18

CHAPTER 3

Fig. 3.2. Distribution of regional gravity stations on Sumatra and the adjacent islands. Inset: the gravity field of Simeulue, showing locations of the small exposures of
ophiolitic rocks.

occupy most of the width of the island (Fig. 3.1). Values below
60 mGal are associated with the Toba caldera and with an even
deeper low (or, rather, a deeper culmination of the same low)
that occurs farther north and extends as far as Lake Tawar (see
Figs 3.1 and 3.2). The junction between the two gravity
provinces (approximately along a line running NNW from
Bengkulu) does not correspond to any of the terrane boundaries
recognized in published accretion models of Sumatra (cf.
Pulunggono & Cameron 1984) or to those identified in Chapter
14, and may reflect entirely post-amalgamation processes. It is,
however, also possible that a major but hitherto unrecognized
suture is being recorded by the gravity field.

Ultramafics
Gabbro

Correlation of gravity patterns across major strike-slip faults

can, in favourable circumstances, supplement straightforward
geological matching as a means of determining total offsets.
There is, however, little hope of identifying unambiguous
gravity correlations across the Sumatran Fault because of the
very rapid changes in gravity produced along and to the west of
the fault by fault-parallel belts such as the volcanic Barisan
range, the forearc basin and the forearc ridge.
Detailed gravity surveys in mainland extensions of the forearc
sedimentary basins and in inter-montane basins in the Barisan
Highlands have revealed strong local correlations between
sediment thickness and gravity field. These are, however, most

GRAVITY FIELD

precise where the basins are of only small lateral extent and
are often not apparent on regional maps. The examples of the
Ombilin intermontane basin and the Bengkulu forearc basin are
discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

TobaTawar gravity low

Low Bouguer gravity is to be expected in the mountainous regions
of northern Sumatra because isostatic balance requires mass
deficiencies at depth to support the topographic masses. Kadir
et al. (1996) interpreted these low values as evidence for a
structural model in which the crust is very thin and is underlain
by low density mantle. The alternative, and more conventional,
possibility is that the crust is in fact thicker in the vicinity of
the gravity low than elsewhere and is underlain by normal
mantle. Calculations based on a profile drawn across the strike
of the gravity low near Lake Toba indicate that this solution is
perfectly feasible and that a satisfactory crustal model can be
developed on this basis without undue difficulty. The mode of
compensation was discussed further by Masturyono et al.
(2001), who drew attention to regions of low velocity (and
hence, probably, of low density) in both the crust and uppermost
mantle in two areas beneath the Toba caldera. However, they
came to no firm conclusion as to the overall compensation
mechanism. The Bouguer low covers an area vastly greater than
the low velocity regions and the latter can therefore play only a
subsidiary role in its formation. It is, however, probable that
some compensation does occur within the crust and that the
regional Bouguer low is due in part to the presence of a large
granitic batholith that may still be in the process of formation.
The TobaTawar low is almost entirely onshore. There is a
weak possible extension out to sea to the north but this could
be fortuitous and merely a consequence of the presence of rela tively deep water and light sediments on the Mergui Shelf.
A north-trending high that marks the western limit of the shelf
at about 96E is associated in part with a low-amplitude bathymetric high known as the Mergui Ridge but is probably mainly
due to the transition from continental crust under the shelf to
oceanic crust in the Andaman Basin. Shelf-edge free-air highs
are the world-wide norm. They exist because the rapid shallowing
of the Moho beneath continental slopes affects gravity fields
near the edges of shelves even though the crust immediately
beneath such locations is still thick and the sea is only a few
hundred metres deep.
The western limit of the TobaTawar low between about 96E
and 97E is marked by a steep gradient defined by roughly
northsouth contours, and the northwestern tip of Sumatra is
occupied by a gravity high with Bouguer values that in places
exceed +100 mGal. The average gradient between the base
stations at Banda Aceh airport and town (Bouguer values +39
and +53.5 mGal respectively: see Adkins et al. 1978) is about
one milligal per kilometre. The surface geology does not suggest
a terrane boundary in this region and the gravitational change
at the margin of the TobaTawar Low is probably largely a
lateral effect of high mantle beneath the forearc basin, coupled
with the effect of a change within the crust from young granitic
rocks to an older and denser basement.

Eastern Sumatra
Away from the Barisan Mountains, gravity fields in the vast and
often swampy flatlands of eastern Sumatra are controlled by a
number of competing factors. The most obvious of these is
the subsurface presence in the region between the east coast of
Sumatra and the eastern margin of the South Sumatra Basin of
the roughly northsouth oriented Lampung Structural High
(Pulunggono & Cameron 1984). The high separates the South

