The Molucca Sea Collision Zone is postulated by paleogeologists to explain the

tectonics Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

of the area based on the

Molucca Sea The Molucca Sea (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Laut Maluku'') is located in the western Pacific Ocean, around the vicinity of Indonesia, specifically bordered by the Indonesian Islands of Sulawesi, Celebes (Sulawesi) to the west, Halmahera t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and adjacent involved areas.

Tectonics

The tectonic relationship of the Sangihe plate, Halmahera plate, and the

Molucca Sea plate Located in the western Pacific Ocean near Indonesia, the Molucca Sea plate has been classified by scientists as a fully subducted microplate that is part of the Molucca Sea Collision Zone, Molucca Sea Collision Complex. The Molucca Sea plate repre ...

, plus the volcanic Halmahera Arc and the Sangihe Arc is complex. Their interrelationship constitutes the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. The north of this zone interlinks with the Philippine Mobile Belt. Some call this linkage the Philippine–Halmahera Arc and consider it an integral part of the elongated zone of convergence extending north through the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

into eastern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In the Molucca Sea Collision Zone model, the Molucca Sea plate has been totally consumed by the arc-arc collision of the Halmahera Arc and the Sangihe Arc of eastern

Single collision zones

The magmatic systems are reaching the end of their life as island arcs and are becoming a single collision zone, lending weight to the contention that Halmahera and Sangihe should be regarded as tectonic plates rather than volcanic arcs.

Northern extension

Seismic and tomographic discrepancies in the mantle up to 400 km below

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the Philippines, indicate it is a more advanced northern extension of the Molucca Sea Collision Zone.Colin G Macpherson et ors, Geochemical evolution of magmatism in an arc-arc collision: the Halmahera and Sangihe arcs, eastern Indonesia, in Robert D Larter, ed, (2003) ''Intra-oceanic Subduction Systems'', Geological Society of London. p215

References

{{SE Asia plates Molucca Sea Geology of the Pacific Ocean Geology of Indonesia Geology of the Philippines Philippine tectonics Maritime Southeast Asia Volcanic belts