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The Geology and Geothermal Systems of the Minahasa District, North

Sulawesi

Conference Paper · December 2018

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Muhammad Sidqi Pri Utami

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PROCEEDINGS, The 6th Indonesia International Geothermal Convention & Exhibition (IIGCE) 2018
Cendrawasih Hall - Jakarta Convention Center Indonesia, September 5th - 8th, 2018

THE GEOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS OF THE MINAHASA DISTRICT,

NORTH SULAWESI

Muhammad Sidqi and Pri Utami

Dept of Geological Engineering and Geothermal Research Center,
Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University
Jalan Grafika 2 Yogyakarta 55281
sidqi.muhammadms@gmail.com, p.utami@ugm.ac.id (corresponding author)

ABSTRACT
The Minahasa district is situated in a volcanic field
of the north arm of Sulawesi comprising parts of the
Sangihe volcanic arc, at the elevation range of from
687 m asl (Lake Tondano) to 1784 m asl (the summit
of Mt. Soputan). The district has geothermal
potential hosted by different types of system. The
economically developed geothermal potential for
power generation is located in the Tompaso Field,
and managed by PT. Pertamina Geothermal Energy
(PGE). This paper present the results of our work to
better understand the geological framework of the
Minahasa district and to investigate the occurrence
of different types of geothermal system and their
association with volcanic phenomena. In general,
the history of volcanism in Minahasa district -
known from our field geological mapping and other
relevant information - started since the volcanic
activity of Mt. Kawatak, followed by the volcanic
eruptions of Tondano, and later by eruptions
forming many volcanic cones (e.g. Rindengan,
Lengkoan, Wawona, Wowok, Matatumbak,
Pinasuan, Luuk, Kanonang, etc.), Sempu volcanic
dome, and Mt. Soputan that is still active.
Consequently, geothermal systems with different
degrees of “maturity” may occur in the Minahasa
district. The low-relief terrain within the remnant of
the Tondano Caldera is occupied by a hydrothermal
system characterized by the discharge of boiling and
near-boiling neutral-pH chloride hot springs and
hotpools in Tempang, Toraget, and Karumenga
villages. The inferred volcanic-hydrothermal type
system manifests in the form of solfataras with
significant sulfur deposition, and steam-heated,
acidic hot springs in Kanonang village (Bukit
Kasih). It occurs in the high-relief terrain of the
Rindengan volcanic complex. Effusive and
explosive activities of Mt. Soputan show the
existence of a hazardous, magmatic-geothermal
system. The result of this study shall be followed up
by more detailed work to quantitatively constrain the
timing of volcanism and hydrothermal activities.
When combined with the results of detailed analysis
of the subsurface geoscientific data from the
Tompaso geothermal field it will be an important
knowledge to support the construction of the
development strategy of the geothermal potential in
Minahasa.
Keywords: Minahasa district, North Sulawesi,
geology, geothermal system.
INTRODUCTION
This paper present the results of our work to better
understand the geological framework of the
Minahasa district and to investigate the occurrence
of different types of geothermal system and their
association with volcanic phenomena. Our work
consist of geological fieldwork covered the mapping
of volcanic rock units, the geological structures and
volcanic features, as well as geothermal
manifestations, and supported by remote sensing
interpretation and rock and minerals analyses,
namely petrography and X-ray diffractometry
(XRD).
FIELD OVERVIEW
Minahasa district is located about 60 km south of
Manado, the Capital of North Sulawesi Province, at
the elevations ranging from 687 m asl (Lake
Tondano) to 1784 m asl (the summit of Mt.
Soputan). The district has geothermal potential
hosted by different types of system. The
economically developed geothermal potential for
power generation is located in the Tompaso Field,
and managed by PT. Pertamina Geothermal Energy
(PGE) (Figure 1). Currently, the Geothermal
Working Area (Wilayah Kerja Panas Bumi/ WKP)
Lahendong – Tompaso has 120 MWe installed
capacity. Until now, 14 wells have been drilled in
Tompaso field to supplay the steam to the 2X20
MWe power plants. Tompaso field is expected to be
further developed.
REGIONAL SETTING
Minahasa district is situated in a volcanic field of the
north arm of Sulawesi comprising parts of the
Sangihe volcanic arc (Hamilton, 1979). The
volcanic arc is NE-SW trending, consisting of Mts.
Ambang, Soputan, Lokon, Mahawu, Tangkoko.
Ruang, Karangetang, and Mt. Awu, and extending
to the volcanic islands in the north (Hamilton, 1979,
Figure 1. Location of Tompaso field at the northern arm of Sulawesi (modified from ASTER Global Digital
Elevation Model of North Sulawesi)
; Kusumadinata, 1979). Verbeek (1908) and
Kamerling (1925), cited from Ganda and Sunaryo
(1982, in Utami, 2011), stated that the oldest known
volcanic activity took place in the Lembeyan