19

Sumatra (onshore) from the Sunda (offshore) basin, and the

dense basement rocks, which almost reach the surface along its
crest, produce high gravity fields. However, the magnitudes of
the differences in gravity are smaller than those implied by the
changes in sediment thickness and suggest some degree of
crustal thinning beneath the basinal areas.
A number of southwards-convex curvilinear gravity trends are
superimposed on the local anomaly patterns in south and central
Sumatra. These continue, and become even more prominent,
offshore on the Sunda Shelf, where they are members of a set of
curved anomalies that ring almost the whole of Borneo in an
apparent rotational swirl. The trend lines cut across a number of
Late Tertiary boundaries between basins and structural highs,
including the Lampung High, and are therefore likely to be due
to sources within the basement rather than to basement relief.
An origin in strain accompanying the rotation of Borneo is
possible, but the processes by which some of the observed
gravity patterns could be generated by rotations are not clear.
For example, the most prominent curved trend in the South
China Sea is the shelf-edge anomaly at the western margin of
the central oceanic basin (Holt 1998), and it is hard to envisage
a causal link between this and Borneo rotation. An alternative
explanation for the arcuate trendlines in Sumatra and on the
Sunda Shelf is that these mark basement features associated
with past subduction and accretion, implying that belts of former
arc basement have been 'wrapped around' the core of continental
SE Asia in Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. In eastern Sumatra
there is some correlation between a curvilinear low sandwiched
between two positive curved features and the location of the
Mutus assemblage that may mark the suture between the
Malacca and Mergui microplates (Pulunggono & Cameron
1984). The rotation and basement suture hypotheses can be combined by supposing that rotation of Borneo imposed curvature on
sutures that were originally approximately straight.

Gravity effects of sedimentary basins

The regional map of Sumatra (Fig. 3.1) is sufficient to show the
broad gravity effects of most of the sedimentary basins but not
the variations due to structures within them. Most of the
oil-company data that might define such details in the main
producing (back-arc) basins remain confidential, but there are published studies of detailed work done by LEMIGAS in the Ombilin
intermontane basin (Situmorang et al. 1991) and the Bengkulu
forearc basin (Yulihanto et al. 1995). The locations of these two
surveys are indicated on Figure 3.1.
The Ombilin Basin lies immediately to the east of the main
Sumatran Fault (Fig. 3.1). It covers an area of some 1500 km 2
and in places contains more than 3000 m of Eocene to Middle
Miocene sediments. It derives its economic importance from
coal rather than oil or gas, and low density coals may well contribute to the gravity signature. The location suggests a genetic link
to the Sumatran Fault, but Howells (1997b) interpreted the main
basin as a result of wrench modification of an earlier rift rather
than as a simple strike-slip pull-apart. Only the much younger
Lake Singkarak rift (largely the area occupied by Lake Singkarak
in Fig. 3.3) is now interpreted as having formed as a recent pullapart within the Sumatran Fault (Sieh & Natawidjaja 2000).
There is good correlation between thin and thick sediments and
gravity highs and lows (Fig. 3.3), both in relation to relatively
small structures (Situmorang et al. 1991) and also at a basinwide scale. High Bouguer values define the main horst that
separates the Ombilin Basin proper from Lake Singkarak. Low
(< 20 mGal) Bouguer gravity characterizes the northern lobe
of the Palaeogene basin, but these values, some 50 mGal below
those on the horst block near Sulitair, are still higher than the
levels (of well below 30 mGal) in the Singkarak rift. The difference could be due to differences in sediment thickness, to more

20

CHAPTER 3

Fig. 3.3. Bouguer gravity and main structural controls

of the Ombilin Basin, after Situmorang et al.
(1991). Contour interval 10 mGal (thick contours)
and 2 mGal (thin contours). Stipple indicates
closed lows. Steep gradients in the west of the area
are associated with the margins of the Late
Neogene Singkarak pull-apart basin. Weaker,
but still well defined anomalies are associated with
the Palaeogene basin and testify to the complexity of
the basement architecture. See Figure 3.1 for
location.

l0 ut

100; 457

developed isostatic compensation of the older depocentre or to the

Neogene section having a significantly lower average density.
The Bengkulu Basin (Fig. 3.4) is roughly the same age as the
Ombilin but lies entirely west of the Sumatran Fault and at
much lower elevations. A large part of it lies offshore. Traditionally, it too has been regarded as a pull-apart basin generated in
a transtensional regime and this interpretation is still generally
accepted (Yulihanto et al. 1995). There are very few BGS/
GRDC gravity stations in the part of the basin lying to the SE
of Manna (Nainggolan et al. 1992) and even in the west

102" 10'1,

103 I.

1 111'5

30

s
o

Hengkulu

70

4S

MASMAMBANG

Fig. 3.4. Bouguer gravity of the Bengkulu Basin,

after Yulihanto et al. (1991). Contour interval 5
mGal (thick contours) and I mGal (thin contours). The overall high level of
Bouguer gravity is probably largely a consequence of crustal thinning beneath
the forearc basin. Local closed lows, indicated by stipple, identify the locations
of separate depocentres within the basin. See Figure 3.1 for location,

the regional survey provided only patchy coverage (Sobari et al.

