COOLING CURVE AND RESULTING EXHUMATION RATE OF THE TIMOR REGION

Located at the convergence of the Australian continent and Banda Arc, the Timor region exhibits high uplift rates, reflected by young cooling ages observed in accreted Australian continental units. We compiled successful thermochronology data for Timor-Leste, including the following minerals: apatite (24), amphibole (9), biotite (4), muscovite (8), zircon (15), and garnet (1). Plotting these mineral ages against their respective closure temperatures determined in similar studies for each mineral revealed an exponential trend in the data. Monte Carlo simulation methods, applied to an exponential regression model of the cooling curve, yielded an exhumation rate of 4.73 ± 0.29 mm/a. Further research will focus on subdividing the study region to compare the exhumation rates and cooling curves of minerals across the region.