volcanic complex. The remnants of its volcanoes
can be seen at the east of Lake Tondano (Effendi,
1976). According to Effendi (1976) the Lembeyan
volcanic complex was active in Miocene, producing
breccia, lava, and tuff.
The prominent volcanic structure in the area is the
Tondano Caldera. Lécuyer et al. (1997) stated that
Tondano Caldera is of tectonic controlled - caldera
type with a size of 20X10 km2, and formed by two
eruption episodes. The first episode is characterized
by the white rhyodacitic ignimbrites, the “Domato
tuffs”, and associated with formation of the older
caldera rim. The second one is characterized by grey
dacitic ignimbrite, the “Teras tuffs”, and associated
with formation of the younger caldera rim. The first
eruption episode is assumed to take places in
Pliocene because the ignimbrites lie on upper
Miocene volcanic deposits. According to
Kusumadinata (1979) the Tondano Lake occupies
the caldera depression. The recent volcanism in
Minahasa are marked by the activities of Mts.
Soputan, Lokon, and Mahawu.
GEOMORPHOLOGY
In general, the topography of Minahasa district can
be divided into high-relief terrain and low-relief
terrain. Based on their morphogenetic, the identified
morphological units are:
a. Monogenetic Volcanic Cone: Mts. Kanonang,
Semelenduk, Sinopi, Matatumbak, Kokopit,
Luuk, Wowok, Umeh, and Pinasuan.
b. Volcanic Dome: Mt.Sempu.
c. Poligenetic Volcanic Cone: Mt. Soputan and its
parasitic eruption center (Mt. Aesoput), Mts.
Kawatak, Rindengan, and Wawona.
d. Volcanic Plateau: the low-relief terrain around
Tompaso and Langowan villages associated with
the Tondano Caldera depression.
e. Fluvial Plain: the low-relief terrain at the
southern and western sides of the Tondano Lake.
This unit is formed by fluvial processes with the
Tondano Lake as the local level of erosion.
VOLCANIC STRATIGRAPHY
The rock units in Minahasa area are dominated by
Quaternary volcanic rocks (tuf, lava, bom, lapilli,
and volcanic ash) and fluvial-lacustrine deposits that
lie on Tertiary volcanic rocks (breccia, lava, and
tuff) (Effendi and Bawono, 1997). Ganda and
Sunaryo (1982, in Utami, 2011) stated that volcanic
history of Minahasa can be divided into three
episodes of volcanism, namely the Pre-Tondano,
Tondano, and post-Tondano. Based on our
observations on the spatial association between the
volcanic products and eruption center, volcanic
stratigraphy of Minahasa district can be divided into
28 volcanic sub-units as shown in Minahasa district
geological map (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Geologic map of the Minahasa District showing the lithologies, geological structures, and thermal
manifestations. Cross-section line for Figure 4 (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) is indicated.
Pre-Tondano unit
Consists of an autoclastic breccia, andesitic lava,
and tuff that mapped into Kawatak autoclastic
breccia and tuff and Maimbeng andesite lava
formation on the southern and western part of
Minahasa district.
Tondano unit
Characterized by Tondano tuff formation produced
by Tondano eruptions. The Tondano tuff formation
is consist of pumiceous tuff and lapilli-tuff. Based
on K/Ar dates of pumiceous lapilli tuff from
Toulimembet believed to represent the product of
the Tondano eruptions by PT. Gondwana (1988)
cited on Utami (2011), have an age of 0.871 ± 0.097
Ma or Lower Pleistocene. The formation is occupied
the low-terrain area of Minahasa district.
Post-Tondano unit
Consists of pyroclastic rock (tuff, lapilli-tuff, and
pyroclastic breccia) and andesite lava mapped into
Rindengan andesite lava and pumiceous lapilli tuff,
Lengkoan andesite lava. Manimporok andesite lava,
Wawona pumiceous lapilli-tuff, Wawona andesite
lava, Kota Menara pumiceous lapilli-tuff,
Walewangko pumiceous lapilli-tuff, Raringis
autoclastic breccia and pumiceous lapilli-tuff,
Raringis andesite lava and tuff, Sempu andesite lava,
Soputan andesite basaltic lava, Pinabetengan
andesite lava, Semelenduk andesite lava, Sinopi
andesite lava, Pinasuan pumiceous pyroclastic
breccia, Kanonang pumiceous pyroclastic breccia,
Wowok pumiceous pyroclastic breccia, Kokopit
pumiceous lapilli-tuff breccia, Wowok pumiceous
lapilli-tuff, Pinasuan andesitic lava, Umeh
pumiceous pyroclastic breccia, Matatumbak
pumiceous pyroclastic breccia, Luuk pumiceous
lapilli-tuff, Aesoput basaltic andesite lava, and
alluvial deposit.
Based on K/Ar age dating of andesite lava believed
to represent the product of the Manimporok
eruptions, the age of the Post- Tondano unit is 0.41
Ma or Middle Pleistocene (PT. Gondwana,1988, in
Utami, 2011).
EPISODES OF VOLCANISM
The volcanic history of Minahasa district as revealed
by our work integrated with the results of the
previous workers, i.e., Ganda and Sunaryo (1982)
and Lécuyer et al. (1997), is shaped by three
episodes of volcanism, namely the Pre-Tondano,
Tondano, and Post-Tondano.
The oldest known volcanic activity on Pre-Tondano
episode is the volcanic activity of Mt. Kawatak,
followed by the activity of Mt. Maimbeng. These
were followed by the eruptions which produced the
Tondano Caldera (Tondano episode).