1992). However, very detailed onshore surveys for oil exploration
(Yulihanto et al. 1995) have confirmed the division of the main
basin into two structural lows. These features (the Pagarjati Graben
in the NW and the Kedurang Graben in the SE) are
oriented very roughly northsouth and are separated by the
Masmambang High. Within these broad divisions, a series of
roughly equi-dimensional highs and lows cover areas similar in
size to those occupied by sub-basins within the Ombilin.
A peculiarity of the Bengkulu Basin is the very high level of
background gravity field, which results in strongly positive
(>+40 mGal) absolute levels of Bouguer gravity even in the
centres of the gravity lows. The basinal area overall appears on
regional maps as a gravity high and Bouguer levels on the horst
blocks may exceed +80 mGal (Fig. 3.4). The high fields probably
reflect crustal thinning beneath both the Bengkulu sedimentary
basin itself and the forearc marine basin. However, the offshore
extension of the high, which is associated with a bathymetric
bulge, is probably also partly due to the replacement of seawater
by young sediments and to the lack of any corresponding compensatory local subsidence of the crust into the mantle. Such
patterns are seen over many young deltas formed at passive
continental margins, the Congo and Niger deltas being good
examples (Sandwell & Smith 1997).

The forearc basin

EtiFDURANG
11

,L0 L.1

411

4- 30'S

4
0

The northeastern margin of the deep free-air low associated with

the trench west of Sumatra includes the frontal part of the
forearc ridge, which is composed largely of accreted material.
The crest of the forearc ridge is marked by a prominent asymmetric high, with the steeper gradients towards the forearc basin.
In most cases, Bouguer gravity on the forearc islands decreases
from west to east in response to increasing crustal thickness
(Fig. 3.5), but on Nias there is a residual gravity high centred
over the young uplifted coastal plain in the east of the island
(Fig. 3.5, inset).
Low free-air and Bouguer gravity characterize most of the
forearc basin, with minimum values even lower than the free-air
minima associated with the trench. The forearc basin low is,
however, divided into two segments by a gravity high near the
equator (Fig. 3.1), where a Bouguer maximum of +100 mGal
has been recorded on Pini, the easternmost island in the Batu
group (Fig. 3.5). Pini has an anomalous eastwest orientation,

GRAVITY FIELD

lies just north of the equator and straddles the

forearc basin. The high gravity is evidently

not due merely to the presence of the
bathymetric high, since a gravity low is
associated with similar bathymetry in the
Banyak group further north. A 80 mGal
minimum was recorded on the most
easterly of the Banyak islands (Fig. 3.5).
There is an obvious geographical correlation
between the Pini high and high free-air
gravity associated with the Investigator
Fracture Zone on the Indian Ocean plate
immediately to the south (IFZ; Fig. 3.1). A
causal link between the two seems likely.
Subduction of the fracture zone, which is a
prominent bathymetric feature consisting of a
deep linear trough flanked by two high
standing ridges, has been suggested as a
possible cause for both the change in strike of
the trench and forcarc north of Nias (the

21

Nias 'elbow') and the enhanced volcanic

activity in the Toba region (Fauzi et al.
1996).
In part the low Bouguer and free-air values in
the forearc basin reflect the presence of the
water column, which is up to 1500 m thick,
AIMMEMBE
but there is also a significant
contribution
rafr e.
from light Neogene sediments The seismic
stratigraphy of the area ; east of Nias was
first described by Beaudry 7'& Moore (1985),
who recognized
three main sequences and
erpretation simplified after Matson & Moor
assigned these tentatively to the Pleistocene
(Unit 4), the Pliocene and uppermost Miocene
(Unit 3) and to most of the remainder of the
Miocene (Unit 2). Unit 2 was further
subdivided into Units 2a and 2b, separated
by a generally continuous, high-amplitude
seismic event. Older stratified sediments
(Unit 1) can be seen in places beneath a
strong regional unconformity at the base of
1

%
0

()

50 km

ere,

8"E

41:

...

109
SO

EquatorN

Fig. 3.5. Gravity variations in the central

forearc basin. In contrast to Figure 3.1,
Bouguer gravity is contoured in the offshore
as well as the onshore regions. Contour
interval 10 mGal. Offshore data are from
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)
shipborne readings along the tracks shown
by dashed lines. Areas of water depths in
excess of 500 in in the vicinity of the
Banyak and Singkel sedimentary basins
indicated by light stipple. The upper inset
shows SIO seismic line 58-59 across the
Banyak forearc basin east of Nias, from SIO
cruise Rama 6, with a simplified version of
the interpretation provided by Matson &
Moore (1992). Note the strong asymmetry
in the basin. The lower inset shows the
residual gravity anomaly over eastern Nias,
obtained by subtracting a linear regional
gradient parallel to the trends of Bouguer
contours in the north of the island from the
local values.

Unit 2a, but elsewhere this region is devoid of

reflectors and may comprise igneous or
metamorphic basement or steeply dipping
sediments,

With one exception, Beaudry & Moore

(1985) illustrated their discussion with oil
industry seismic sections which were of

