Tectonics of Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) Deposits at Flores Back Arc Basin: A Review

Abstract

The bathymetry, petrology, marine magnetic, and seismic-SBP data have identified the northwest-southeast direction submarine ridge that shows hydrothermal activity. This activity occurred through Mount Baruna Komba, Abang Komba, and Ibu Komba. The volcanic rocks are andesite basaltic lava flows, tuff, and pumice. The andesite basaltic lava shows porphyritic, intergranular, intersertal to glomeroporphyritic textures. The rock composes anhedral minerals of k-feldspar, plagioclase, and pyroxene. These minerals present in small-sized, short prismatic dispersed in very fine groundmass minerals or glasses. Most of the volcanic rocks have experienced various degrees of alteration. The k-feldspar and plagioclase are most dominantly transformed into sericite, clay mineral, carbonate, epidote and oxide mineral, opaque mineral, and secondary plagioclase through the albitization process, while pyroxene replaced by chlorite. Other minerals are biotite and quartz, and base metals are present Cu, Zn, Ag, As, Pb, and gold. Mineralization categorizes as the phyllic zone, sub-prophylithic zone, and phyllic-potassic zone that formed at a temperature range of 250-400oC. The submarine hydrothermal alteration in the Komba Ridge is associated with a volcanogenic sulphide deposit controlled by crust thinning due to the crust rifts in the back-arc tectonic setting.