Journal article
Rapid cooling and exhumation as a consequence of extension and crustal thinning: Inferences from the Late Miocene to Pliocene Palu Metamorphic Complex, Sulawesi, Indonesia
J Hennig, R Hall, MA Forster, BP Kohn, GS Lister
Tectonophysics | ELSEVIER | Published : 2017
Abstract
Metamorphic complexes forming high mountains of 1.5–2 km in Western Sulawesi were previously considered to be Mesozoic or older basement of Gondwana crust. However, many of the metamorphic rocks are much younger than previously thought. Some have Eocene sedimentary protoliths. New geothermobarometric and geochronological data from metamorphic rocks of the Palu Metamorphic Complex (PMC) and associated granitoids provide information on the timing and mechanisms of Neogene metamorphism and contemporaneous rapid exhumation. The metamorphic rocks are strongly deformed and some were partially melted to form migmatites. Schists contain relict andalusite, cordierite, staurolite and Mn-rich garnet wh..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the SE Asia Research Group which is funded by a consortium of oil companies. We thank Afif Saputra and Alfend Rudyawan for their help and assistance during fieldwork, as well as Mike Cottam, Ian Watkinson and Tim Breitfeld for helpful discussions. <SUP>40</SUP>Ar/<SUP>39</SUP>Ar analysis was undertaken at ANU RSES Argon Facility. We also thank Abaz Alimanovic who performed the (U-Th)/He analysis, Andrew Beard for assisting with the mineral chemical analysis (EDS/WDS-SEM), and Yuntao Tian for assistance in creating the mean elevation model. The University of Melbourne thermochronology laboratory receives infrastructure support under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy AuScope program. Further, we thank Fred Jourdan and two anonymous reviewers for their thorough comments which greatly improved the manuscript.