THE GEOLOGY OF KALIMANTAN

The island of Kalimantan presently lies upon the southeastern margin of the greater
Eurasian plate. It is bounded to the north by the South China Sea marginal oceanic
basin, to the east by the Philippine Mobile Belt and the Philippine Sea Plate and to the
south by the Banda and Sunda arc systems (Figure 1). It is bounded to the west by the
Sunda Shelf and ultimately by Paleozoic and Mesozoic continental crust of the Malay
Peninsula. The Greater Kalimantan Block is surrounded to the north, east, and south by
plate boundaries and arc systems which are presently active or which have been active
during the Tertiary and it is bounded to the west by an underexplored shelf region which
possibly conceals a terrane boundary (Fuller & Richter, ?).

Kalimantan can be divided into several roughly E-W trending tectonic provinces (Figure
5.1). The northern portion of the island is dominated by the Cretaceous and Eocene to
Miocene Crocker-Rajang-Embaluh accretionary complex. This consists primarily of
turbidites which were being shed northeastward (present day coordinates) off of the
Schwaner and younger volcanic arcs into a paralic to deep marine trench basin. These
sediments were imbricated, deformed, and weakly metamorphosed during Creraceous
and Tertiary subduction and finally were intruded by late stage and post subduction
intrusions of the Oligo- Miocene Sintang Group.

The Melawi-Ketungau basins and the Kutei basin (Figure 5.1) formed along the southern
margin of this complex during the Late Eocene and are separated from it by the Lupar-
Lubok Antu and Boyan melange-ophiolitic zones. Scattered exposures of Cretaceous
marine sediments adjacent to these basins likely record the Cretaceous fore-arc basin to
the Schwaner arc. The Kutei basin developed primarily along an arm of the Makassar rift
system while the Melawi-Ketungau basins and the Upper Kutei basins occupy more of a
fore-arc to intra-arc position to Tertiary volcanism. Tarakan and Sandakan basins are
Tertiary basins developed in the northeast part of Kalimantan. Similar to Kutai basin,
these basins are sourced by deltaic system from the Kalimantan mainland. The Barito
basin formed at the same time but appears to have formed as a back-arc or continental
rift. Pieters et al (1987) have correlated an Eocene basal sandstone/conglomerate and
Eocene volcanics throughout all of these basins and it appears that a continuous system
of Eocene rifts Formed along the margins of the uplifting and eroding Schwaner
Batholith. These developed into separate basins during the Oligocene and Miocene and
sedimentation has continued throughout most of the Neogene. The Schwaner Barholith
itself is a triangular exposure of Cretaceous granitic rocks which intrude Paleozoic and
Mesozoic volcanics, volcaniclastics, and marine sediments. The only region of
Kalimantan in which this Paleozoic and Mesozoic section is well preserved is in
Northwest Kalimantan and Western Sarawak (the Northwest Kalimantan domain of
Williams et al (1988)) although it presumably formed the continental crustal host for
Schwaner plutonism. The eastern margin of the Barito Basin is formed by the Meratus
ophiolite. This was emplaced during the Middle Cretaceous (Sikumbang, 1986),
presumably during northwestward directed subduction (present day coordinates). Arc
volcanism in SE Kalimantan then jumped outboard to the Sulawesi arc system. The
Meratus ophiolite separates the Barito basin from Asem-asem basin in the southeastern
portion of Kalimantan. Asem-asem basin is a Tertiary basin which converted eastward
gradually to Paternoster carbonate platform.

52
53
For practical convenience and presentation, the tectonic features of Kalimantan are
divided into two part: Tertiary Basins and Pre to Early Tertiary Highs.

