentary rocks with an ophiolitic provenance, and suc-
ceeded by deeper water volcaniclastic deposits and
submarine eruptions of basalts. Second, this extensional
interval is recorded throughout areas in which both
ophiolitic and arc volcanic rocks form the basement,
indicating that these two basement types were amalga-
mated into a single terrane before the Late Eocene. If,
as suggested above, the volcanic rocks of the Oha
Formation of SW Halmahera are equivalent in age to
Gowonli Formation volcanic rocks of east Halmahera,
this amalgamation occurred before the Late Cretaceous.
CONTINENTAL BASEMENT ROCKS
High-grade metamorphic rocks were originally re-
ported from the Sibela Mountains of central Bacan
(Fig. 3) by Dutch geologists (Van Bemmelen 1949) and
described by Brouwer (1923). The majority of the meta-
morphic rocks clearly have continental affinities and a
complex polyphase metamorphic history. They include
garnet-mica schists, garnet-staurolite-kyanite schists,
quartzites, quartzo-feldspathic gneisses, hornblende
schists and locally calc-silicates. Mineral assemblages
indicate Barrovian-type metamorphism up to upper
amphibolite facies conditions. The age of metamorphism
of these rocks is currently unknown. Also reported from
the Sibela Mountains are ultrabasic and basic rocks
(Yasin 1980, Silitonga et al. 1981). Thick rain forest,
difficult terrain and poor exposure mean that the re-
lationship of these rocks with the continental metamor-
 Basement rocks of the southern MoluccaSea region 255

S N

0 km

Fig. 5. Line drawing of multi-channel seismic line PAC313 (above) from Nichols and Hall (1991), located on Fig. 4.
Interpretation of the line is shown below. Unit D, previouslyunidentified, is interpreted as a Late Eocene-Oligocene
extensional basin sequence.

phic rocks is uncertain but fieldwork in the Sibela
Mountains suggests that the contact is a steep fault zone
separating continental metamorphic rocks exposed in
the southern part of the Sibela Mountains from ultra-
basic and basic rocks in the northern part (Hall et al.
1988a). The ultrabasic and basic rocks include harzbur-
gites, serpentinites, gabbros and dolerites. These have a
complex polyphase metamorphic and igneous history
which distinguishes them from the other ophiolitic base-
ment rocks. A complete spectrum exists within the
complex from undeformed gabbros, pegmatitic gabbros
and dolerites with mutually intrusive contacts to highly
deformed metabasites with ductile folds. Deformed basic
rocks pass laterally into less deformed equivalents which
are intruded by undeformed gabbros and basalts, dior-
ites and microdiorites.
The Sibela metamorphic rocks are everywhere in fault
contact with younger rocks and therefore there is no
direct evidence for the nature of the contact of continen-
tal basement with arc volcanic basement rocks of
Halmahera and Bacan. Indirect evidence for the exist-
ence of continental basement rocks beneath south Bacan
comes from isotope geochemistry. Morris et al. (1983)
have shown that the Quaternary volcanic rocks of south
Bacan have a different chemistry from those of the rest
of the Halmahera Arc. In contrast to the "normal
oceanic" character of most of the arc north of central
Bacan, isotopic compositions of the south Bacan vol-
canic rocks are interpreted as indicating a continental
crust contribution to the magma. The oldest rocks seen
at the surface in south Bacan are arc volcanic rocks
(J. Malaihollo, pers. commun. 1990) of probable Creta-
ceous-Paleogene age which implies that they lie tectoni-
cally above continental basement rocks if no lateral
contamination of magma is assumed. Juxtaposition due
to thrusting may be due to Australia-"Pacific" collision,
although all observable contacts of continental basement
rocks and other rocks are steep faults.
