Lithospheric structure and geodynamic evolution of the northern Molucca Sea area constrained by 3-D gravity field inversion of a combined sea-surface and satellite gravity dataset
Abstract
The Molucca Sea extending from northeastern Indonesia to southern Philippines islands, is a zone of oceanic basin closure between two opposite-facing subduction zones. This convergence results in the collision of two subduction zones, which style evolves from the southern to the northern parts of the Molucca Sea. In order to provide new insights into the present-day lithospheric structures in the Molucca Sea area, we inverted satellite and sea-surface gravity data into an iterative scheme including a priori seismological data. The seismological data were collected from two networks of Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS). These data allowed us to locate local seismic events and to build 3D tomographic images. We relate these results to the different stages of collision. The gravity data consists of combined sea-surface and satellite derived gravity. We used Kolmogorov-Wiener optimal (mean-square) filter to extract the gravity signal associated with lithospheric structures, then analyzed it to determine main regional features of lithospheric structure. For this purpose we employed a selection of Euler solutions based on a new clustering technique. To identify the geometry and nature of lithospheric structures, we also performed a 3-D gravity inversion for the northern Molucca Sea data, introducing our tomographic model as an independent constraint. The combination of both methods permits us to obtain a coherent image of the lithospheric structure. The results of this study illustrate the heterogeneity of lithospheric units in the northern Molucca Sea, which results from the collision between the Sangihe margin and lithospheric fragments from the Phillipine plate such as the Snellius plateau or the Halmahera volcanic arc. Three phenomena can explain the observed lithospheric structure: 1) the rupture of the Molucca Sea plate, accompanied by the appearance at the surface of slices of oceanic crust, favoring the development of suture zones as the collision evolves, 2) the arrival of fragments of the old Philippine Sea plate at the collision with the Sangihe margin, and 3) the oblique convergence between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates. We propose that the combination of these three phenomena controls the present day closure of the Molucca Sea.
- Publication:
-
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003EAEJA....10849W