5.1. TERTIARY BASINS

5.1.1. BARITO BASIN

The Barito Basin is situated along the southeastern margin of the Schwaner Shield in
South Kalimantan (Fig. 8). The basin is defined by the Meratus Mountains to the east
and separated from the Kutei Basin to the north by a flexure related to the Adang Fault.
The basin has a narrow opening to the south towards the Java Sea. The Barito Basin is
an asym- metric basin, forming a foredeep in the eastern part and a platform
approaching the Schwaner Shield towards the west (Fig. 9 and Fig. 14). The Barito
Basin commenced its development in the Late Cretaceous, following a micro-continental
collision between the Paternoster and SW Borneo microcontinents (Metcalfe, 1996;
Satyana, 1996). Early Tertiary extensional deformation occurred as a tectonic
consequence of that oblique convergence. This produced a series of NW – SE trending
rifts. These rifts became accommodation space for alluvial fan and lacustrine sediments
of the Lower Tanjung Formation, derived from horst areas. In the earliest Middle
Eocene, as the result of a marine transgression, the rift sediments becoming more
fluviodeltaic and eventually marine, as transgression proceeded during the deposition of
the Middle Tanjung Formation. The marine transgression subsequently submerged the
rifts in late Eocene – earliest Oligocene time, resulting in the deposition of widespread
marine shales of the Upper Tanjung Formation. After a short-lived marine regression in
the Middle Oligocene the development of a sag basin caused renewed marine
transgression. The Late Oligocene is characterized by the deposition of platform
carbonates of the Berai Formation (Figs. 6 and 7). Carbonate deposition continued into
the Early Miocene, when it was terminated by increasing clastic input from the west.
During the Miocene the sea regressed, due to the uplift of the Schwaner Core and the
Meratus Mountains. Clastic input resulted in the deposition of the eastwards-prograding
deltaic sediments of the Warukin Formation. In the late Miocene the Meratus Mountains
re-emerged, followed by the isostatic subsidence of the basin which was situated in a
foreland position in relation to the rising mountains. Sediments shed from this uplift were
deposited in the subsiding basin, resulting. in the deposition of thousands of meters of
the Warukin Formation. The uplift of the Meratus Mountains continued into the
Pleistocene and resulted in the deposition of the molassic-deltaic sediments of the
Pliocene Dahor Formation. This struc- tural and depositional regime still exists today.
The structural development of the Barito Basin is a consequence of two distinctly
separate, regimes (Fig. 6). First, an initial transtensional regime, during which sinistral
shear resulted in the formation of a series of NW – SE trending wrench-related rifts, and
second, a transpressional regime involving convergent uplift, which reactivated and
inverted old tensile structures and resulted in wrenching, faulting and folding. The
kinematics and type of Barito tectonic inversion have been discussed by Satyana and
Silitonga (1994). Presently, the structural grain of the basin is charac- terized by the
concentration of structures in the NNE part of the basin, typified by tight, parallel SSW –
NNE trending folds, bounded towards the Meratus Mountains by high-angle easterly-
dipping imbricate reverse faults, which involve the basement (Figs. 5 and 9). The
presence of major wrench faults is indicated by drag or fault-bend folds and reverse fault
traces. The unique concentration of structures in the NE part of the basin was
interpreted by Satyana (1994) as the tec- tonic consequence of half-encirclement of the

54
area by the two pre-Tertiary massifs: the northern Meratus Range and the North Meratus
Massifs (Fig. 8). The western and southern parts of the Barito Basin was mildly
tectonized and show almost no deformation structures. Thin-skinned tectonic
manifestations, rep- resented by decollement and ramp anticlines are only vaguely
identifiable in this portion of the basin (Satyana and Silitonga, 1993). Along the northern
Central Warukin and East Tapian Fields (Fig. 3). All of the fields occur in faulted
anticlines dipping to the east. The Tanjung and Kambitin Fields are associated with
basement-involved structures. The Warukin and East Tapian Fields occurred in
structures developed by thin-skinned tectonics within the Warukin Formation (Fig. 9).
Hydrocarbons are reservoired in the Lower and Middle Tanjung Sands (Middle Eocene)
and in the Lower and Middle Warukin sands (Middle Miocene) (Figs. 7, 14 and 15). Pre-
Tertiary basement rocks and the Berai carbonates (late Oligocene – early Miocene),
where they are fractured, have also proved to be good reservoirs, and may trap
hydrocarbons if they are well positioned. The hydrocarbons were generated in, and
migrated from, Lower and Middle Tanjung coals and carbonaceous shales, and Lower
Warukin carbon- aceous shales. The main kitchen is located in the pre- sent basin
depocentre. The sealing rocks are mainly provided by the intra-formational shales.
Generation, migration and entrapment of hydrocarbons has taken place since the middle
Early Miocene (20 Ma). The Barito Basin provides the best example of the effects of
tectonic interaction on hydrocarbon habitat (Fig. 9). In this basin, tectonics controlled
each com- ponent of the hydrocarbon habitat (petroleum system). Extensional tectonics
in the Early Tertiary formed a rifted basin within which the lacustrine Tanjung shales and
coals were deposited in graben areas. This lacus- trine environment was responsible for
the deposition of the Tanjung source rocks. As subsidence continued and the rifted
structures were submerged, widespread shales were deposited, which became an
important seal for the underlying reservoir rocks. This condition was also responsible for
the deposition of the widely-dis- tributed Middle Tanjung reservoir rocks. Extensional
faults became conduits for the migration of hydrocar- bons generated in the deeper
graben areas. The role of tectonics in hydrocarbon accumulation in the basin during
Neogene and Pleistocene time is indisputable. The implications of basin reversal in the
development of the petroleum system in the Barito Basin is discussed in Satyana and
Silitonga (1994). During the Late Miocene the basin was inverted, in as- sociation with
the Meratus Uplift, to produce an asymmetric basin; the Barito Basin, dipping gently in
the NW, towards the Barito Platform, and steeply in the SE against the Meratus Uplift.
Consequently the central part of the basin subsided rapidly, due to iso- stasy, causing
the Tanjung source rocks to be deeply buried, so that they attained the depth at which
hydro- carbons were generated. Restored modelling for the Barito tectonics and pet-
roleum generation (Satyana and Silitonga, 1994; Satyana, 1995; Satyana and Idris,
1996) has shown that inversion of the basin resulted from compressional tectonism (Fig.
9). Graben-fill sequences were actively inverted and asymmetric anticlines were
generated along the reverse faults. Hydrocarbons generated from the basin depocentre
were expelled to fill these struc- tural traps. Structures such as the Tanjung Field were
thus favorably positioned for the entrapment of early migrating hydrocarbons. Uplift of
the Meratus Mountains was continuous during the Late Miocene, through the Pliocene,
and peaked in the Plio – Pleistocene. Tanjung source rocks in the depocentre were
already mature by the Late Miocene. Proto- inverted structural traps formed in the early
Miocene time were continuously inverted as basin compression developed, resulting in
strongly positive features. Hydrocarbons filled these traps through the faults and along
permeable sands. It is considered that in the early Pliocene the Tanjung source rocks in
this area had exhausted their liquid hydrocarbon generating capability. At this stage gas
was generated and migrated to fill the existing traps. Plio – Pleistocene tectonism