Similar high-grade metamorphic rocks are present on
the small island of Tapas, just NW of Obi. They include
SEAES 6/3--4--G
highly foliated epidote, chlorite and hornblende schists
and coarse, locally pegmatitic amphibolites and horn-
blendites. These rocks are in fault contact with basic and
ultrabasic rocks of the ophiolite complex of Obi. In SW
Obi (Fig. 3) the metamorphic rocks are not exposed but
there are (?)Triassic-Jurassic micaceous sandstones con-
taining Pentacrinus and an extensive area of black shales,
in which we have found belemnites and bivalve frag-
ments indicating an uncertain Mesozoic age; Jurassic
ammonites are reported by Wanner (1913) and Brouwer
(1924) in float samples from this area. It appears that
Obi represents the contact between the Australian conti-
nental margin and the ophiolite complex of a "Pacific"
terrane. The continental margin basement is interpreted
to be the high-grade metamorphic rocks exposed on the
west coast of P. Tapas. The contact between the ophio-
lite complex and the continental basement with its
Mesozoic cover may be a thrust or a strike-slip fault.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SOUTHERN
MOLUCCA SEA BASEMENT ROCKS
A common feature of the western Pacific region is the
presence of Late Mesozoic and Paleogene volcanic arc
rocks built upon older ophiolites, mainly now incorpor-
ated in orogenic belts at the Pacific margin (Fig. 6). Such
rocks are found in a very large region between New
Guinea and the northern Philippines. The similarities of
the ophiolitic and arc rocks of Halmahera, New Guinea,
the eastern Philippines and the Philippine Sea suggest the
existence of an extensive Late Cretaceous and Early
Tertiary arc system. This island arc system was built
upon older ophiolite basement in an intra-oceanic set-
ting. The ophiolites appear to represent the products of
the earliest stages of subduction-related magmatism. As
in many other ophiolites a two-stage history is implied
by the evidence of peridotite remelting and the supra-
subduction zone chemistry of plutonic rocks, most
readily explained by development of the ophiolites in a
256 R. HALL et al.
setting in which the underlying mantle has previously
been depleted by extraction of MORB. The very oldest
oceanic lithosphere which is implied by this model has
not yet been discovered although the rare MORB-like
rocks of Halmahera may represent part of it. The precise
age of this lithosphere is unknown; Ballantyne (1990,
1991) suggests a Mid-Cretaceous age. A plate reorienta-
tion event related to the initiation of rifting of Australia
from Antarctica at between 110 and 90 Ma (Cande and
Mutter 1982, Audley-Charles et al. 1988) may be respon-
sible for ophiolite emplacement around the Pacific
margin (Hall 1990).
Recent interpretations of plate boundaries (McCaffrey
1982, Hall 1987, Nichols et al. 1990) indicate that east
Halmahera forms part of the Philippine Sea Plate. We
suggest that the ophiolitic and forearc cover forming the
basement of east Halmahera, Waigeo and north Obi
represent the oldest parts of the Philippine Sea Plate. We
also suggest that these rocks have their equivalents in the
plateaux and ridges of the northern Philippine Sea Plate.
Comparison by Hall et al. (in press) of reports of
dredged samples from Oki-Daito and Daito Ridge
province and the Amami Plateau show that all can be
matched with ages and lithologies of rocks collected
from the ophiolite complexes and forearc cover of the
southern Molucca Sea. Rocks dredged from the Daito
province (Shiki et al. 1977, Mizuno et al. 1978,
Tokuyama et al. 1986) and dated (Ozima et al. 1977,
McKee and Klock 1980) are very similar in both ages
Fig. 6. Distribution of Mesozoic and Paleogene ophiolitic and arc
volcanic rocks within and around the Philippine Sea Plate. The shaded suggest that the period of extension recorded by the
area of the West Philippine Basin is the part of the Central Basin
interpreted by Hilde and Lee (1984) to have been produced by
spreading between approximately 45 and 35 Ma.
and lithologies to those found in Halmahera. Igneous
rocks of similar age to the Halmahera diorites have been
dredged from the Amami Plateau in the northernmost
Philippine Sea (Klein and Kobayashi 1981, Kobayashi
1983). The Amami Plateau rocks include arc tholeiitic
basalts and a hornblende tonalite with Late Cretaceous
K-Ar ages (Tokuyama 1985). Daito Ridge rocks include
hornblende schist with an Eocene K-Ar age. Shallow
water Middle Eocene limestones have been sampled
from the Amami Plateau, Daito Ridge and Oki-Daito
Ridge. At DSDP site 445 Middle Eocene conglomerates
include clasts of Cretaceous reef limestone and basalt
with a Paleocene 4°Ar/39Ar age thought to be derived
from the Daito Ridge (Shiki et al. 1985). We suggest that
supposed continental rocks sampled from the northern
Philippine Sea plateaux and ridges are more likely to be
intermediate-acid arc magmatic rocks of Late Creta-
ceous-Eocene age. Tokuyama (1985) similarly concludes
that the Amami Plateau was an active island arc with
calcalkaline and tholeiitic volcanism in Late Cretaceous
time and that plutonic rocks represent the products of an
intra-oceanic island arc lacking continental crust. The
similarities with Halmahera suggest a symmetrical distri-
bution of Late Cretaceous and Tertiary island arc rocks
about the axis of the west Philippine basin within the
Philippine Sea Plate.