22

CHAPTER 3

rather poor quality (at least in reproduction), and the boundaries

they recognised are sometimes difficult to identify on the better
quality sections obtained by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (S10) on cruise RAMA 6. In a more detailed analysis
based on the SIO profiles, Matson & Moore (1992) divided
the forearc sediments into eleven sequences, of which Sequences
10 and 11 were roughly equivalent to Unit 4 of Beaudry & Moore
(1985) and Sequences 8 and 9 to Unit 3. At deeper levels the
correlation between the two schemes is less clear.
As well as an increase in detail, Matson & Moore (1992)
provided a significant new insight into the stratigraphy of the forearc
basin by distinguishing between the histories of a 'Singkel' and a
`Pini' basin east of Nias. Unfortunately, their use of the term Singkel
Basin differed from that of earlier authors (e.g. Karig et al. 1980),
who applied it to a basin in the Singkel region of mainland
Sumatra. The term Banyak Basin is used here as a preferable
alternative. The Pini Basin was considered to be mainly filled
with Upper Miocene sediments but the Banyak Basin (shown in
the inset to Fig. 3.5) was interpreted as containing significant
older section. Both sedimentary basins are associated with presentday sea floor depressions (Fig. 3.5), although the modern and palaeodepocentres do not coincide exactly. The division between the two
basins is marked by a gravity high offshore and by a residual
gravity high on Nias (Fig. 3.5).
On seismic sections, the most obvious feature of all the forearc
sedimentary basins is their extreme asymmetry (see Karig et al.
1980; Beaudry & Moore 1985; Matson & Moore 1992; Malod
& Kemal 1996). In the Banyak Basin (Fig. 3.5, inset), a Middle
Miocene shelf has been tilted seawards and is now buried under
younger sediments that increase in thickness up to the east coast
of Nias, where sediments as old as Oligocene are exposed
(Samuel & Harbury 1995). The sharp flexure at the western
edge of the basins can be identified with the Mentawai Fault
(see Chapter 2) and on the regional gravity map (Fig. 3.1) is
associated with a steep gravity gradient that is, in fact, rather
less pronounced near Nias than elsewhere. Where, SE of
Enggano, the fault moves away from the flank of the forearc
ridge and towards the centre of the forearc basin (Schluter et al.
2002), this gradient largely disappears.
Despite the high gravity fields, both geological mapping (Samuel
& Harbury 1995) and gravity modelling (Kieckhefer et al. 1981)
indicate that the material forming the forearc ridge is of generally
low density (Fig. 3.6). The high fields are produced by the thin
crust and the high density subducted slab, and by the large density
contrast between even the lightest rocks and water. Onshore
mapping and offshore seismic reflection lines all suggest that large
volumes of sediments deposited in the forearc basin have been
incorporated into the forearc islands. Only on Simeulue, where a
small ophiolite is associated with a local gravity high (Fig. 3.2,
inset) is there evidence for the presence of coherent masses of
oceanic rocks beneath the ridge (Milsom et al. 1991).
Gravity provides few constraints on the nature of the crust
beneath the forearc basin. In one of the two alternative models
of Kieckhefer et al. (1981) the basin is underlain by mlange
and in the other (reproduced here in slightly modified form as
Fig. 3.6) by continental crust. In both models the forearc ridge is
underlain by melange, and both produce acceptable fits with the
gravity profile along the modelled line. As far as the Mentawai
Fault is concerned, it is not the gravity data but the extreme
linearity that suggests its location has been determined by the
position of the former continental margin rather than by the
boundary between two belts of mlange.

Seismic tomography and the long-wavelength

gravity field
Despite significant recent advances in the measurement of the
Earth's gravity field, the long wavelength variations are still

meal

50 -

True Vertical Scale

3.40

Vertical Exaggeration 5:1

100

Fig. 3.6. Interpretation of a gravity profile across the forearc basin and Sunda
Trench south of Nias, after Kieckhefer et al. (1981). White and black inverted
triangles show the locations of controls on depth provided by, respectively,
unreversed and reversed seismic refraction profiles. Densities on blocks in the
model are in Mg m 3. Unlabelled blocks are sediments or melange with densities
between 2.0 and 2.4 Mg m -/ . The differences between the calculated and
observed curves are too small to be apparent at the scale of the figure. Profile
location shown as a yellow line on Figure 3.1.

most reliably estimated from perturbations of satellite orbits. A

number of models have now been produced that integrate the
results obtained by this method with results from conventional
surface gravity surveys and satellite altimetry to define global
gravity anomalies with half-wavelengths greater than about
400 km. The sources of these anomalies are likely to lie deep
within the mantle, because the isostatic equilibrium prevailing in
the Earth's outermost layers implies approximate cancellation of
the gravity fields from shallower mass differences. Controversy
about the origin of mass anomalies within the mantle has existed
for decades. A rough correlation between geoidal highs and
plate convergence zones has long been recognized (cf. Hagar
1984) but has appeared unconvincing in detail. If, however,
using the same basic data, field strength (the differential of
potential) is contoured rather than potential itself, the longest
wavelengths are suppressed and the correlation with subduction
becomes very striking (Milsom & Rocchi 1998). Major highs
can be seen to the rear of almost all long-lived subduction
zones, and it is reasonable to suppose that the mass excesses
are associated with the subducting slabs. Since these slabs
are sinking through the less dense asthenosphere, isostatic
considerations do not apply.
One of the most widely used of the long-wavelength (400 km+)
gravity models is GEM-T3 (Lerch et al. 1994), which is complete
to spherical harmonics of degree and order 50. The GEM-T3
map of the BorneoSumatra region (Fig. 3.1, inset) shows a
distribution of long-wavelength gravity highs consistent with
hypothesized patterns of past subduction. In eastern Borneo and
Sulawesi, geological mapping has defined former subduction
traces, marked by melange and ophiolites, that indicate that a

