Year

2022

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Department

School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences

Advisor(s)

Lloyd White

Abstract

The Lengguru Fold and Thrust Belt is a unique region of western Irian Jaya, Indonesia that has undergone several deformation events over the past 5 million years due to crustal movement between the Australian, Caroline, and Pacific tectonic plates. Controversy exists on how or if the westernmost part of Irian Jaya (the Bird's Head Peninsula) travelled to its present-day location due to plate tectonic movements. It is possible that this movement is recorded in the structural geology of the Lengguru Fold and Thrust Belt. Thus, the primary objective of this project was to determine and measure the minimum amount of shortening that occurred throughout the project region to gain a better understanding of the tectonic history of the Lengguru Fold and Thrust Belt through the process of mapping geological structures (faults and folds) and attempting to restore the terrane to its form prior to deformation. This will be established by utilising the software ArcGIS and MOVETM the structural restoration software suite. The project produced a series of cross-sections depicting the minimum amount of shortening that occurred within the Tertiary Lengguru Limestone of the fold and trust belt and an extensive cross-section was developed, exhibiting the whole stratigraphy of the fold and thrust belt in present-day and how it looked prior to deformation. The results of these cross-sections produce a new boundary for the Tertiary aged material which can provide additional information and will contribute to the ongoing debate of the origin of the Bird’s Head Peninsula.

FoR codes (2020)

370511 Structural geology and tectonics

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Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.