The Post-Tondano episode was caharacterized by
explosive and effusive eruptions forming the
volcanic cones of Rindengan, Lengkoan, Wawona,
Kota Menara, Walewangko, Raringis,
Pinabetengan, Semelenduk, Sinopi, Pinasuan,
Kanonang, Wowok, Kokopit, Umeh, Matatumbak,
and Luuk, Sempu volcanic dome, and the active
Soputan volcano with its parasitic eruption center,
Mt. Aesoput.
These three episodes of volcanism give consequence
of the occurrence of geothermal systems with
different degrees of “maturity” in the Minahasa
district.
GEOTHERMAL MANIFESTATIONS
The thermal manifestations in the Minahasa district
consist of boiling and near-boiling neutral-pH
chloride hot springs and hotpools (with or without
silica sinter), and the steam-heated type
manifestations. The neutral-pH hot springs and
hotpools (T = 70 – 90o C) manifestations are
spatially associated with fumaroles (Tdischarge = 60 –
90o C), altered and steaming ground (T = 60 - 95o C
at 15 cm depth), mudpots, mudpools, and mudpond.
The neutral-pH, chloride fluid type manifestations
occur at Toraget, Tempang, and Karumenga
villages. A geyser (T = 82 - 86o C) discharges
intermittently at the Toraget village. The steam-
heated type manifestations consist of fumarole (T=
60 - 90o C), solfataras (T ~ 96o C) with significant
amount of sulfur deposit, acidic hot springs (T ~ 95o
C), and altered, steaming ground (T = 70 - 95o C at
15 cm depth). These steam-heated and solfataric-
type manifestations occur at Kanonang Village
(Bukit Kasih thermal area) and on the flanks of Mt.
Rindengan and Mt. Sempu. Steaming and altered
ground also occur at Tolok village.
Several warm springs (T = 40 - 50o C) discharge at
Pinabetengan, Kayuuwi, Kinali, and Passo villages.
The common minerals found on the altered ground
are kaolinite, residual silica, sulfur, alunite,
aluminium sulfate, and in places, iron oxide.
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
The emergence of geothermal systems in the
Minahasa district is thought to take place after the
formation of the Tondano Caldera.
The inferred time of the emergence of the
geothermal systems in Minahasa district within the
framework of the known geologic history of the
north arm of Sulawesi region is shown on a diagram
in Figure 3. Based on geothermal systems
conceptual model by Hochstein and Browne (2000),
at least three types of geothermal systems occur in
the Minahasa district (Figure 4). These are:
a.Hydrothermal system
b.Volcanic-hydrothermal system
c.Magmatic geothermal system
a. Hydrothermal System
Hydrothermal-type geothermal system occupies the
low-relief terrain inside the Tondano Caldera. It is
characterized by the discharge of boiling and near-
boiling neutral-pH chloride hot springs and hotpools
in Tempang, Toraget, and Karumenga villages.
These manifestations mark the location of the
upflow zone.
Utami (2011) interpreted that rain started to provide
adequate recharge fluid for the hydrothermal
systems in Minahasa since 31 to 33 ka. This
interpretation is based on the integration of
paleoclimate data of Lake Tondano and surrounding
by Dam et al. (2001) and the coupled atmosphere –
ocean general circulation model by Bush and
Philander (1997).
b. Volcanic-Hydrothermal System
This system occupies the high-relief terrain of the
Rindengan volcanic complex at the western part of
the Minahasa district. The volcanic-hydrothermal
systems manifests in the form of solfataras with
significant amount of sulfur deposit, fumarole, and
acidic hot spring at Kanonang village (Bukit Kasih).
The presence of the solfataric-type discharges
suggest that the system may have some contribution
of volcanic waters. The Kanonang thermal area is
inferred to be the marker of the upflow zone of this
type of system. However, further research such as
gas geochemistry need to be conducted to prove or
disprove this interpretation.
c. Magmatic Geothermal System
The hazardous, magmatic-type geothermal system is
hosted by the Mt. Soputan active volcano. The heat
and mass transfer from of this type of system is
characterised by the explosive and effusive volcanic
activities of Mt. Soputan and the Aesoput parasitic
eruption center. Some solfataras discharge around
the eruption vent.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This paper shows that a comprehensive geological
fieldwork covering geomorphology, volcanology,
volcanic stratigraphy, structural geology, and
observation of thermal manifestations can guide us
to discover the variety of geothermal types in a
volcanic complex.
Geological fieldwork using the concepts of
volcanology and its relationship with the
occurrences of geothermal systems can contribute in
prioritizing the location for geothermal development
in a large volcanic terrain.
The result of this study shall be followed up by more
detailed work to quantitatively constrain the timing
of volcanism and hydrothermal activities. When
combined with the results of detailed analysis of the
subsurface geoscientific data from the Tompaso
geothermal field it will be an important knowledge
to support the construction of the development
strategy of the geothermal potential in Minahasa.