55
caused the whole Barito Basin to be strongly inverted (Fig. 9). This tectonic event
caused both the formation of new traps and the destruction of existing traps. Entrapped
hydrocarbons probably remigrated to the newly-formed structures as old traps were tilted
or breached by the Plio – Pleistocene inversion. At this stage the Tanjung source rocks
had ceased to generate oil and gas in the depo- centre, since the section was firmly
within the dry gas window. The Lower Warukin Shales in the basin depo- centre reached
the depth of the oil window in the peak episode of tectonism during Plio – Pleistocene
times. Oil was generated and migrated to accumulate in struc- tural traps within the
Warukin sands. The Warukin and East Tapian Fields were charged in this period. The
foregoing discussion depicts how critical tec- tonics are to the deposition of reservoir and
source rocks, the maturation of source rocks, the formation of structural traps and oil
field distribution. However, tectonics may also destroy pre-existing traps.

5.1.2. KUTEI BASIN

The Kutei Basin is the largest (165,000 km ) and the deepest (12,000 – 14,000 meters)
Tertiary sedimentary basin in Indonesia. The basin is bounded to the north by the
Mangkalihat High; to the south the basin hinges on the Adang – Flexure (Adang-
Paternoster Fault); to the west it is terminated by the Kuching High – part of the
Kalimantan Central Ranges; and to the east the opens into the Strait of Makassar (Fig.
10). The Tertiary stratigraphic succession within the basin commenced with the
deposition of Paleocene alluvial sediments of the Kiham Haloq Formation in the inner
basin, close to the western border (Figs. 6, 7 and 14). The basin subsided during the late
Paleocene – Middle Eocene to Oligocene, due to basement rifting, and became the site
of deposition of the Mangkupa Shale in a marginal to open marine environment. Some
coarser siliciclastics, the Beriun Sands, are locally associated with the shale sequence,
indicating

an interruption of basin subsidence by uplift. The basin subsided rapidly after the
deposition of the Beriun Sands, mostly through the mechanism of basin sagging,
resulting in the deposition of marine shales of the Atan Formation and carbonates of the
Kedango Formation (Satyana and Biantoro, 1996). Subsequent tectonic events uplifted
parts of the basin margin by the late Oligocene (Figs. 6 and 7). This uplift was
associated with the deposition of the Sembulu Volcanics in the eastern part of the basin.
The second stratigraphic phase was contemporaneous with basin uplift and inversion,
which started in Early Miocene time. During that time, a vast series of allu- vial and
deltaic deposits were deposited in the basin. They comprise deltaic sediments of the
Pamaluan, Pulubalang, Balikpapan and Kampung Baru for- mations, prograding
eastwards, which range in age from the Early Miocene to Pleistocene times. Deltaic
deposition continues to the present day, and extends eastwards into offshore Kutei
Basin. At present, the structural style of the Kutei Basin is dominated by a series of tight
NNE – SSW trending folds (and subsidiary faults) that parallel the arcuate coastal line,
and are known as the Samarinda Anticlinorium – Mahakam Foldbelt (Figs. 5, 10 and 11).
These fold belts are characterized by tight, asymmetric anticlines, separ- ated by broad
synclines, containing Miocene siliciclas- tics. These features dominate the eastern part
of the basin and are also identifiable offshore. The defor- mation is increasingly more
complex in the onshore direction. The western basin area has been uplifted, A minimum
of 1500 m to over 3500 m of sediments have been removed by a mechanism of
inversion (Wain and Berod, 1989; Courteney and Wiman, 1991). Not much is known
about the structure of the western basin area and, although large structures are evident,
a similarity in structural trend and style is not apparent from the available data (Ott,

56
1987). In this region, the tectonics may involve the basement (thick-skinned tectonics).
Tectonic reversal, in terms of origin and its strain re- sponse, is not as obvious as in the
Barito Basin. Prograding deltaic sediments may have contributed to the mechanism of
structural inversion, by a mechanism of diapirism or growth-faulting, these mechanisms
are very different from those which affected the Barito Basin. The origin of folds and
faults in the Kutei Basin remains unresolved and concepts as diverse as vertical
diapirism, gravitational gliding ( Rose and Hartono, 1978; Ott, 1987), inversion through
regional wrenching (Biantoro et al., 1992), micro-continental collision, detachment
folding above overpressured sediments (Chambers and Daley, 1995), differential loading
on deltaic sediments and an inverted delta growth fault system (Ferguson and McClay,
1997) have been invoked.