GRAVITY FIELD

part of the active margin of SE Asia lay in this area during the Late
Cretaceous and Palaeogene (e.g. Wilson & Moss 1999). From
southeastern Borneo the line of subduction then curved sharply
to pass through western Java and on to Sumatra. Subducted litho sphere associated with this phase of convergence can be expected
to have accumulated beneath Borneo and the Malacca Straits.
Moreover, many theories of the evolution of Borneo require
there to have been subduction beneath its northwestern margin
during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene, leading to the complete destruction of a `proto-South China Sea' and collision
between the Borneo block and attenuated continental crust rifted
from the South China margin (e.g. Milsom et al. 1997). The
extent of the long-wavelength gravity high suggests that it may
be recording effects from material subducted beneath Borneo
from the south, east and west (Milsom & Rocchi 1998).
In northwestern Sumatra, the margin of the long-wavelength
high curves to an almost northerly trend and peak values decrease
quite rapidly, suggesting that there is no significant deep subducted material beneath the Andaman Sea. This seems reasonable
since, although the plate boundary west of the Andaman and
Nicobar islands is marked by a (rather poorly defined) trench,
the local convergence vector is almost parallel to the trench axis.
Further light on the sources of the long wavelength gravity
anomalies has been provided by the improvements in, and
standardization of, seismic observatory instrumentation and the
dramatic increases in speed and memory of relatively cheap
computers. Thanks to these two developments it is now possible
to use observations of travel times for S and P waves from
remote earthquakes to model the variations of seismic wave
velocities in the mantle. This seismic tomography is providing
ever stronger evidence for the penetration of subducted lithosphere
through the discontinuity between the upper and lower mantle at
about 700 km, below which it is not seismogenic. Because
WadatiBenioff seismic zones marking the sites of subducted
lithosphere in the upper mantle are invariably associated with

23

high seismic velocities, there is a strong circumstantial case for

attributing high velocity in the lower mantle to lithospheric
material that has sunk to aseismic depths. The close correlation
between high velocity in the lower mantle (Widiyantoro & van
der Hilst 1996, 1997) and high gravity field provides additional
support for this hypothesis.
Tomography also provides an explanation for the absence of
earthquake hypocentres at depths of more than 300 km beneath
Sumatra. There is no high-velocity material at these depths
(Widiyantoro & van der Hilst 1996) and hence, presumably, no
subducted slab. Taken together with the interpreted presence of
a large volume of dense and fast material below 700 km, this
observation supports hypotheses that involve the rupturing of
slabs and the independent sinking of their detached lower portions
under gravity. Even stronger support comes from farther east,
north of Java, where the upper part of the detached slab protrudes
above the 700 km limit and is both seismically 'fast' and seismo genic (Widiyantoro & van der Hilst 1996).
The Sumatra region also conforms to the global pattern of lack
of correlation between high gravity and subducted lithosphere
within the seismogenic zone, i.e. at relatively shallow depths.
Hagar (1984), amongst others, has used this global observation
to support a model of dynamic flow that produces, at GEM-T3
wavelengths, close to perfect cancellation between the effects of
positive and negative density anomalies in the upper mantle.
Some doubt has, however, been thrown on this model by
Wheeler & White (2002), who used oil-industry borehole data to
argue that, at least in offshore SE Asia, dynamic topography
amounts to no more than 300 m. Predictable improvements in
data quality will undoubtedly lead to considerable refinements
in interpretation and resolution of this apparent discrepancy,
but it is sufficient to note that as far as the present review is con cerned, the GEM T-3 gravity field provides an excellent guide to
the extent of Palaeogene, but not Neogene, subduction beneath
Sunda] and.

Chapter 4

Pre-Tertiary stratigraphy
A. J. BARBER & M. J. CROW

In the earl y da ys of mineral exploration on behalf of the

Netherlands East Indies Bureau of Mines and of petroleum
exploration by the oil companies it was recognized that PreTertiary rocks were extensively exposed in the Barisan Mountains
in the western part of Sumatra (Fig. 1.4). These rocks are variably
metamorphosed and were termed the `Barisan-Schiefer' and the
`Old-Slates Formation' (Veerbeek 1883) in Central Sumatra, and
the 'Crystalline Schists' in the Lampung area (Westerveld
1941). Locally these rocks contain fossils, and it was recognized
that Carboniferous and Permian rocks occur within this PreTertiary basement. Some basement units were defined during the
mapping of Sumatra by the Netherlands Indies Geological
Survey between 1927 and 1931, but the definition of units accord ing to modern stratigraphic principles began in the early 1970s,
with the commencement of systematic mapping by the Indonesian
Geological Survey in collaboration with the United States
Geol ogi ca l Surve y, in t he Padang are a of West Sumatra
(Kastowo & Leo 1973Padang; Silitonga & Kastowo 1975
Solok; Rosidi et al. 1976Painan and Muarasiberut).
Mapping and the definition of further units was continued in
northern Sumatra by the Indonesian Directorate of Mineral
Resources/British Geological Survey (DMR/BGS) between
1975 and 1980 as part of the Northern Sumatra Project and
was extended into southern Sumatra in the 1980s and 1990s by
the Indonesian Geological Research and Development Centre
(GRDC), DMR amd BGS. The results of these surveys, which
established the distribution of the basement units, are published
by GRDC as 1:250 000 Geological Map Sheets covering the
whole of Sumatra and adjacent islands (Fig.1.5). The lithologies
of each stratigraphic unit are briefly described in the keys to the
maps, and the units are described more fully in the accompanying
Explanatory Notes.

