R.W. VAN BEMMELEN THE GEOLOGY OF INDONESIA VOL. IA GENERAL GEOLOGY OF INDONESIA and ADJACENT ARCHIPELAGOES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, THE HAGUE 1949INTRODUCTION v INTRODUCTION py G. J. WALLY MINING ENGINEER, CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF MINES OF INDONESIA T the outbreak of the Pacific war in December 1941 the publications of the Bureau of Mines were suspended. Due te the unfavourable circumstances in the East Indies since the liberation in 1945, it has not yet been possible to resume the normal activity of editing the *Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen” and other scientific series. However, for several reasons it was thought necessary to make an exception for the memoir which is now edited. This book intends to give a synthesis of our present know- jedge about the geology and the mineral deposits of Indonesia. More than 20 years have passed since the appearance in 1927 of the Lectures on the Geology of the Netherlands Indies by the late Professor L. M. R. RUTTEN. Our geological knowledge on the East Indies has considerably increased during that period and, consequently, RUTTEN’ excellent book is no longer up to date. Moreover, in 1950 it will be one hundred years ago that the Geological Survey of the Netherlands Indies started its activities. We are now at the beginning of a new era under different circumstances. It is of inestimable value to have at this moment the deposition of a book which gives a review of all that has been achieved in this field of science. The Government of the Netherlands East Indies has committed the writing of this book to R. W. VAN BEMMELEN, geologist and mining engineer, who has been a member of the staff of the Geological Survey of the Netherlands Indies since 1927. Moreover, with regard to the comprehensive character of this work, a commission for the supervision on the redaction has been appointed. Prof. C. H. EDELMANat Wageningen, and W. C. B. KootHoven, Chief of the Geological Survey till 1947, acted as its members. This commission approved of the basic plan for this book. It was decided to discuss also the geology of the adjacent archipelagoes, which form not only geographically but also geologically a unit with Indonesia. Finally, not only basic geological observations are published in this book; much attention has also been given to more theoretical geological problems. Judging the desir- ability of such a procedure, it has been considered that, although the basic facts must leave the possibility of various interpretations, synthetic views always have a stimula- ting effect on further research, It is evident that the primary observations and their interpretation must be kept apart, and the author strived for such a distinction. The moment is near, that the geological research of Indonesia will be continued, by the Government as well as by private enterprises. This publication will be a guide for that work. Batavia, July 30th, 1948FOREWORD vit FOREWORD 'HE Indian Archipelago since long has drawn the attention of geographers, geologists and geophysists. Sraurrer (1945) estimates that probably a thousand geologists have set foot on the East Indies during the past hundred years, The bibliography of the publications pertaining to geology and mining in the East Indies and neighbouring areas, edited by the "Geologisch Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap” in three volumes, comprised already 5518 titles in 1932), Since that year many hundreds of geological publications have appeared, which were reviewed, for the greater part, in the “Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap”. It is impracticable to give exhaustive literature references in this book, soa selection has been made of the most important publications. Stress is laid upon the more recent publications, those whicl were issued after the appearance in 1927 of L. M. R, RuTrEn’s lectures on the Geology of the Netherlands East Indies, Since Rutrey’s excellent description of the regional geology much new field work fas been done by the Netherlands Indies Geological Survey. We can mention: The geological survey of South Sumatra in the years 1927-1931 (with maps 4 200,000); the geological survey of Java in the period 1927-1941 (with maps 1 : 100,000); the geological survey of Borneo (West Borneo appeared in the "Jaarboek Mijnwezen”” 1939, Treatises with maps 1 : 250,000; SE- and NE-Borneo were covered also by a general survey, but apart from some preliminary papers in "De Ingenieur in Nederlandsch Indié”, the final reports were not published owing to the war); the geological survey of the southern part of the SE arm of Celebes and the Buton Archipelago (see "Verslagen en Mededcelingen betreffende Indische Delistoffen, etc. No. 21, 1936, and preliminary papers in “De Mijningenieur”). Furthermore, members of the geological survey made a number of miscellaneous investigations in Central- and North Sumatra, the Riouw Archipelago, Bangka, Billiton, Karimata Islands, Karimondjawa Islands, Minahasa, Halmaheira. The volcanological survey studied the active volcanoes in Java, Sumatra, Lesser Sunda Islands, Halmaheira, Minahasa and Sangihe Islands. The cruise of the Snellius in 1929-1930, in the eastern part of the Archipelago, has greatly advanced our knowledge of the submarine relief; KuENrx, the geologist of this expedition, published a number of important papers on his observations. Other important expeditions have been: the gravity measurements at sea by VENING MEINESZ on board of the Netherlands submarine K XIII in 1927, 1929 and 1930; the Central Celebes expedition in 1929 by Brouwer, Herzet and Srratrer; the expedition to Portuguese Timor by the Allied Mining Corporation in 1936, with seven geologists and mining engineers; the expedition to the Carstensz summits in New Guinea in 1936, in which the geologist Dozy has participated; the expedition to the Lesser Sunda Islands in 1937, by BROUWER and a number of pupils; the three expeditions to the central mountain range of New Guinea in 1936-1939 by the "Mijnbouw Maatschappij Nederlandsch Nieuw Guinea” with the mining engineers Tenvsta and pe Groor; the expedition to Central Netherlands New Guinea in 1939 by the “Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap”, under the leadership of Le Roux. Moreover, Kopennerc’s final report on North Celebes appeared in the “Jaarboek Mijnwezen” 1928, Vol. I and If; the results of the paleobotanic Djambi expedition to Sumatra in 1925 were published in the “Jaarboek Mijnwezen” 1930, Verh. II; and the studies of the collections of the Ceram expedition by 2) Volume T and I were compiled by R. D. M. VeRuErx (1924) and Volume III has been written by N. Win E4ston (1933). The parts 1-4 of Volume IV were also prepared by the latter. Parts 3-4 appeared in May 1937 (atest number $959). In July of that year Winc Easton suddenly died. Thereafter, partly also due to war Circumstances, this useful series was interrupted for more than a decade, At present J. F. SreENHUIS has completed Vol, IV, adding t0 it the parts 5-10 (Nrs, 5960-6700) which cover the period 1937-1947 and with supplements for the period 1853-1947, The conceraing MS, which has been closed in May 1948, is now under the press.