Journal of Southeast Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. I I. No. 4, pp.

309-322, 1995
~ 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
0743-9547(94)00038-7
Printed in Great Britain. All fights reserved
0743-9547/95 $9.50 + 0.00

Pergamon

Structure and morphotectonics of the accretionary prism

along the Eastern Sunda-Western Banda Arc
W. van der Werff
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
(Received 30 May 1994; accepted for publication 13 October 1994)

Abstract--Seismic reflection profiles across the accretionary prism along the Eastern Sunda-Western
Banda Arc reveal variation in structure that relates to the incipient collision with Australia. The
morphology of the arc-trench system changes from ridged, south of Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa,
to sloped south of Sumba. East of Sumba, the accretionary wedge is backthrust over the forearc
basin, incorporating forearc sediments and basement. Frontal accretion in the Java Trench is
characterized by imbricate thrusting of a "thin" pelagic sediment cover at the toe of the accretionary
wedge. The morphology near the toe of the wedge appears to be controlled by faults in the subducting
oceanic plate that strike parallel to the deformation front and may have originated in the outer-trench
swell. The prism incorporates oceanic basement by trenchward verging thrusts, which cut across the
accretionary prism and extend into the subducting slab. A comparison between the volume of the
accretionary prism and the amount of sediment delivered to the Java Trench in the past 30 Ma shows
that probably little of the sediment has been subducted. The decrease in width of the prism from
Bali to Sumbawa corresponds to an eastward younging trend of the arc-trench system from late
Oligocene to early Miocene. South of Sumba the width of the accretionary prism increases
considerably, due to the accretion of thick continental margin carbonates which deform by
thrust-bounded folds. Buoyancy of the partially subducted marginal Scott plateau increases basal
shear stresses, adding to the growth of a large accretionary wedge. Further east, the subduction of
thick continental crust results in even higher basal shear stresses that are distributed throughout the
accretionary wedge. They cause the progressive development of backthrusts and internal deformation, leading to shortening and thickening of the wedge.

Introduction
The Eastern Sunda-Western Banda Arc (Fig. 1) represents an active margin that is affected by an oblique
collision involving the north-western margin of Australia. It has been widely recognized as an actualistic
model for older arc-continent collision zones (Hamilton,
1979; Von der Borch, 1979; Audley-Charles, 1986;
Price and Audley-Charles, 1987). Major controversial
issues originally existed regarding the location of the
surface trace of the plate boundary and the provenance
and emplacement mechanisms of the major tectonic
units on Timor (Audley-Charles, 1968; Barber et al.,
1977; Chamalaun and Grady, 1978; Hamilton, 1979).
One group of workers suggested that the surface trace
is situated to the north of Timor (Audley-Charles,
1986; Price and Audley-Charles, 1987). They considered the Timor Trough as a foreland basin, developed
entirely within the Australian craton. Recent studies
indicate, however, that the zone of plate contact and
major compressional deformation that lies along the
Java Trench continues directly eastward into the Timor
Trough (Masson et al., 1991). The Banda collision
zone west of Timor is, in its present stage of evolution,
still very similar to a normally subducting arc-trench
system (Karig et al., 1987). An integration of both
geological and geophysical data from the Banda orogen
reveals variation in structural style with time (Johnston
and Bowin, 1981). The collision complex represents a
westward younging system where progressive deformation towards the east is increasingly absorbed away
from the toe of the orogenic wedge (Harris, 1991).

Shortening of the Australian margin becomes partitioned between frontal accretion, subcretion and backthrusting.
Most recent studies focused on the style of sediment
accretion along the Java-Timor trench and the acrossarc extent of deformation on a local scale using both side
scan sonar and seismic data (Reed, 1985; Breen et al.,
1986; Karig et al., 1987; Masson et al., 1991). This study
represents a regional synthesis. It discusses the variation
in morphology and structure of the accretionary prism
in relation to the time of convergent margin initiation,
the nature of the subducting plate, and the type and
thickness of sediment on the subducting plate. In addition, the effects of the introduction of continental crust
into the subduction zone are discussed. A first attempt
is made to quantify processes such as wedge growth and
sediment subduction vs sediment accretion.
To approach these problems, the accretionary prism
in the Eastern Sunda-Western Banda Arc has been
mapped between 114 and 12230'E (Fig. 2) using singlechannel seismic profiles recorded during the Indonesian-Dutch Snellius-II expedition (Jongsma 1986; Van
Weering 1986; Van Weering et al., 1989; Jongsma et al.,
1989a,b). These data were complemented by singlechannel data of the Rama 12 expedition (1982), supplied
by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and multichannel profiles, supplied by Shell and the Geological
Survey of Japan (Fig. 2A). In general, multi-channel
data reveal the deeper structures of the accretionary
prism, while single-channel data only show the near-surface character. There are no well data of the accretionary
prism available to us. DSDP Site 261, however, gives

309

W. VAN DER WERFF

310

130

105

s,

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"' ~ t ~ B A L i
JAVATRENCH
~ ~ / / ~ 1 .

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~o ~ ~ ~ I O i ~ M ~ RTROUGH~

10

,NO,ANOE,N

,O0.SE

,S,v

--/-

Fig. 1. General map of the Sunda-Banda Forearc region. The inset shows the study area presented in Fig. 2.
The dented line marks the position of the Java-Timor Trough.
information about the nature of the sediments and crust
of the subducting slab.

