Paleostress reconstruction from calcite twin and fault–slip data using the multiple inverse method in the East Walanae fault zone: Implications for the Neogene contraction in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

•A new approach by the multiple inverse method with calcite twin is proposed.•Combination analysis of calcite twins and fault‒slips yields consistent stress states.•Stress states from continental collision were successfully detected in South Sulawesi.•East Walanae fault was activated as a reverse fault with dextral shear in the Pliocene.

A new approach for paleostress analysis using the multiple inverse method with calcite twin data including untwinned e-plane was performed in the East Walanae fault (EWF) zone in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Application of untwinned e-plane data of calcite grain to constrain paleostress determination is the first attempt for this method. Stress states caused by the collision of the south-east margin of Sundaland with the Australian microcontinents during the Pliocene were successfully detected from a combination of calcite-twin data and fault–slip data. This Pliocene NE–SW-to-E–W-directed maximum compression activated the EWF as a reverse fault with a dextral component of slip with pervasive development of secondary structures in the narrow zone between Bone Mountain and Walanae Depression.