It has proved very difficult to establish with certainty the stratigraphic relationships between the various rock units which
make up the exposed Pre-Tertiary basement of Sumatra. This is
due to the generally fault-bounded contacts between rock units
and the poor biostratigraphic control on their ages; over large
areas the rocks are apparently devoid of fossils. The varying
metamorphic grade of the basement units makes even lithological
correlations difficult. As a result, formations have generally been
defined locally. When these local units have been extrapolated
over broader areas they are found to include a wide variety of
lithological types, so that correlation with the original units
becomes more and more uncertain.
The spate of new data on the geology of Sumatra generated
by the systematic geological survey of the whole island has stimulated attempts at regional synthesis, e.g. Cameron et al. (1980) and
Pulunggono & Cameron (1984) in northern Sumatra and McCourt
et al. (1993) in southern Sumatra. These authors proposed a
stratigraphic scheme which distinguished a Carboniferous
Permian Tapanuli Group, a Permo-Triassic Peusangan Group
and a JurassicCretaceous Woyla Group (Fig. 4.1). This terminology is used in the present account, although it is strictly applicable
only to northern Sumatra where the units were defined.

During these surveys the faunas from known fossil localities

were re-examined and new localities were found. Following the
survey the palaeontological evidence for the ages of stratigraphic
units in Sumatra has been reviewed by Fontaine & Gafoer (1989).
It has now been established that fossiliferous rock units in the PreTertiary basement of Sumatra range in age from Early Carboniferous through to mid-Cretaceous.
From the occurrence of tin granites in the eastern part of
Sumatra, extending into the 'Tin Islands' of Bangka and Billiton,
it is supposed that the whole of Sumatra is underlain by a highly
differentiated Pre-Carboniferous crystalline continental crust
with ages extending back into the Precambrian. Direct evidence
for a Pre-Carboniferous basement has been obtained by isotopic
dating of Silurian and Lower Carboniferous granitic rocks
encountered in boreholes beneath the Tertiary Basins towards
the northeastern side of the island (Eubank & Makki 1981).
The oldest rocks identified by their fossil content were also
encountered in boreholes in eastern Sumatra. These rocks
contain palynomorphs from near the DevonianCarboniferous
boundary (Eubank & Makki 1981). Older rocks, possibly
ranging down into the Devonian, were reported by Adinegoro &
Hartoyo (1974) from a borehole in the Malacca Strait, but no
details are given in their report and a Devonian age for sediments
elsewhere in Sumatra has not been confirmed during subsequent
drilling or by field studies, although rocks of this age, and older
ages back to the Proterozoic, occur in the Langkawi Island off
NW Malaya, 300 km to the NE of Sumatra (Jones 1961).

Pre-Carboniferous basement

In this account the basement rocks of Sumatra are described

from northern, central and southern Sumatra, as far as possible
in terms of their stratigraphic age, although difficulties in
establishing these ages will be fully discussed. Five age units
are recognized: Pre-Carboniferous basement, Carboniferous-- ?
Early Permian, MidLate Permian, MidLate Triassic and
JurassicMid-Cretaceous.

Eubank & Makki (1981) record shales interbedded with quartzites

from the boreholes, Pusaka-1, 85 km NE of Pekanbaru, and
Rupat Island, in the Malacca Strait, which yielded palynomorphs
from the DevonianCarboniferous boundary, and used this
evidence to define an Upper Palaeozoic 'Quartzite Terrain' in
eastern Sumatra (Fig. 4.2). Some of these borehole records may
relate to quartz sandstones in the Triassic Kualu Formation and
its correlative Tembeling Sandstone of Bangka (Ko 1986).
However, Eubank & Makki (1981) also obtained RbSr ages of
426 41.5 Ma (Silurian) and 335 43 Ma (Early Carboniferous)
from granites from boreholes put down into the basement beneath
the Central Sumatra Basin. Turner (1983) reports gneissose
rocks included as xenoliths in dykes intruding Carboniferous
slates near Rao, Central Sumatra. These xenoliths were presumably derived from an underlying crystalline basement. A granitic
class from pebbly mudstone encountered in a borehole, Cucut
No.1, gave an RbSr age of 348 10 Ma, of Visean, Early
Carboniferous age (Koning & Darmono 1984).
The occurrence of intrusive granites, possibly as old as Silurian,
indicates that an older basement into which these granites were
intruded underlies eastern Sumatra. This is highly probable, as
Proterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic rocks occur in the Malaysian
Langkawi Islands only some 300 km to the NE of Sumatra
along the strike (Jones 1961). Indeed, Hutchison (1994) has
asserted that the buried Kluang Limestone south of Palembang,