Regional Setting
The Sunda-Banda Arc, which forms the southern
margin of the Indonesian Archipelago from Sumatra
to western Irian Jaya, is the zone where the
Indian-Australian plate is subducted underneath the
south-east Asian plate (Fig. 1).
The Western Sunda Arc is characterized by thick
ocean floor and trench-fill sediments that are dominated
by detritus from the Himalayan mountains and transported southward by turbidity currents over a distance
of 3000km to the coast of S.E. Java (Ingersoll and
Suzcek, 1979; Moore et al., 1982). Accretion of these
sediments led to the construction of a wide accretionary
prism and a high outer-arc ridge that is backthrust over
the Sumatra forearc region (Curray and Moore, 1974;
Hamilton, 1979; Karig et al., 1980; Moore and Curray,
1980; Silver and Reed, 1988). South of Java, a major
accretionary prism developed, which deformed the outer
forearc basin strata by tilting and folding (Bolliger and
De Ruiter, 1975; unpublished data, MGI).
The Eastern Sunda arc occupies the western extension
of the collision zone between Australia and eastern
Indonesia that started to form 3-5 Ma ago (Johnston
and Bowin, 1981; Harris, 1991). East of Sumba, this
collision resulted in backthrusting of the accretionary
prism over the forearc basin (Reed, 1985; Reed et al.,
1986). An earlier collision may have occurred in the late
Miocene (10 Ma), when a marginal plateau collided with
the Western Banda Arc (Reed, 1985). South of central
Sumba, the present transition from subduction to collision is marked by the oblique intersection of the
continent-ocean boundary of Australia with the Java
Trench at NI20I0'E (Breen et al., 1986). This boundary

trends at a high angle to the trench axis and separates

the rifted continental crust of the Scott Plateau from the
late Jurassic oceanic crust of the Argo Abyssal Plain
(Stagg, 1978; Ludden and Gradstein, 1990). Where
continental crust has been subducted beneath the innertrench slope, the outer-arc ridge has been lifted up above
sea level. This resulted in the formation of the islands of
Savu, Roti and Timor.
Subduction along Sumatra, Java and Bali has been
taking place since the late Oligocene (Hamilton, 1979).
The Eastern Sunda Arc from Sumbawa to Central
Flores was initiated in the early Miocene (19-21 Ma),
and is younging towards Atauro and Wetar (Van
Bemmelen, 1949; Abbott and Chamalaun, 1981;
Nishimura et al., 1981). The rate of plate convergence
has been estimated at 5 cm/a between 30 Ma and 10 Ma.
After 10Ma, the convergence increased to 7cm/a
(Karig et al., 1980; Liu, 1983; Beaudry, 1983; Curray,
1989).
The trench bottom is flat in the Western Sunda arc
and V-shaped in the central and Eastern Sunda arc
region (Ganie et al., 1987), suggesting an absence of
trench-fill deposits in the east (Van Weering et al., 1989).
Side-scan images of the outer-trench slope of the
eastern Java Trench show a pattern of normal faults
(Masson et al., 1990). Collision of seamounts with the
accretionary prism resulted in local steepening of the
inner-trench slope and slumping of sediments into the
trench (Masson et al., 1990). In the Java Trench, sidescan sonar images indicate that sediment accretion occurs by uniform, small-scale folding. South of Sumba,
deformation on the inner-trench slope is concentrated
within 15-25 km from the thrust front (Breen et al.,
1986). In this area, thicker sedimentary sequences deform into thrust-bounded folds. Mud diapirs which rise
in front of the deformation front indicate high pore fluid
pressures (Reed, 1985; Masson et al., 1991). South of
West Timor, high angle reverse faults offset trench

311

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

I I 5.00

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FIGURE 9A

FIGURE 3

~~GURE

71 [

(A)
INTRA-OCEANIC VOLCANIC ARC

TRANSITIONAL SEGMENT

115.00'

I 0.30'

.......

1122 2 . 0 0 '

I I 8J. 30 '

LOMBOK BASIN

- "

,~.oo

ARCI CONTINENT COLLISION

"'"'" "': :-:::::'" -:.: . . . . . . .

" ..................

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....

AR.O ABYSSAL PLAI, ~

'

. -.

i"

.ll '

" ~

~. /

SAVUBASIN

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:i

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~ o ~ r PLATEAU ~

LAND

"' "~"."!~:".":-"."i~

. OS~P SITE , , ,

TRENCH [ THRUST

TRENCH-SLOPE BREAK

FOREARC BASEMENT

NORMAL FAULT

SLOPE BASIN

STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
ACCRETIONARY PRISM
, ~

BACKTHRUST

(B)
Fig. 2. (A) Track chart of the seismic profiles used for this study. The figure numbers 3-10 indicate the location
of the profiles reproduced. See Fig. l for location. (B) Structural map of the accretionary prism, superimposed
on the seismic profiles used for the interpretation. Isobath in meters.
turbidites and thick continental margin strata at the base
of the inner-trench slope (Karig et al., 1987).

Between 12030, and 12230'E, the forearc collides with

the partially subducting Australian continental slope
and margin. The accretionary prism has been thrust over
the forearc basement (Fig. 2B).