The distribution and precise character of ophiolitic
and arc terranes of the Cretaceous and Eocene "proto"-
Philippine Sea is far from clear (see Lewis et al. 1982,
Rangin and Pubellier 1990). Ophiolitic and arc volcanic
terranes are now juxtaposed in east and west Halmahera
but we have no unambiguous evidence to link them in
the Cretaceous and early Tertiary. If our speculation of
the Cretaceous-Eocene age for the oldest volcanic rocks
of west Halmahera is correct, and if these rocks formed
a single arc-forearc terrane with east Halmahera, the arc
faced east, in the opposite sense to the Cenozoic and
present-day arcs. However, similarities in petrology and
chemistry of volcanic and plutonic rocks do not require
physical continuity and the age of the arc basement
rocks is currently poorly constrained. Furthermore, pre-
liminary palaeomagnetic work (our unpublished results)
indicates significant post-Eocene rotations.
The most recent results of our fieldwork in the
southern Molucca Sea region indicate that the Pacific
ophiolitic and arc terranes were definitely amalgamated
before the Mid-Late Eocene, as indicated by the distri-
bution and character of Eocene-Oligocene successor
basin sequences. Major regional extension began in
Mid-Late Eocene time, and shallow marine Upper
Eocene sequences probably do not represent local events
as previously thought (cf. Hall et al. in press). The
regional unconformity at this time corresponds to the
Pacific Plate reorganization event of ~45 Ma and in the
Philippine Sea Plate the beginning of opening of the
central West Philippine Basin (Hilde and Lee 1984).
Although more dating is required, our new results
successor basin sequences of north Bacan, Halmahera
and Waigeo corresponds remarkably to the timing of
 Basement rocks of the southern Molucca Sea region
extension in the West Philippine Basin of 45-35 Ma
reported by Hilde and Lee (1984). One major question
raised by these new discoveries is what was the source
and origin of the great thicknesses of volcaniclastic
sediments deposited in these basins?
Australian margin continental basement is exposed in
central Bacan and northwest Obi and is interpreted to
underlie southern Bacan and much of Obi. The timing
of arrival of the continental crust in these regions
remains uncertain and two models seem possible.
Australian continental crust and Pacific arc-ophiolitic
terranes could have been juxtaposed by strike-slip fault-
ing in the Sorong Fault Zone, implying a late Neogene
translation of continental crustal fragments. Alterna-
tively, continental and arc-ophiolitic crust could have
been first juxtaposed by thrusting related to (?)Oligocene
arc-continent collision at the north Australian margin
(Pigram 1991) and later translated as complex terranes
by strike-slip faulting in the Neogene Sorong Fault
system. We cannot clearly distinguish between these two
models, but we expect geochemical and palaeomagnetic
studies now in progress to allow us to do so. Isotopic
work is needed to identify oceanic and continental
contributions to Neogene arc volcanic rocks. Palaeo-
magnetic studies should allow us to recognize which
crustal fragments have a Philippine Sea Plate rotation
history (Fuller et al. 1991). Currently, it appears
most likely that arc-continent collision occurred in
the Late Eocene-Early Miocene interval and that
Neogene-Recent strike-slip faulting is shuffling complex
ophiolite-arc-continent terranes to new positions within
the orogenic collage.
Acknowledgements--Research in eastern Indonesia has been sup-
ported by the Royal Society, the University of London Consortium for
Geological Research in Southeast Asia, NERC grant GR3/7149,
Amoco International, ARCO, British Petroleum, Conoco, Enterprise
Oil, Exxon, Lasmo, Total Indonesie and Union Texas (SE Asia). We
thank GRDC Bandung for their continuing cooperation, our field
colleagues Dwi Atmo Agustiyanto, Chuck Anderson, Sumitra Atmaw-
inata, Simon Baker, Sufni Hakim, Agus Haryono, Kusnama,
Lawrence Garvie, Jeff Malaihollo, Tatang Padmawidjaja, Saultan
Pandjaitan, Spencer Roberts, and the UCL Micropalaeontology Unit
for their contributions.
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