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Surface deformation and slab–mantle interaction during Banda arc subduction rollback

Nature Geoscience volume 3, pages 562–566 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The spectacularly curved Banda arc comprises young oceanic crust1,2 enclosed by a volcanic inner arc, outer arc islands and a trough parallel to the Australian continental margin3,4,5. Strong seismic activity in the upper mantle defines a folded surface6,7, for which there are two contrasting explanations: deformation of a single slab5,8 or two separate slabs subducting from the north and south6,9. Here we combine seismic tomography with the plate tectonic evolution of the region to infer that the Banda arc results from subduction of a single slab. Our palaeogeographic reconstruction shows that a Jurassic embayment, which consisted of dense oceanic lithosphere enclosed by continental crust, once existed within the Australian plate. Banda subduction began about 15 million years ago when active Java subduction tore eastwards into the embayment. The present morphology of the subducting slab is only partially controlled by the shape of the embayment. As the Australian plate moved northward at a high speed of about 7 cm yr−1, the Banda oceanic slab rolled back towards the south–southeast accompanied by active delamination separating the crust from the denser mantle. Increasing resistance of the mantle to plate motion progressively folded the slab and caused strong deformation of the crust. The Banda arc represents an outstanding example of large-scale deformation of the Earth’s crust in response to coupling between the crust, slab and surrounding mantle.

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Figure 1: The Banda arc and surrounding region.
Figure 2: Tomographic images of the Banda slab.
Figure 3: Evolution of Banda subduction in the absolute plate motion frame.

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Acknowledgements

Part of this work (W.S.) was conducted under the programme of the Netherlands Research Centre of Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES). This paper contributes to the ESG EUROCORES programme TOPO-EUROPE. R.H. is supported by the Royal Holloway SE Asia Research Group, which has been funded over many years by a consortium of oil companies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty Geosciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584CD Utrecht, Netherlands

    Wim Spakman

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, SE Asia Research Group, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK

    Robert Hall

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  1. Wim Spakman
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Contributions

R.H. was responsible for tectonic reconstructions. W.S. was responsible for tomography and global positioning system analysis. Both authors contributed equally to development of ideas, interpretation and production of figures and manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wim Spakman or Robert Hall.

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Spakman, W., Hall, R. Surface deformation and slab–mantle interaction during Banda arc subduction rollback. Nature Geosci 3, 562–566 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo917

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