Results
1. Intra oceanic-volcanic arc (114-11830'E)

The western segment of the Eastern Sunda-Western

Banda Arc between 114 and 11830'E is formed by an
intra-oceanic-volcanic arc system that can be classified
as a broad ridged forearc (Dickinson and Seely, 1979).
Towards the east between 11830 ' and 12030'E, the
arc-trench system is affected by the collision of the Scott
Plateau and can be described as a sloped forearc.

South of the Java Trench, an outer-trench swell rises

from the abyssal plain, and bends steeply into the
subduction zone. It displays typical horst and graben
structures that indicate extension of the upper part of the
oceanic lithosphere. This is caused by flexural downbending of the subducting slab into the trench (Fig. 3;

312

W. V A N D E R W E R F F
s
Twr
SEC

G6-A (SECTION
1.00

3.00

!)

7.o0

$.00

11.00

9,00

DEFORMATION FRONT

OUTER-TRENCH SWELL

HORSTS

SLUMPED OUTER-TRENCH
DMITS

AND GRABEN

IMBRICATED THRUST
ST,G M E N T S

UNIT (2)

UNIT (1)

]//

1\

F"i

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OCEANICBASEMENT+

it

,i p

I
I

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TWT

G,6-A (SECTION 2)
1$.00

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l

TRENCH-SLOPE BREAK

SEC

17.00

19.0e

SLOPE BASIN

FOREARC BASIN

PoP uP s ~ u c r t ~
LOMBOK

WEDGE HIGH

21.00

RIDGE
t

201(M

10
V.E. 9.$

Fig. 3. I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f S n e l l i u s p r o f i l e G 6 - A

(Western

L o m b o k Ridge). T h e v e r t i c a l s c a l e is i n s e c o n d s

two-way travel time, the horizontal scale in kilometers. The arrows along the faultplanes (F) indicate direction
of relative basement movement. The location is shown in Fig. 2.

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

313

G6-B

NE

$9,'
TWT
SEC

I 5.00

17.00

19.1|0

21.00

23.0(|

INNER 'I'REN('II SI,OPE

IMBRICA'fEI) TIIRUST SI,;(;MENTS

6

UNIT (I)

UNIT (2)

/ ' ~
DEFORMATION FRONT

VOLCANIC INTRUSIONS

~'~

'l.,
l

V.E. 9.3
Fig. 4. Line drawing and interpretation of seismic profile G6-B (Western Lombok Ridge). The location is
shown in Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3.

Section 1). The oceanic basement locally has a rugged

topography (Fig. 4). It is covered by 0.4 sec TWT of
normally faulted sediments, which display two major
seismic units, a lower unit (1), mostly characterized by
high amplitude reflections, and an upper unit (2), with
a transparent facies. The oceanic basement is of late
Jurassic age and is covered by Cretaceous claystones,
Upper Miocene and Pliocene nannofossil oozes and
Quaternary radiolarian clays as drilled in DSDP Site 261
(Heirtzler et al., 1974; Hinz et al., 1978).
The Java Trench here has a depth of 6800 m and is
largely devoid of sediments. Locally, sediments that were
originally deposited on the outer-trench slope have
slumped into the trench as a consequence of slope
steepening and normal faulting as the outer-trench slope
moves towards the subduction zone (Fig. 3; Section 1).
A thin layer of trench-fill sediments is present in the
eastern Java Trench (Fig. 5; 4).
The accretionary wedge has a smoothly tapered geometry of which the inner-trench slope increases slightly
towards the toe (Fig. 6; Section 1). The wedge is 100 km
wide south of Bali and Lombok and decreases to about
70 km south of Sumbawa. The accretionary prism attains a minimum thickness of 8 km close to the trenchslope break (defined at the location of major change in
trench-slope inclination).
The deformation front is located at the position where
oceanic basement is underthrust beneath the accretionary prism. The top of the subducting oceanic plate can
be traced for 70 km underneath the wedge dipping
towards the north at an angle of 4 (Fig. 6; Section 1).
The inner-trench slope covers a relief of 4 km and has a

relatively low slope angle of 3 . Fracturing of the oceanic

basement below the toe of the accretionary wedge
resulted in small changes in slope angle (Fig. 6; Section
1). The rupture of the oceanic crust is indicated by a
"broken" high amplitude reflector which forms the top
of the oceanic basement (Fig. 6; Section 1). The innertrench slope is characterized by a seismic amorphous or
hyperbolic character (Figs 3-5). Where imbricated thrust
segments crop out, slope basins have developed which
contain little or no sediments. In the eastern Lombok
Ridge, many trench slope basins are present at the lower
inner-trench slope (Fig. 5; Section 1).
The trench-slope break is flanked in the north by a
major slope basin (Fig. 3; Section 2). This basin forms
a regional structural feature that can be traced along the
top of the Lombok Ridge. The slope sediments on the
prism have a thickness of 0-0.5 sec TWT and up to 1 sec
TWT in the slope basin. In the slope basin, the sediments
have a seismic facies characterized by parallel to subparallel reflectors with lateral variation in reflectivity. These
reflectors dip towards the south and reflect differential
uplift of the northern "wedge high" (defined as that part
of the outer-arc high located to the north of the slope
basin). The seismic facies in the deeper part of the basin
is blurred by acoustic voids. The contact between the
slope basin and the wedge high is along an E-W trending
north dipping reverse fault. In the eastern part of the
slope basin, the seismic character of the sediments has
been completely disturbed (Fig. 5; 6), probably the
consequence of an increased eastward compression
along the accretionary wedge, due to the nearby collision
of the Scott Plateau south of Sumba.

