Triassic Massive Limestones Forming High Peaks and Mountain Ranges in Timor: Part 1: Western Timor-Leste

The Bandeira Formation includes Triassic massive shallow-marine limestone successions in Timor-Leste on the northwestern margin of the present-day Australian continent. During the Late Triassic (Carnian to within the Rhaetian), the limestones were deposited as carbonate platforms in the East Gondwana Interior Rift system. Older Middle Triassic deposits may also be present but have not been confirmed. In past mapping of the high peaks and mountain ranges in western Timor-Leste, these Triassic limestones were often identified as the Lower Miocene Cablac Limestone. This paper outlines the stratigraphic settings of four localities of the Bandeira Formation, including the type locality, as well as information on rock types and fossil assemblages that provide the bases for the age determinations. Past stratigraphic designations, age determinations and revised tectonostratigraphic implications, many of which have been misleading, are discussed.