Figure 3. Diagram showing the inferred time of the emergence of the geothermal systems in the Minahasa
district within the framework of the known geologic history of the north arm of Sulawesi region.
References: 1 = Hall (1995), 2 = Hall (1997 in Utami, 2011), 3 = Pubellier et al. (1991), 4 and 5 =
Hall (1995), 6, 7, and 8 = PT. Gondwana (1988, in Utami, 2011), 9 = Dam et al., (2001, in Utami,
2011), 10 = Bush and Philander (1999, in Utami, 2011), 11 and 12 = vsi.esdm.go.id, 13 =
Macpherson (2003, in Utami, 2011).
Figure 4. Conceptual model of geothermal systems in the Minahasa District.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank UGM – NZAID CaRED Program
and Geothermal Research Center for partially
funding this research. We sincerely thank PT. PGE
Area Lahendong for the permission to access the
Lahendong-Tompaso geothermal working area, and
PT. PGE Area Kamojang for providing the facilities
for the X-ray diffractometry analysis (XRD). Dr.
S.H. Sarundajang kindly provided the first author a
shelter in his Kawangkoan residence during the
fieldwork session.
REFERENCES
Effendi, A.C., and Bawono, S.S., 1997, “Peta
Geologi Lembar Manado, Sulawesi Utara,
skala 1:250000”, Pusat Studi Geologi,
Bandung.
Hall, R., 1995, “Plate Tectonic Reconstructions of
the Indonesian Region”, Indonesia, 24th
Indonesian Petroleum Association Association
Annual Convention Proceedings, Jakarta.
Hamilton, W., 1979, “Tectonics of the Indonesia
Region”, Geological Survey Professional
Paper, Washington.
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Hochstein, M.P., and Browne, P.R.L., 2000, Surface
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Internet Resource:
http://www.vsi.esdm.go.id