314

W. VAN DER WERFF

G64."
S
T~'T
SEC

?.0iF
1

9.(10
I

II.00
I

13.1161
I

14.00
I

ACCRETIONARY

TRENCII SLOPE BREAK

22.1111
I

24.110
I

PRISM

~-SI,OPF. B A S I N ' ~

I.Illl
I

3,110
I

] I

',I'~IH;E lU(;II

$,qlql
I

7.011
I

FOREARC

i,lllJ
I

BASIN,

MUliV(iI.CANO

/.Jr

I, ~ \ l

I0
\
0
I

I"

20 K M
I

V.E.

13

Fig. 5. (A) Line drawing and interpretation of seismic profile G6-C (Eastern Lombok Ridge). The location
is shown in Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3. Note the disturbed forearc basin strata and the mud volcano
illustrating the compressive character between the accretionary prism and the forearc basin.

The transition from the accretionary wedge to the

forearc basin is marked by the uplift and tilt of the
southern forearc basement and basin fill deposits, and
the presence of a mud-volcano located north of the
eastern Lombok Ridge (Fig. 5; 7).
2. Transitional segment (118030'- 12030'E)

The subducting plate is covered by sediments with a

thickness that increases from 0.5 sec TWT in the west, to
2 sec TWT in the east. These sediments can be divided
into two units which are both characterized by a seismic
facies of even-bedded, low amplitude reflectors and
separated by a band of high amplitude reflectors (Fig. 7;
Section 2). The location of the Scott Plateau roughly
coincides with the 4000 m depth contour (Fig. 2B).
Along the outer-trench slope, the basement of the Scott
Plateau is downfaulted into the Timor Trough by a steep
north-dipping fault with an offset of more than 0.8 sec
TWT (Fig. 7; Section 2).
The accretionary prism has a ridged taper with a
convex morphology and is 70 km wide in the west and
l l 0 k m in the east. At 11830'E, a north-trending
strike-slip fault is interpreted which offsets the eastern
part of the accretionary wedge to the north (Fig. 2B).
The deformation front is here the location where the
sediments of the subducting plate actually are deformed,
uplifted and incorporated at the base of the accretionary
prism. Frontal thrusts advance irregularly across the

Timor Trough by a mechanism of thrust-bounded folding. On profile Pac 104, the decollement is formed by the
top of the subducting oceanic basement (Fig. 8). It can
be traced for a distance of about 10km, extending
almost horizontally below the accretionary prism. The
basement is broken by a number of steep north-dipping
reverse faults. At the base of the inner-trench slope,
several accreted units rotate towards steeper inclinations
as they move up the inner-trench slope (Fig. 8).
The inner-trench slope ranges from about 5 km depth
in the Timor Trough to 2 km at the trench-slope break
and has a slope angle of less than 2. A mid slope terrace
at a depth of 3700 m (Fig. 7; Section 1) is covered by
slope sediments with a minimum thickness of 0.5 sec
TWT. The seismic character of these sediments suggests
increasing deformation with depth. Due to this deformation, the sediments have largely lost their original
seismic signature. North of the mid slope high, the
inner-trench slope continues as deformed and folded
slope sediments similar to that of the mid slope terrace.
The northern part of the outer-arc high is formed by
a block, 25 km wide, which has been thrust underneath
the "Sumba" forearc basement.
3. Arc-continent collision (12030'-12230'E)

The subducting plate is covered by sediments with a

minimum thickness of 2 sec TWT. The top of the
basement correlates with a band of discontinuous high

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

P-7

315

SECTION I

DEPTH
I 5 100
II

15500

OCEANIC PLATE

163110,

I 59011

DEFORMATION FRONT

INNER TRENCH SLOPE

TRENCH SLOPE BREAK

4
8
-

F~'~x OCEANIC BASEMENT ~ " ~ ~

"'~"

~.._~

12

~"~'~"~-"~'~-~ "- _ ~
V,E, I.II

DEPTH
IO4

17100

- 7

10KM
I

SECTION 2

17500

17900

18300
FOREARC BASIN

ACCRETIONARY PRISM

4
8

OI'FRACT.ON.YPER.OLAE

12

---~-~

V.E. 1.0

0
I

,,,

- -

I0 KM
J

Fig. 6. Line drawing and interpretation of seismic profile P-7. The location is shown in Fig. 2. For legend
see Fig. 3. The dotted pattern marks forearc basement of presumably continental origin. The vertical scale
is in kilometers.

