Banda arc of eastern indonesia: Petrology and geochemistry of the volcanic rocks

Abstract

A detailed petrological study of the Banda Arc volcanism, documented by extensive microprobe whole-rock and mineral analysis, shows that the apparent geographical eastwards continuity of the Sunda Arc conceals a major geochemical discontinuity adjacent to the southern end of the Weber Deep beneath Serua. The alkali contents and Sr isotope ratios suggest that Nila, Teun and Damar form one volcanic group distinct from Banda and Manuk, and Serua is in the border discontinuity, reflected in its widely fluctuating Fe/Mg partitioning between mineral phases and its variable Sr isotope ratios.

With the exception of basalt from S. W. Ambon, all lavas are quartz normative and typical of an ensimatic oceanic island arc. They range from tholeiitic basalt and dacite on S. W. Ambon and Banda, through low-K calc-alkaline andesites on Manuk and Serua, to high-K calc-alkaline andesites on Nila, Teun, Damar, Gunung Api north of Wetar, and Romang which also contains dacite. The higher potassium contents are normally contained in biotite and hornblende, and occasionally in the groundmass glass.

Increasing potassium from Banda to Manuk may be related to increasing Benioff Zone depth between the 100 to 200 km contours, but the lavas of Gunung Api north of Wetar have insufficient potassium to be derived from the underlying 400–500 km Benioff Zone. Older cordierite dacites (ambonites) on North Ambon must be derived from a underlying continental crust, but the younger tholeiitic lavas of S.W. Ambon and Banda may be related to a shallow subduction zone dipping southwards from Seram.