Fault characteristics and tectonic evolution model of the East Timor trough

The East Timor trough is located on the boundary between the Australian plate and the Eurasian plate, whose tectonic deformation was caused by the collision between the Australian plate and the Banda arc in southeastern Asia during Late Miocene. Due to the complexity of the arc-continent collision process, the deformation time and mechanism of the Timor trough are still controversial. In order to limit the deformation time of the Timor trough and discuss its evolution process, the fault characteristics of the Timor trough were quantitatively analyzed based on two-dimensional seismic data, and its tectonic evolution model under the background of arc-land collision was discussed in combination with drilling and natural seismic events.The results show that the Australia plate collided with the Banda island arc in the Late Miocene (about 6 Ma), which triggered the uplifting and subsidence of the Timor trough. The deformation lasted until the Late Pliocene(about 3 Ma), forming the present Timor trough. At present, the relative movement rate between the Australian plate and the Banda island arc has gradually decreased toward a halt. In the future, they may continue to move northward as a whole.