amplitude reflectors and consists of Late Triassic flit

blocks (Stagg and Exon, 1981; Reed, 1985) (Fig. 9A).
Two seismic facies units characterize the sedimentary
sequence. The lower unit (1) has a thickness of 1 sec
TWT and is composed of a transparent facies. The upper
unit (2), which has the same thickness, is composed of
continuous north-dipping high amplitude reflectors.
The accretionary wedge south-east of Sumba, south
of Savu, and west of Roti forms a southward bulge
(Fig. 2B). The wedge is asymmetric and has a maximum
width of 140 km. South of Roti, the prism thins and is
60-80 km wide. Its taper is ridged at the lower innertrench slope and smooth at the upper part (Fig. 9A). The
wedge has a relief of 4 km, which steepens towards the
toe. In the north, four backthrusts are directed over the
"Sumba" basement (Fig. 9B).
A frontal thrust is poorly defined at the toe of the
wedge and may not extend to the seafloor (Fig. 9A). The
decollement level has been observed at the facies transition between units (1) and (2). It occurs near the
transition from upper Cretaceous shallow marine clastics
to overlying deep marine fine grained carbonates (Stagg
and Exon, 1981). Apparently, the impermeable cap of
fine-grained carbonates allows for high pore fluid pressures in the clastic strata controlling the position of the
decollement. The decollement can be traced for a distance of 25 km underneath the accretionary prism and is
converging at a low angle with the basement. Thinning
of the subducted unit may be due to water loss caused
by the pressure of the weight of the accretionary prism.
Post-breakup strata are incorporated at the front of the
accretionary prism. A zone of broken reflectors with a
thickness of 0.4 sec TWT and a width of 8.5 km in front
of the deformation front may have resulted from excessive pore fluid pressures. This zone possibly evolves into
a future thrust fault and corresponds to a region where
mud volcanoes and mud ridges developed (Breen et aL,

1986; Masson et al., 1991). The lack of deformation of

the deeper reflectors suggests that mud diapirism does
not extend beneath the level of decollement. Frontal
sediment accretion occurs by a mechanism of thrust
bounded folding (Fig. 9A).
The inner-trench slope is 80 km wide and has a surface
slope that increases from 2 in the west to 4 in the east.
It is composed of two mid-slope highs separated by a
major slope basin which are barely covered by slope
sediments (Fig. 9A).
The outer-arc high has a width of 60 km. The trenchslope break is formed by a north dipping thrust fault.
North of this fault, four backthrusts are observed of
which the most northern one corresponds to the Savu
Thrust (Fig. 9B; backthrust 1). These thrusts are covered
by deformed slope sediments with a maximum thickness
of 900 m, characterized by high amplitude/low frequency
reflectors. Tilting of the reflectors on top and in front of
the backthrusts indicates differential movements along
the thrusts. North of the Savu Thrust, the Sumba Ridge
is downfaulted along steep, south-dipping normal faults.
South of Sumba, the forearc basement itself has been
incorporated into the thrusting (Van der Werff et al.,
1994a their Fig. 9). Between the Savu Thrust and the
Sumba Ridge, a topographic relief of 750 m extends over
a distance of 30 km. To the east, the Savu Thrust has
been thrust over the Sumba Ridge and is positioned at
the same level. A horst structure located to the south of
the thrust represents the offshore westward extension of
the island of Rajuna (Fig. 10). To the east, the backthrusts converge and disappear, except for the most
southern one.

Discussion
Accretionary prisms are sites of incipient mountain
building where oceanic sediments and rocks are uplifted,

316

W. VAN DER WERFF

deformed and ultimately transformed to continental

crust (Moore and Silver, 1987). They form by frontal
tectonic accretion of sediments or rocks at the toe of the
inner-trench slope (Seely et al., 1974; Karig and Sharman, 1975), while basal accretion may occur by underplating (Moore and Silver, 1987). Accretionary prisms
may be accreted in a snowplow fashion against backstops of forearc basement origin, which represent the
initial site of convergent margin initiation (Le Pichon et
al., 1982; Hamilton, 1988). Backstops either dip towards
the arc or towards the trench in various convergent
margin systems (Silver and Reed, 1988; Hamilton, 1988;
Fig. 11).

forearc region (Lundberg, 1983; Hawkins et al., 1984).

The late Jurassic age of the subducting Indian Ocean
Plate (Heirtzler et al., 1974), the steeply dipping Benioff
zone (McCaffrey, 1989), and the moderate convergence
rate of 7 cm/a of the Indian Plate relative to the SE Asian
Continent (De Mets et al., 1990), suggest that the
inter-plate coupling between the two plates is relatively
weak as compared to other active plate boundaries. The
Argo Abyssal Plain has a pelagic sediment cover of only
600 m, and generally is considered sediment starved. In
addition, the Java Trench is almost devoid of sediments
(Van Weering et al., 1989; Masson et al., 1990). These
arguments would support the assumption that south of
Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa, little or no sediment has
been accreted to the leading edge of the Asian Plate as
suggested by Reed (1985). An example of other non-accretionary intra-oceanic arcs with a comparable tectonic
configuration are the Mariana and Izu-Bonin Arcs
(Fryer et al., 1990). These arc-trench systems are characterized by an inner-trench slope composed of volcanic
rocks.

1. Intra oceanic-volcanic arc (11400'-11830'E)

Important differences between sediment starved intraoceanic forearcs and clastic dominated continental
margin systems include non-or episodic accretion and
subduction erosion of the inner-trench slope, accompanied by extension and subsidence of the outer21.00
'

1.oo

SW

ii1

SI~

23.00

SEISMIC PROFILE Gr-D

(SECTION 1)

MID SLOPE T E R R A C E

!lSr

mL, T a z s C a

'i

THRUST SEGMENT

I
5 --

28KM

i
V.E.