PRE-TERTIARY STRATIGRAPHY
Sediments and Volcanics

CENOZOIC
CRETACEOUS

JURASSIC

WOYLA
GROUP

TRIASSIC

PEUSANGA
PERMIAN

CARBONIFEROUS

GROUP

APANULI
GROUP

DEVONIAN

25

Volcanics -Bentaro
Reef limestones - Lamno
Serpentinites, pillow lavas,
cherts, greywackes Geumpang, Lam Minet
Sandstones and shales,
chertsKualu, Tuhur
Limestones - Situtup,
Batumilmil
Volcanics, sandstones,
limestones, shales - Palepat,
Silungkang, Mengkarang
Pangururan Bryozoan Bed
Tillites - Bohorok, Mentulu
Limestones - Alas, Kuantan
Sandstones and shales Kluet, Kuantan
? in boreholes

and

LOWER
PALAEOZOIC
PRECAMBRIAN
BASEMENT

Extrusive ignimbrites and

Intrusive tin granites imply
an underlying continental
basement (not identified in
outcrop)

Fig. 4.1. Pre-Tertiary stratigraphic units in Sumatra as proposed by the DMR/ BGS Northern Sumatra Project (Cameron et al. 1980) and used on the geological maps of
northern Sumatra published by GRDC. These units were extended to cover southern Sumatra by McCourt et at. (1993).

for which a Cretaceous age had been suggested (De Coster 1974) resembles the Silurian Kuala Lumpur Limestone in Malaya and may
therefore be of Silurian age. It has also been supposed that high grade metamorphic rocks in the western part of northern Sumatra within
the Alas and Kluet Formations, and the Ngaol Formation of Central Sumatra, which do not appear to be directly related to contact
metamorphic aureoles around intrusions, may represent outcrops of this Pre-Carboniferous crystalline basement, but nowhere has this
supposition been confirmed by fossil finds or by isotopic dating. Alternatively it has also been suggested that these high grade gneisses are
due to intrusion and synkinematic deformation of granites and associated sedimentary rocks in shear zones during the formation of active
magmatic arcs during Permian to Late Cretaceous times. This explanation has also been suggested for the Gunungkasih Metamorphic
Complex in the Bandarlampung area of southern Sumatra (Barber 2000). The high grade metamorphic rocks of Sumatra require
systematic investigation with these alternative possibilities in mind.

Tapanuli Group (Carboniferous?Early Permian)

Rocks in northern Sumatra considered to be of Carboniferous?Early Permian age have been classified as the Tapanuli Group (Cameron et
al. 1980; Pulunggono & Cameron 1984). Three formations are recognized: the Bohorok Formation, the Kluet Formation and the Alas
Formation (Figs 4.1-4.3). The Early Permian was included in the original definition of the Tapanuli Group on the supposition that the
Alas Formation contained an Early Permian fauna (Cameron et al. 1980). Subsequently this fauna was shown to be of Early
Carboniferous (Visean) age (Fontaine & Gafoer 1989). However, the Pangururan Bryozoan Bed which was mapped as part of the
Kluet Formation also contains a probable Early Permian fauna (Aldiss et al. 1983), so that in this account the Tapanuli Group is
considered to extend into the Early Permian.
Bohorok Formation. The Bohorok Formation is defined from its type locality in the Bohorok River on the GRDC 1:250 000 Medan

Sheet, about 65 km to the west of Medan (Cameron et al. 1982a) (Fig. 4.3). Good exposures of this formation occur for a distance
of 100 m in the river section at Bukit Lawang, near the Orang Utan Sanctuary and over 50 m in the Bekail River, some 7 km to the
south. No base is seen to the formation and downstream the mudstones are faulted either against the Permo-Triassic Batumilmil
Limestone Formation, or the Tertiary Bruksah and Bampo Formations. The Bohorok Formation has been mapped along the eastern side
of the Barisan Mountains from near Langsa in the north to Lake Toba in the south (Fig. 4.3). Even further south, comparable
lithologies correlated with the Bohorok Formation, are found in the Tigapuluh Mountains, between Rengat and Jambi and are
described below as the Tigapuluh Group, and similar rocks also occur in the Toboali District in the southern part of Bangka Island (Fig.
4.2).
The typical lithology of the Bohorok Formation is an unbedded `pebbly mudstone; a poorly sorted breccia or conglomerate composed
of angular to subangular rock fragments, generally 0.1-2.0 cm in size, but ranging up to 10 cm and even 75 80 cm in east Aceh,
and in the northeastern part of the Padangsidempuan Sheet (Aspden et al. 19826). The rock fragments are enclosed in a fine-grained
matrix of dark grey or dark brown siltstone or mudstone. Pebbles include vein quartz, slate, chlorite schist, phyllite, greenish calcsilicate
rocks, limestone, marble, quartzose arenites, quartzite, more rarely mica-schist and grani toid, sometimes with tourmaline, rare chert and
rhyolite. Single crystals of fresh microcline, forming small angular clasts, are conspicuous in thin sections (Cameron et al. 1982a). The
clasts in the pebbly mudstones clearly indicate a continental provenance. In the Berkail River, pebbly mudstone near the upper part of
the outcrop is interbedded with a few metres of light brown weathering, coarse to very coarse sandstone (Tiltman 1985). Cameron et
al. (1982a) report that sandstone blocks found as float within the Bohorok outcrop show graded beds and slump structures.

