Tectonic collision processes after plate rupture

Rupture of a continental plate subducted below a forearc produces a fold and thrust mountain belt with fast overthrusting of nappes. Post-rupture plate unflexing leading to reflexure provides a mechanism for foreland basin formation. Application to the Australia-Banda Arc collision accounts for the origin of the Timor Trough, its imbrication and contemporaneous extension in outer arc, as well as reversal of subduction direction after the emplacement of nappes.