21

Fig. 7. (Section 1)--Caption Opposite.

StOl'Z

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

317

~eq

--

,~..
- ~

z
w

.~

5=
t.,

_,
~=.~
0
0

[..

[.,,
r~

,.1

mE
or~

~o
0

~-

.1
~

r~

e~

<
~z

318

W. VAN DER W E R F F
SEISMIC PROFILE PAC-104
S

'IWT
SEC 4 t

DIEFORMiTION FRONT

I 0 j V.E. 2.3

SLOPE DEPOSITS

--

OCEANIC BASEMENT

'

'

Fig. 8. Line drawing and interpretation of seismic profile Pac 104 (Southwest of Sumba). The location is shown
in Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3. Note the upward increase in fault inclination of the thrust segments along
the inner-trench slope.

We assume that the arc-trench system was initiated

during the late Oligocene at approximately 30 Ma ago
(Hamilton, 1988). If the oceanic plate subducted at a rate
of 5 cm/a between 30 and 10 Ma and at 7 cm/a between
10 Ma and present (Liu, 1983), then about 1700 km of
the lithosphere has been consumed at the convergent
margin system. The Argo Abyssal Plain is covered by
sediments that range in thickness from 300 m in the west
to 1 km in the east (Heezen et al., 1977).
If we assume an average sediment thickness of 600 m
on top of the subducting plate, a total volume of
220,000 km 3 of sediments has been delivered to the
subduction zone since the late Oligocene.
A simple volume calculation for the accretionary
prism between 114 and 116E, using the wedge geometry
in profile P-7 (Fig, 6) has been made. The wedge has a
maximum thickness of 8 km below the trench-slope
break, a length of 62.5 km between the trench-slope

The presence of a well developed accretionary prism

located to the south of Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa
illustrates, however, that sediment accretion can still be
an important mechanism of accretionary prism formation along trenches that lack thick volcaniclastic
turbidite deposits.
A comparison between the volume of the prism located to the south of Bali and the amount of material fed
to the trench may provide more insights into the contribution of sediment accretion to accretionary prism development. Such a calculation is inherently dangerous
because of the greatly extrapolated sedimentation and
subduction rates Van der Werff et al (1994b) concluded
that forearc basement composed of thinned continental
crust should extend for some distance into the accretionary prism. The minimum area supposed to be underlain
by this basement is indicated in Fig. 6 by a stippled
pattern.

SEISMIC PROFILE PAC-109 (SECTION I)

S

N
DEFORMATION FRONT

TWr
SEC

I
4

6.

~ " ~ " ~
V E 2.3 . . . .
" - ....

...--"~-.-.--A~-..--~.. ~ - - " " "

"

""

"'""

'" " "

'"

"

""'"""r-l':'*~

10KM

. . . . ":"

AUSTRALIAN CONTINENTAL CRUST .'. . ' " ". "."

SEISMIC PROFILE PAC-109 (PART 2)

Twr
SEC

TRENCH-SLOPEBREAK

,~_._......~,~
"-:~,BACKTHRUST4
,.

~,~I

-,
~:~"~-'-""

__
--

SLOPE SEDIMENTS
/

~ . . . ~ . ~ - . ~ . . - - Z - - ~ - ~ _~

,-

..~-.-- ~---~

BACKTHRUST~ .2. ~ '..~

~

_.~
x,

j.

..1.~v~.-'-/'\
:'..,'/...-."

BACKTHRUST I .~ I / " SUMBA RIDGE

6
8
V.E. 2.3

0
I

10 KM

Fig. 9. (A) Line drawing and interpretation of part of seismic profile Pac 109 (Southeast of Sumba). The
location is shown in Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3. The decollement coincides with the boundary between
seismic facies units (l) and (2). Note that the decollement converges with the basement as it is progressively
situated further underneath the accretionary wedge. (B) Line drawing and interpretation of part of seismic
profile Pac 109 (East of Sumba). The location is shown in Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3. The forearc basement
(Sumba Ridge) appears to be downflexed by the load of the backthrusts.

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

SEISMIC

TSEC
WT

PROFILE

SN-521

1700

2800

FORE'ARC BASI~
F~

6I

HORST

319

('~' F I

BACKTHRUST

V.E. 2.6

Ii
10 KM

I
j

Fig. 10. Line drawing and interpretation of seismic profile N-521 (West of Savu). The location is shown in
Fig. 2. For legend see Fig. 3. The horst structure possibly represents the westward extension of the island of
Rajuna.
prisms indicate a gradual increase in density and decrease in porosity away from the deformation front
(Bray and Karig, 1985; Fowler et al., 1985; Moore et al.,
1988). We can approach the change in volume caused by
the densification and dewatering assuming the following
boundary conditions: the accreted sediments did not
experience any reduction in porosity, and most of the
sediments experienced a maximum reduction in porosity
to 10% shortly after accretion.
Without porosity reduction, an excess volume of
approximately 50,000 km 3 has been delivered to the
trench and must have been subducted. With porosity
reduction, the volume of solid grains is preserved.
The initial proportion of solid grains is 50%, while
the final proportion is 90%. So the final volume = 5/9
the initial volume. The initial volume of accreted
sediments, incorporated into the accretionary prism
then has been about 305,000 km 3. A comparison between the calculated values shows that the volume of the
accretionary prism is 1.4 times the volume of all the
sediments delivered to the Java Trench. The original
volume of the accreted sediments thus will be in between
the 169,400 and 305,000 km 3 and probably accommodates most of the sediments (220,000 km 3) delivered to
the trench.