5.1.3. TARAKAN BASIN

The Tarakan Basin encompasses the basinal areas in NE Kalimantan (Fig. 12). Workers
in this area usually subdivide the NE Kalimantan basinal areas into four sub-basins: the
Tidung Subbasin, the Berau Sub- basin, the Tarakan Sub-basin, and the Muara Sub-
basin. The Tarakan Basin of this paper includes all four sub-basins. The boundaries
between the sub- basins are not always eA’ective borders, some are only hinges or fault
zones. The Tarakan Basin is separated from the Kutei Basin by the Mangkalihat High or
Arch (Fig. 12). To the west the basin is terminated by the Sekatak – Berau High of the
Central Ranges, the basin hinges on the Semporna High to the north, and opens
eastwards and southeastwards into the Straits of Makassar.

57
Deposition in the Tarakan Basin commenced in the Middle Eocene, simultaneously with
the rifting of the Makassar Straits which separates Sulawesi from Kalimantan (Lentini
and Darman, 1996) (Figs. 6 and 7). The basin subsided and opened to the east. The sea
transgressed westwards and shallow marine shales of the Sembakung Formation were
deposited, overlying the older Dannu basement rocks. The. transgression was
interrupted by the latest Eocene uplift which resulted in the deposition of coarse clastics
of Sujau Formation. During Oligocene times a carbonate plat- form (Seilor Formation)
developed and continued into the Early Miocene as the Mangkabua Shales and the .
reefal Tabalar Limestone. In the middle Miocene, the western basin margins were
uplifted and caused open marine conditions to give way to widespread and rapid clastic
deltaic deposition, which successively prograded eastwards with time. Periodic and
cyclic regression – transgression during the middle Miocene to Pleistocene time caused
sedimentary switching, leaving marine shales and limestones intercalated with coarse
clastic deltaic sediments (The Naintupo shales, Meliat – Tabul – Santul – Tarakan –
Sajau – Bunyu deltaics and the Domaring – Waru carbonates). The present structural
grain of the basin is charac- terized by folds trending NW – SE and by the faults trending
NE – SW (Figs. 5 and 13). Structural defor- mation becomes increasingly complex
northwards. The regular NE – SW trending faults, which are normal to the direction of
sedimentary thickening, suggests that they were developed contemporaneously with
depo- sition, and may be the direct result of sediment loading of successive deltaic
sediments. All structures in the lower basin formed as the result of thin-skinned tec-
tonics (Fig. 14). Involvement of the basement charac- terizes the structures of the upper
basin, approaching the Sekatak – Berau High. Tectonic inversion is almost absent in this
basin. The tectonic history of the Tarakan Basin com- menced with extensional tectonics
in the Middle Eocene, initiating the basin by block faulting, simi- lar to events in the
neighbouring basins. In the Middle Miocene, the Sulu Sea, located to the north of the
basin, was subducted below the accreted con- tinental crust of North Kalimantan, and
this resulted in the extrusion of Neogene volcanics in the Semporna Peninsula and was
responsible for the formation of NW – SE trending, SE plunging folds in the Tarakan
Basin. These fold axes are now rep- resented by the islands of Sebatik, Bunyu and
Tarakan. The folds become increasingly more com- plex towards the north as they
approach the con- vergent margin. Some workers (Lentini and Darman, 1996; Biantoro
et al., 1996) relate the for- mation of these folds to wrench tectonics in the basin itself.
The thick progradation of a deltaic suc- cession during Middle Miocene to Pleistocene
time resulted in growth-faulting with rollover structures, aligned perpendicular to the
sedimentary flow and subsiding towards the east.

5.1.4. SANDAKAN BASIN

The Sandakan Basin, located in the southern portion of the Sulu Sea, with Tertiary
deltaic complex in the south of the basin. It is analogous in many ways to the
hydrocarbon-producing Baram and Mahakam deltas, which like the Sandakan, are
adjacent to Kalimantan (Figure 1). This affinity with Borneo distinguishes the Sandakan
Basin from all other sedimentary basins of the Philippines.

The Sandakan Basin is filled mainly with Mio- Pliocene age fluvio-deltaic sedimentary
rocks, up to 15 km thick (Figure 2). The stratigraphic section in the basin has been
described by Tamesis (1990). The basin is bounded on the northwest by the Cagayan
Ridge and extends southwestward into central and southeastern Sabah. The inactive
Sulu Trench and the Sulu Archipelago form the eastern boundary of the basin. To the
northeast, sediments are deformed by toe-of-slope compressional folds. Northeast of

58
these folds, the sedimentary succession thins to 2.5 km and downlaps onto the
Southeast Sulu Sea oceanic crust, marking the northeastern boundary of the basin
(Graves & Swauger, 1997).

The tectonic history of this basin is not agreed upon. Back-arc and intra-arc
classifications have been assigned to the Southeast Sulu Sea. In either case, the sea-
floor spreading may have been associated with southeast-directed subduction of a
proposed proto- South China Sea oceanic crust, under a northeastern extension of the
Borneo microcontinent (the Cagayan Ridge), during Middle Miocene time (Hinz, et al.,
1991). Further discussion of the basin development is made by Hutchison (1992) and
Rangin et al. (1990).

5.1.5. SARAWAK BASIN

The continental shelf offshore East Malaysia belongs to an extensive shallow-water area
that connects Borneo with the Asian mainland (Fig. 2). Only the northern part of Borneo
is separated from continental Asia by deep water areas of the South China Sea. Along
central Sarawak the shelf is extremely broad, generally exceeding 300 km from shelf
edge to coast. It becomes narrow toward northern Sabah, where it locally is less than
100 km wide.

