The Madura Strait is an offshore extension of the Kendeng Depression. On the basis of structural style and the tectonic events, Widjonarko (1990) divided the Madura Strait block into five structural domains : wrench domain, slide domain, western basinal domain, eastern basinal domain, and southeastern fault block domain. Wrench and slide domains bound the Madura Strait to the Madura-Kangean High in the north. Southeastern fault block becomes the southern border of offshore Madura Strait. The main parts of the Madura Strait where mud diapirs and volcanoes exist are composed by western and eastern basinal domains.
The Madura Strait Depression or Sub-Basin is one of the two deepest and thickest basins in Indonesia, the other is the Kutei Basin. In western basinal domain, very rapid sedimentation since the Late Miocene time resulted in the development of more than 3000 meters of Plio-Peistocene section. Eastern basinal domain is similar to western domain, the only difference is that the eastern basinal domain began to subside in the late Oligocene – early Miocene, much earlier than the western domain.
Stratigraphy of the Madura Strait started in Middle Eocene time by deposition of transgressive clastics unconformably on top of pre-Tertiary basement. The deposition was terminated by a local uplift at the end of Eocene time. Subsidence during the Oligocene resulted in deposition of deep marine sediments. An uplift at the end of the Oligocene resulted in a regional unconformity throughout the basin. During the Early Miocene time the rapid subsidence resulted in deposition of deep marine sediments in the area. In the mid-Late Miocene time, the basin was filled and another uplift took place. After a short subsidence to the end of Late Miocene, sedimentation interrupted again by an uplift in Early Pliocene time. Rapid subsidence in the late Pliocene time characterized by the deposition of overpressured thick clays. The area subsided again into a shallow marine environment after the Plio-Pleistocene regional uplift (Widjonarko, 1990).
In the Madura Strait area, east-west trending left-lateral wrench faulting triggered mobilization of Miocene basinal shales during the Plio-Pleistocene, resulting in a series of shale diapirs. Further south, the impact of on-going subduction along the Java Trench becomes increasingly significant and structures are dominated by north-directed thrusting, which may be independent of basement faulting.
Very thick young sediments deposited rapidly and compressed initiated elisional system in the Madura Strait depression. Mud diapirs and mud volcanoes occur numerously in the basin (Figures 4, 7).
Recently acquired seismic data in this area obviously show the presences of mud diapirs and submarine mud volcanoes in Pliocene to Pleistocene sections. Classic conic volcanic edifice typed- submarine mud volcanoes of stage-3 development (eruptive-phase) are observed in the seismic sections. The relationship between mud diapirs of stage-2 development and later stage mud volcanoes can be observed in some seismic sections.