break and the deformation front, and a width of

222.36 km (120 NM) between 114 and 116E. The outer
part of the wedge between the deformation front, the
trench-slope break and the subducting oceanic slab can
be approximated as a triangle. Its volume = 0.5 x max.
thickness x length x width = 55,600 km 3. The volume of
the remaining part of the wedge can be approximated by
assuming that the oceanic basement remains parallel to
the surface of the wedge, from the trench-slope break to
the forearc basement. This results in an additional
volume of: thickness (8 km) x length (64 km) x width
(222.36 k m ) = 113,800 km 3. The prism has a total volume of 169,400 km 3.
Sediment that enters a subduction zone generally
contains about 50% water, while uplifted exposed sequences have porosities of less than 10% (Bray and
Karig, 1985). DSDP Site 261 recovered a core with a
total thickness of 532m. The cored sediments are
characterized by average porosities of 50% up to a depth
of 370 m and decrease to 25% at deeper levels (Heirtzler
et al., 1974). DSDP Site 765, located in the south of the
Argo Abyssal Plain contains sediments with a porosity
ranging from 75% at the shallow depth to 50% between
400 and 850 m (Ludden et al., 1990).
Studies on the density and porosity of accretionary

MELANGE
0

.zlO-

ARC-WARD DIPPING BACKSTOP

---,"

~"~

......

. . . .

.:.7

m~2 030-

40-

50 KM

MELANGE

T R E N C H - W A RDIPPING
D
BACKSTOP

ZI0"~

~.

--

-..

-._ ~

.....'.'.--:'. "...'; "'.......'.....

20-

830B

0
I

50 KM
I

Fig. 11. (A) Profile across an accretionary wedge with an arc-ward dipping backstop (adopted from Hamilton,
1979). (B) Profile across an accretionary wedge with a trench-ward dipping backstop (adopted from Silver
and Reed, 1988).
S E A E S H 4- E

320

W. VAN DER WERFF

Processes other than sediment accretion at the toe of

the wedge also have added to the construction of the
accretionary prism. Seismic profile P-7 indicates that
segments of the subducting oceanic plate are incorporated at the base of the accretionary prism by imbricate
thrusting (Fig. 6). Imbricate thrusting of oceanic
basement may have occurred along pre-existing fault
zones that originated on the outer-trench slope by
flexural down bending. Near the crest of the outer-arc
high, magnetic anomalies indicate shallow depths to
basement and suggest that portions of the subducting
oceanic crust also are incorporated further north
underneath the accretionary prism (Beck and Lehner,
1974).
The decrease in width of the prism, from 100 km south
of Bali to 70 km south of Sumbawa, may reflect an
eastward younging trend of the arc-trench system from
late Oligocene (30 Ma) to early Miocene (19-21 Ma). In
that case, the average rate of wedge growth remains
fairly constant along the prism at a rate of
3.0-3.5 km/Ma. This rate is relatively low in comparison
with other active margins such as the Mediterranean
(5-20km/Ma), Makran (7.5km/ma), and Barbados
Ridges (5 km/Ma), but conforms to those of Peru, the
Middle America Trench and the Nankai Trough (Kastens, 1991). Along the Western Sunda Arc off Nias, the
wedge growth is significantly higher (5 km/Ma) and
compatible with the amount of material fed to the
trench-slope by plate convergence (Karig et al., 1980;
Kastens, 1991).
The regional geometry of the unique slope basin
on top of the ridge suggest that its formation is related
to a fundamental tectonic mechanism. The basin may
represent the initial site of trench formation. If so,
the wedge high may represent a backstop composed
of forearc basement. The wedge high, however, is not
characterized by a seismic facies distinct from the
inner-trench slope or trench-slope break, and therefore
it is likely that it has a similar composition (Figs 3 and
5). The opaque seismic facies of the wedge high probably
results from progressive deformation and dewatering of
accreted sediments and metamorphic processes which
alter the composition and density of the rocks.
On the basis of the presently available geophysical
data, it is not possible to clarify whether the backstop
underlying the accreted sediments is dipping arc- or
trenchward. The uplift and northward tilt of the forearc
basin strata located at the inner side of the accretionary
prism (Van der Werff et al., 1994b), and the inferred
presence of oceanic basement near the crest of the
outer-arc high (Beck and Lehner, 1974) may be suggestive for an arcward dipping backstop. The absence of
arcward verging thrusts along the inner side of the
wedge, commonly observed along forearcs with trenchward dipping backstops, may add to this suggestion
although it is not diagnostic (Westbrook, 1982; Silver
and Reed, 1988).
Seismic refraction data, on the other hand, suggest
that most of the ridge is underlain by accreted sedimentary rocks and basement with velocities that
range from 1.6 to 6.2km/s (Curray et al., 1977). If
part of the wedge is underlain by rifted continental
crust (Van der Werff et al., 1994b), it appears more likely
that the trench originally was initiated along the
continent-ocean boundary and that the accretionary
prism is underlain by a trenchward dipping backstop.