Most of the shelf is underlain by a thick upper Tertiary sequence. Magnetic data, locally
supported by seismic data, suggest the greatest sedimentary thicknesses are in central
and northern Sarawak, close to the present coast (Figs. 3, 4). In Sa- bah, a zone of
maximum thicknesses appears to occur 60 km offshore. The main source of these
sediments was the orogenic belt that runs along the southern border of Sarawak
northward into Sabah. These mountains, that were mainly uplifted in the Eocene, now
form the landward boundary of the thick upper Tertiary basin.

In Sarawak, thick upper Tertiary sediments reach tar beyond the shelf edge, covering
large deepwater areas (Sarawak basin. Fig. 2). Farther north, in western Sabah, a deep
relatively narrow trough (Sabah trough) with mostly undisturbed, horizontal sediments of
probably Pliocene age, separates the thick upper Tertiary sequence beneath the shelf
from the much thinner Tertiary sequence which underlies the deep water farther offshore
(Fig. 3, 4: sections 1, 2). A similarly deep, but shorter graben is found 250 km farther to
the west-northwest (Fig. 2). The abyssal plain of the China basin lies 350 km to the
northwest of the Sabah trough, at a water depth of 4,000 m, and is underlain by oceanic
basement with only a thin veneer of sediments. In this area, crustal extension led to the
formation of oceanic basement, probably in middle Tertiary time, whereas in the south
rifting never went beyond the initial graben formation. Thick upper Tertiary sediments
also underlie part of the shelf in eastern Sabah, extending landward across Dent
Peninsula. However, in the deep waters to the northeast, oceanic basement appears to
be at shallow depth beneath the Sulu Sea (Fig. 2).

In most areas seismic basement offshore corresponds to indurated Paleogene

sediments. Based on projections from onshore western Sarawak and offshore well data
from Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia, basement is expected to consist of Mesozoic
metamorphic and granitic rocks, and possibly at least partly of upper Paleozoic rocks
similar to those exposed in Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, and western Sarawak.
Mesozoic metamorphic rocks have been described from surface outcrops in eastern
Sabah (Leong, 1974).

59
While shelf conditions prevailed in western Sarawak, a deep trough developed in central
Sarawak during Cretaceous- Paleogene time, extending northward over parts of
Kalimantan and western Sabah. Several thousand meters of deepwater shales and
turbidites accumulated in this trough, the axis of which appears to have been located
100 to 200 km inland from today’s coast. Paleocene shallow-water limestones found in
the subsurface of southwest Luconia indicate the presence of carbonate shoals along
the western flank of the Paleogene deepwater trough. The main orogenic belt of the
Northwest Kalimantan basin was strongly folded and uplifted during Eocene time, thus
becoming an important source for the younger Tertiary sediments.

Mid-Tertiary rifting in the China basin is thought to have exerted extensional stresses
that led to the formation of a half graben and graben system in which mostly continental
sediments were deposited (Figs. 2-5). At the same time a deep trough developed in front
of the Eocene fold belt in Sabah and northern Sarawak. It rapidly filled with a thick shale
and turbidite sequence (West Crocker and Temburong formations; Liechti et al, 1960),
but carbonate shoals and reef buildups developed along the southwestern flank of the
trough (Melinau Lime- stone; Liechti et al, 1960). In central Sarawak a shallower
environment prevailed with a mainly argillaceous facies deposited (Kelabit formation,
Setap shale, Penian marl; Liechti et al, 1960; partly Miri Zone, Hale, 1973). Deep-
marine, predominantly shaly sequences also were de- posited in eastern Sabah, where
they contain radiolarites and spilites. These have been interpreted as trench melanges
indicative of a late Oligocene-early Miocene northwest to southeast oriented subduction
zone (Hamilton, 1976; Beddoes, 1976). Although no blueschist metamorphism has been
observed, this zone with its highly contorted shales and the frequent radiolarites and
ophiolithes shows more indications of subduction than the southwest to northwest
oriented trend of the main North- west Borneo geosyncline, which lacks typical trench
melanges. Structurally. Sabah is the most complex area in northwestern Borneo,
because of its megatectonic position between the is- land arc system of the western
Pacific and the Asian mainland.

During the early Miocene the sea transgressed westward. Deeper marine deposits
reached the present northern Sarawak shelf and a shallower marine wedge extended far
into Indonesian waters (Fig. 5). Locally carbonate shoals and buildups fringed the basin
(e.g. Subis Limestone, Melinau Limestone, Liechti et al 1960). Extensive coastal plain
continental deposits formed along the basin margin, with a particularly thick development
in the present area off central/western Sarawak. Northwest to southeast oriented horst
and graben tectonics affected the area, but large parts of the area off western Sarawak
have subsequently become fairly stable, elevated, and extensively eroded. During the
middle Miocene strong subsidence began off central Sarawak along a fault system of a
general north- northwest to south-southwest orientation. The middle Miocene sea spread
into the depressions that formed on either side of a relatively stable, elevated central
area, where extensive carbonate buildups began to form (Central Luconia). At the same
time gradually outbuilding deltas came into existence in western and northern Sarawak
and in northern Sabah (Fig. 5). During the late Miocene, much of the present area off
central and southern Sabah underwent strong folding, initiated through basement uplifts
and wrench faulting. Large parts of northern Sarawak, both onto and offshore, were also
affected by this tectonic phase, though deformation generally has been weaker.
Synsedimentary deformation took place in the thick sedimentary sequences that filled
the deep depressions on either side of the Central Luconia carbonate platform. Deltaic
outbuilding continued in western and central Sarawak and new deltas developed in

