The western Banda arc is a natural laboratory where plate collision is in progress. This study will construct a series of balanced cross-sections across the orogen using newly available map and geophysical data, and field data to be acquired during the project. Because the Banda orogen is a good example of oblique collisional processes, it offers an opportunity to analyze the sections in 3D space plus time. The results will help resolve existing hypotheses for the evolution of the Banda orogen and will be applicable to collisional orogenic processes in general.