2. Transitional segment (11830'-12030'E)

The outer-trench swell morphology is determined by

the geometry of the Scott Plateau. The steep outertrench slope is formed by pre-existing basement faults
which are reactivated as the plateau moves towards the
subduction zone (Fig. 7; Section 2).
The transition in frontal accretion from small-scale
folding and imbricate thrusting to large-scale thrustbounded folding reflects a change in lithology and
physical properties of the subducting sediments from
thin weak pelagic oozes and clays to thicker more
competent continental margin carbonates (Heirtzler
et al., 1974; Hinz et al., 1978; Von Rad and Exon,
1982; Reed, 1985; Breen et al., 1986).
The increase in width of the accretionary prism by
40km between 11920 ' and 12030'E relates to an
eastward increase in sediment thickness on top of the
subducting plate. The subduction of buoyant continental
crust belonging to the Scott marginal plateau resulted in
an increased shear stress at the base of the prism, adding
to the process of wedge growth. Assuming that the
growth of the southward bulge of the accretionary prism
is related to the arc--continent collision which started
5 Ma ago, the wedge growth is estimated at 8 km/Ma.
This growth contrasts with the relatively slow average of
3.0-3.5 km/Ma of the accretionary prism in the intraoceanic-volcanic arc segment.
A similar transition in the structure of the accretionary prism has been described along the southern part of
the Lesser Antilles Arc (Westbrook, 1982; Biju-Duval
et al., 1982; Speed, 1985). In this region, thin distal
turbidites of South American origin have been deposited
in the northern trench floor and are incorporated into a
slightly tapered wedge characterized by abundant mud
volcanoes (Westbrook and Smith, 1983). In the south,
thick deposits of proximal turbidites derived from the
Orinoco river delta are deformed into a thick accretionary prism characterized by gently asymmetric folds
riding on westward dipping thrusts.
3. A r c - c o n t i n e n t collision (12030'-12230'E)

The maximum width of the accretionary prism coincides with the area where backthrusts develop. The
increase in width of the prism, as it grows, increases
the force exerted to the overriding plate because of an
increase in surface area over which shear stress at its
base is applied. Also, as the wedge thickens, the shear
stress increases because of the increase in normal stress.
In addition, the subduction of progressively thicker
buoyant continental crust into the Timor Trough results
in increased basal shear stress. These three factors
increase the total force imparted at the arcward site of
the wedge and are responsible for the initiation of the
backthrusts.
The subsequent stacking of the backthrusts from west
to east as they advance over the Sumba Ridge suggests
an increase in eastward deformation, and coincides with
the subduction of the Australian continental slope and
margin. The eastward decrease in width of the innertrench slope and increase in surface slope from less than
2-4 suggests that part of the plate convergence is taken
up by distributed internal deformation of the prism. This
results in thickening and uplift of the accretionary
wedge.

ACCRETIONARY PRISM ALONG THE EASTERN SUNDA-WESTERN BANDA ARC

Conclusions
The L o m b o k Ridge has been growing wider since the
late Oligocene at a n average rate of 3.0-3.5 k m / M a . The
total v o l u m e o f sediments that subducted into the Java
T r e n c h has p r o b a b l y been i n c o r p o r a t e d into the accret i o n a r y prism. The eastward t h i n n i n g of the prism
corresponds to the decrease in age of the a r c - t r e n c h
system from 30 M a south of Bali to 21 M a south o f
Sumbawa.
South of S u m b a , the presence of thick c o n t i n e n t a l
m a r g i n deposits a n d the collision of the a r c - t r e n c h
system with the Scott M a r g i n a l P l a t e a u resulted in a
rapid s o u t h w a r d growth o f the accretionary prism by
8 k m / M a . The style of sediment accretion changed from
small-scale folding a n d imbricate thrusting to larger
scale t h r u s t - b o u n d folding a n d reflects the transition
from pelagic sediments towards more c o m p e t e n t continental m a r g i n carbonates.
East of S u m b a , the s u b d u c t i o n of c o n t i n e n t a l crust of
the A u s t r a l i a n slope a n d m a r g i n resulted in an increased
interplate coupling a n d basal shear stress between the
s u b d u c t i n g plate a n d the accretionary prism. This is
t a k e n u p by b a c k t h r u s t i n g a n d distributed internal def o r m a t i o n , leading to a progressive eastward thickening
of the accretionary prism.
would like to thank T. C. E. van
Weering (Netherlands Institute for Sea Research), J. E. van
Hinte, A. R. Fortuin (Free University of Amsterdam) for
critically reviewing this manuscript and providing suggestions
for improvement. Bert Aggenbach is acknowledged for his
assistance in the production of the figures. I thank the Geological Survey of Japan, the Shell Petroleum Corporation and the
Marine Geology Institute of Bandung (Indonesia) for providing multi-channel data. Scripps Institute of Oceanography is
thanked for the use of single-channel Rama-12 profiles. This
study was supported by the Netherlands Marine Science
Foundation (SOZ) in the Hague. This paper benefited from the
additional comments of two anonymous reviewers.
Acknowledgements--I

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