60
southern and eastern Sabah (Fig. 5). During the Pliocene, the sea rapidly expanded
over the northward tilting shelf, depositing open-marine clays and sands (Fig. 5). On the
shelf slope, thrust folds developed far offshore. Synsedimentary deformation continued
in the deltaic areas, while another folding phase, probably again triggered by trough
basement uplifts and wrench faulting, affected large parts of nearshore northern
Sarawak and particularly northern Sabah (Figs. 3, 4).

5.1.6. MELAWI AND KETUNGAU BASIN

The melange and accretionary rocks east of the Northwest Kalimantan domain are
unconformably overlain by three sedimentary sequences; the Silat sequence, Melawi
Basin sequence and Ketungau/Mandai Basin sequences. The earliest of these is the
Silat sequence, which comprises a fluviatile sandstone up to 600m thick overlain by up
to 2000m of lacustrine black shale. The sequence thins rapidly to the west and is not
present to the west of the Kapuas River (Fig. 2). It is folded into a tight, east plunging
syncline, and limbs are in places overturned. The Silat sequence overlies the southern
accretionary deposits and is unconformably overlain by rocks of the Melawi Basin. The
area of outcrop of the sequence was referred to by Zeybnans van Emmichoven (1939)
and Williams et al., (1984) as the Silat Fold Belt. The Silat sequence was folded before
the deposition of the Melawi Basin sequence. The nature of the folding suggests the
presence of thrust faults at depth (Williams et al., 1984). The Melawi Basin contains up
to 5 km of fluviatile, lagoonal and marginal marine sediments. Volcanic detritus is not
abundant but van Es (1918) and Williams and Heryanto (1986) recognised many
horizons containing air-fall fragments and silicified glass shards indicating distant
contemporaneous volcanism. The source for this detritus is porbably from the volcanism
which produced the Early Tertiary volcanics in the Schwaner Mountains. The Melawi
Group unconformably overlies either the Cretaceous shelf sediments or the Silat
sequence in the north and onlaps the granitic and metamorphic basement to the south.
Age diagnostic fossils are rare in the Melawi Group but a Turonian foraminiferal
assemblage has been recovered from near the base (Williams and Heryanto, 1986). It is
an asymmetrical basin, with the maximum sediment accumulation closer to the norhtern
margin. The rocks are folded into a gentle syncline, with maximum limb dips of 30 .
Folds are also asymmetric, the northern limb more steeply dipping than the southern
limb. The Ketungau Basin sequence is separated from the Melawi Basin by accretionary
rocks and the Boyan Melange. It is also an east- west trending basin and as is the
Mandai Basin to the east. The Tertiary sediments in the Mandai Basin are porbably
correlates of the Ketungau Basin sequence. The stratigraphy of the basin fill is shown in
Fig. 6 (Column 5) and the total sediment thickness in the Ketungau Basin is estimated to
be at least 5 km. The lower formation is very similar to the Melawi Group which
prompted Zeylmans van Emmichoven (1939) to correlate the two. However fossils from
the lowest exposed rocks of the Ketungau Basin are Eocene (Tan, 1979) and it is
unlikely that a thick section exists below the fossil horizon (Williams and Heryanto,
1986). In addition the thick (approx. 2000 m) fluviatile sandstone in the middle of the
Ketungau sequence (Fig. 6) has no equivalent in the Melawi Basin. Consequently the
Ketungau Basin is considered younger than the Melawi Basin. The Ketungau Basins is
faulted againts the Lubok Antu Melange to the north, and in places onlaps the Boyan
Melange to the south. In other places the southern boundary of the Basin is faulted. Like
the Melawi Basin, the Ketungau Basin is asymmetrical, units in the south being
substantially thinner than their equivalents to the north. It is also folded into a gentle
east-trending symmetrical syncline with limb dips generally 250 The Mandai basin
sediments onlap Turonian flysch north of the Boyan Melange.

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5.2. PRE-EARLY TERTIARY HIGHS

