Mid-Cretaceous to early Eocene Neo-Tethyan subduction records in West Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Situated in the heart of the Indonesian archipelago, Sulawesi records well-developed Cenozoic magmatism, yet its Cretaceous magmatic evolution remains enigmatic. Here, we report new U-Pb-Hf isotopic data of detrital zircons from West Sulawesi, Indonesia to constrain its Cretaceous to Eocene magmatic tempo. Detrital zircons aged at ca. 105−80 Ma and ca. 70−45 Ma occur as the most dominant age populations and show high positive εHf(t) values, indicating derivation from juvenile sources with limited continental crustal contamination. Our new data, combined with available results, support the existence of an Andean-type continental margin in West Sulawesi during mid-Cretaceous to early Eocene times. Importantly, the magmatic tempo of West Sulawesi is also consistent with those of southern Lhasa (Tibet) and Sumatra (Indonesia), but contrasts with those of Paleo-Pacific subduction-related arcs in SE China, SE Vietnam, East Malaysia, and NW Borneo. Therefore, we put forward that West Sulawesi may be the southeasternmost component of the Neo-Tethyan arc system that spreads over 7500 km, from southern Tibet to SE Sundaland. Such a huge arc system with concurrent magmatic flare-ups and lulls in South Asia may have played a significant role in global-scale plate reorganization.