5.2.1. NW KALIMANTAN DOMAIN

The oldest fossiliferous rocks of the North- west Kalimantan domain are Late
Carboniferous limestone and marble containing diagnostic fusulinids. These crop out in
small areas of both Kalimantan (Zeylmans van Emmichoven, 1939) and Sarawak
(Sanderson, 1966). In Kalimantan the limestone and marble flank a unit comprising
schist, phyllite and quartzite with garnet grade greenschist facies assemblages (Fig. 2).
Small areas of similar schist are present in Sarawak (Pimm, 1965). In Kalimantan the
metamorphic rocks are intruded by biotite granite which yields K-Ar ages from Permian
to Late Triassic (Table 3, Group 1). Many of the granitic rocks contain a strorig foliation,
and the Lhte Triassic ages are obtained from biotites from deformed rock The Permian
dates come from hornblende crystals from undeformed regions of the granites or from
amphibolite en-claves. The older ages are interpreted as minimum intrusive ages and
the Middle to Late Triassic ages as the deformation age of the suite (Fig. 6, col. 1).
Late Triassic shallow marine shales containing Monotis and Halobia were deposited on
the Northwest Kalimantan domain, and these prob- ably post-date the main Late Triassic
deformation event recorded in the granitic rocks. The shales are not in contact with the
schist and granitic rocks, but Tan (1986) indicates that similar rocks in Sarawak contain
detritus from the older calcareous rocks and granite, implying an unconformable
relationship. Basic and intermediate volcanic rocks are also present which may correlate
with the Late Triassic volcanics of Sarawak (Wilford and Kho, 1965; Kirk, 1968; Hon,
1978). Early Jurassic ammonites and bivalves have been identified from several
localities west of the metamorphic part of the domain (Wing Easton, 1904). The fossils
occur in shallow marine shales, calcareous and nodular siltstone, and feldspathic
conglomerate intercalated with biohermal limestone, oolitic and intra-clastic limestone.
These appear to form a conform- able sequence with the Late Triassic strata. In the far
west spilite appears to overlie the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic sedimentary
sequences, which are only middly deformed. Regions of older slate are also present in
this area which are affected by the Middle to Late Triassic deformation event. In
Sarawak, the sedimentary record from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous is fairly
complete (Tan, 1986). Late Jurassic near-shore detritus and shallow marine limestone
form a marginal facies to the north-trending trough containing dominantly Cretaceous
sandy turbidites and calcareous mudstone (Fig. 2). Tan (1986) argues that a hiatus
exists between the Late Jurassic - Cretaceous strata and the Late Triassic rocks. This is
supported by a structural divergence between the two units in Kalimantan. In Kalimantan
Late Jur- assic ammonites have also been recovered (Sato, written communication) from
localities adjacent to the metamorphic rocks and the north-trending trough, which
contains dominantly Cretaceous sandy and calcareous flysch deposits. The trough is 40
km wide in Kalimantan, bounded on the west by Late Triassic sequences and on the
east by the metamorphic rocks. The trough sequence is gently to strongly folded; north-
dipping thrust faults and folds with a north-dipping axial surface are evident in many road
cuttings. These formed prior to the Senomanian, because the rocks are unconformably
overlain by undeformed fluvial sandstone of that age (Muller, 1968; Tan, 1983). In the far
northwest (area 2 on Fig.l, Fig.6, co1.2) chert, gabbro and ultramafic rocks form isolated
outcrops in Kalimantan which occur within a sequence of deformed turbidites and pebbly
mud- stone. These have also been mapped in Sarawak (Wolfenden, 1963) where they
are Jurassic. The rocks of this area may belong to a Jurassic melange (Hamilton, 1979),
but they do not form an east- west trending belt as suggested by hirn or trend to the
south across the Northwest Kalimantan do- main (Sengor, 1984, 1986). The relationship

62
between the Northwest Kalimantan domain and the Schwaner Mountains is obscured by
the extent of Early Cretaceous batholiths. No equivalent sedimentary sequences are
present in the Schwaner Mountains, and no granites equivalent to the deformed Permian
granites have been found despite an intensive dating programme. Probably Triassic
basic volcanics in the southwest (de Keyser and Rustandi, in press) may be equivalent
to the Late Triassic volcanics in Sarawak and low-grade schists in the Schwaner
Mountains and the Northwest Kalimantan domain could be equivalent.

5.2.2. SCHWANER MOUNTAINS

Batholiths of tonalite and granodiorite with minor mafic rocks and granite intruding low-
grade regional metamorphic rocks underline most of the Schwaner Mountains region
(Fig. 5.1). Basic volcanic rocks both older than and younger than the granitoids are also
present (de Keyser and Rustandi, in press). The granitoids form a belt 200 km. wide and
at least 500 km long. Chemical analyses of typical rocks from the Schwaner Mountains
(Table 1) indicates the I-type calc-alkaline nature of the suite. The most mafic rock
analysed is a norite, and the most acid rocks are syeno-granite is a gap in composition
from 67% Si02 to 72% Si02 which suggests at least two batholiths are present. In the
southwest, a third batholith composed dominantly of granite with subordinate riebeckite-
bearing alkaline granite and syenite (de Keyser and Rustandi, in press; Table 2), has
distinctive geochemical characteristics com- pared to the extensive tonalite and
syenogranite suites (Fig. 4).

Age determination on biotite and hornblende from the hornblende from the granitoids
has been carried out by Haile et al. (1977) and several new determinations have been
made during the recent mapping program. Haile et al. obtained ages ranging from
Jurassic (157 Ma) to Late Cretaceous (77 Ma). The current project obtained ages on 33
specimens and ages range from 129 Ma to 87 Ma, falling into four main groups (Table
3). Early Cretaceous ages were obtained from tonalite and granodiorite bodies (Group 2)
and the middle to Late Cretaceous ages (Group 3) were obtained from the granite
batholith in the soutwest. The range of ages from 100 Ma to 120 Ma in the tonalite and
syenogranite suite may indicate twomain magmatic episodes over that period, the
second corresponding to the intrusion of the more siliceous batholith. Ages obtained on
basic-intermediate volcanics in the area indicate Early Tertiary volcanism tookplace in
the Schwaner Mountains.

5.2.3. MERATUS MOUNTAINS

The location of the Meratus Range (southeast Kalimantan) is shown in Fig. 5.1; this
mountain range limits the Barito and Kutei Basins on their southeast side, separating
them from the Kintap Basin which lies to the southeast. The directions of main folding
are NNE – SSW (in the northern part) and NE – SW (in the southern part).

Three major units are exposed in the southern part: The Peridotitic Nappe, overthrust
(together with its metamorphic thrust sole) on the Alino formation (Koolhoven, 1935).
Both units are unconformably overlain by the Manunggul Formation. All these
Cretaceous units are then overlain by younger marine and continental deposits. The
Peridotitic Nappe is made up mostly of serpentinites. gabbros and plagiogranites. The
metamorphic thrust sole of the Peridotitic Nappe is composed of crystalline schists and
amphibolites, and is intruded by several gabbroic an basaltic plugs.

63
The Alino Formation is made up mainly: of volcanic and volcaniclastic rock series: lava
flows. dykes. volcanic breccias. greywackes and tuffs. The volcanogenic rocks are
interbedded with predominantly sedimentary layer, radiolaria-bearing tuffaceous clays
and turbidite. Orbitolina and radiolaria-bearing limestones. ammonite-bearing
argillaceous limestones and finally cong1omerates containing pebbles and blocks of the
former rocks toward the upper part of the sequence. The corresponding faunistic ages
range from Upper Aptian to Cenomanian (Priyomarsono, 1985). The Manunggul
Formation is also made up mostly vo1canogenic rocks, but it was deposited after the
over thrusting of the Peridotitic nappe: thus it has the geological character of a molasse
deposit. Volcanic sediments (tuffs and greywackes) are interbedded with conglomerates,
sandstones, tuffaceous c1ays, and Upper Turonian clays near the bottom of the
formation. Senonian conglomerates and clay beds occur near the top of this this
sedimentary sequence, transitional to the lower units of Eocene detrital Tanjung
Formation. The Manunggul formation, as well as the underlying Periodititc Nappe, are
intruded both by basalic and andesitic dyekes and by a number of gabbroic, dioritic,
microdioritic and granitic plugs.

5.2.4. RAJANG-EBALUH GROUP FOLD-THRUST BELT

This great flysch belt is the eastwards continuation of the Sibu Zone Belaga Formation of
Sarawak (Kirk 1957), which swings north and north-north- east along the eastern margin
of the Miri Zone continental margin, to reach its best known localities in the Crocker
Range near Mount Kinabalu. In the south it has been mapped as the Late Cretaceous to
Eocene Lurah and Mentarang formations (BRGM 1982). These continue northwards into
Sabah as the West Crocker and Sapulut formations, respectively (Collenette 1965).

The Rajang – Embaluh Group ranges in age from Late Cretaceous (Santonian) to Early
Eocene. Embaluh Group strata contain upper Santonian/lower Campanian nannofossils
(Moss & Finch 1998). Middle Eocene larger foraminifera are reported from outcrops of
turbidites in east Kalimantan. Ter Bruggen (1935) described Palaeocene to Middle
Eocene benthic foraminifera from the headwaters of the Embaluh River in Kalimantan.
Picters et al. (1993) suggest a Late Cretaceous to mid-Eocene age for these rocks on
the basis of regional correlation, and all available data confirm a Late Cretaceous
(Santonian) to Valaeocene/Early Eocene age for the bulk of the sediments. In Sarawak
the Rajang Group youngs northward from the Upper Cretaceous Lupar Formation and
Layer Member of the Belaga Formation to the Middle Eocene members of the Belaga
Formation (Hutchison l996). The Embaluh Group is unlikely to extend into the Middle
Eocene, at least within the study area, because felsic agglomerates, flat-lying lava flows
and vent-related intrusions unconformably overlie or intrude the Embaluh Group along
the course of the upper Mahakam river. Both the volcanics and lava flows are part of the
Nyaan Volcanics suite radiometrically dated using the K – Ar technique at 48.6+ 0.5 Ma
(Pieters et al. 1993) and correlative with other felsic intrusives across Borneo in the
middle Eocene (Moss et a1. 1997). Middle Eocene rocks of the Kutai Basin also
unconformably overlie the Embaluh Group in the study area (Moss & Finch 1998).

In West Sabah, this belt consists of Eocene to Oligocene turbidites, hemipelagics, and
associated broken formations (Crocker, Temburong, Trusmadi and other formations)
that have been deformed into a thrusted, steeply-dipping sequence. The sequence
becomes younger in a seaward direction (northwestward) but bedding tops face
southeastward, indicating that the structure must be intricately imbricate (Hamilton,
1979). On seismic (Fig. 5b) the Fold-Thrust Belt can be seen to extend in the offshore

64
area at least up to the Bunbury-St. Joseph Ridge (that is, beneath the Inboard Belt),
where it is sharply bounded to the west by a major wrench zone. The uplifted, exposed
part of the Fold-Thrust Belt provided the main source of sediments for the Inboard Belt
and subsequently for the Baram Delta and Outboard Belt depocentres (Hazerbroek &
Tan, 1992).

65