Towards the west the poorly sorted pebbly mudstone units become less common, the proportion and size of the clasts decreases,
and the Bohorok Formation is represented by conglomerates, sandstones, slates and rare limestone units, becoming indistinguishable from
the adjacent Kluet Formation or similar lithologies within the Alas Formation, so that the distinction between the units is arbitrary
(Cameron et al. 1980).
The Bohorok Formation has generally been affected by low, slate-grade, metamorphism. In the neighbourhood of igneous intrusions
argillaceous rocks, including the matrix of the pebbly mudstones, are converted to schists or hornfels, often containing cordierite and
tourmaline.
Sediments within the Bohorok Formation are apparently devoid of fossils. The only direct evidence of age comes from the Cucut No. 1
well (Fig. 4.4) where Koning & Darmono (1984) report an Early to Mid-Carboniferous microflora from the mud matrix of a `pebbly
mudstone'. However, a granite clast in the mudstone from the same well yielded a KAr age of 348 10 Ma (Visean, Early
Carboniferous) (Koning & Darmono 1984). This juxtaposition is highly improbable. It may be that both the palynomorphs and the pebble were
eroded from older units and derived into the Triassic Kualu Formation which occurs in the same area, or that the KAr age is
unreliable.
The pebbly mudstones of the Bohorok Formation have been interpreted as diamictites formed in a glacio-marine environment (Cameron et
al. 1980). Pebbly mudstones similar to those of the Bohorok Formation have been described form the Langkawi Islands and the
adjacent parts of the NW Malay Peninsula, Peninsular Thailand, Burma and southwest China. The occurrence of pebbly mudstones has
been used to identify the Sibumasu (Siam Burma, Malaya, Sumatra) Terrane, a crustal block which extends all the way from Sumatra to
southern China (Metcalfe 1984).
,

CHAPTER 4

96

9S

100'

102'

Phuket
Group

104

106

CARBONIFEROUS
Tapanuli Group

Bohorok Formation
Alas Formation
LA NG AW I 'De
Is' .ANDs

s-

HANDA ACEF1

Takengii

Kluet/Kuantan
Formation

Kubang
Pasu
Formation

"Quartzite Terrain"

LANGSA

MEDAN

TAPAKTUAN

Kreung
SIDI KA

I,At

3)
, -7

Bohorok

1A I fiN(.,
'16E-i

atapan

Rupat
11110Cue
ut-

PADARGSIDEMPUAN

OPusaka-1
Pavvan Member

IMPEKANBARUb

Tanjung PLJah
Member
0

0.

Lake
Singkarak
PADANG

Kdarimil

SOLQK Gorge

RENO
Tigapillie
HAN( ;lc \

MUARABUNGO
7-

7 7
1 )%

Duabcia,

MDllntaiuiw

Pern li
roue

Tararltam Formation

Toboall

PAT,FMBANG
4

Garba Mountains
c)

100

0
'16

200

300
98

400

500kri
i
100

Tarap Formation

KO TA A G U N
6
104

Gunungkasih
Cornptex
M-TANJUNG
KA RAN G
106c

I i

Fig. 4.2. Distribution of Carboniferous to ?Early Permian rocks in Sumatra from GRDC geological maps. Dense tones indicate outcrops, the filled circles indicate

Carboniferous rocks encountered in horeholes, paler tones indicate subcrop beneath Late Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and volcanics.

27

PR E - T ERT I A RY ST RAT I GRA PH Y

BANDA

96
"

97'

98'

99

\ M a j o r Fa u l t s

Recent Volcanoes

OKSEUMAWE
Permo-Triassic Intrusions

Uneun Unit
5'N

sow
Situtup
1
Formation
ook 1,4 -z.wr

Ujeuen
Formatio
n
Sembuang
Formation

on line
Tawar
Formatio

11::::perbajadi;\
"Granite

LATE PERMIAN - LATE TRIASSIC

(Pousangan Group)
Uneun Unit, Tawar Lst Fm,
Situtup Lst Fm, Sembuang Lst
Fm, Ujeuen Lst Fm, Kaloi Lst
Batumilmil Lst Fm (mainly limestones)

i6,1a Line

IN I IIMIG IN 1

- M O M -

Rere
b

SA

Simpang Kiri
Fossil local

Gneiss

Kaloi
Formatio

Kualu Formation (cherts &

elastics)
C AR BONI
FER OUS
- ?EA RLY
(Tapanuli
Group)
Bohorok Formation
(pebbly
mudstones)
Alas Formation
(Visean) limestone
Alas Formation - clastic
sediments ('m'
metamorpho sed)
Kluet Fo rma tio n
(turbidites with
Kluet Formation
0
(metamorphose
d)
96'

.4 .0.
KUTACANE
Fossii
locaLity

TA
PAKTUAN

BoshOunrOgakwampu
___---- ---,. (0) Kualu

(Early

Fo r m a t i o n /

Gib .

\/

\ `4$1.<\< ""`r-
100km

97

Fig. 4.3. The distribution of Carboniferous, Permian and

showing rock types and critical fossil localities, together
Stephenson & Aspden 19S2, with additions from GRDC
blank are occupied by Late Mesozoic to Quaternary

Alas Formation. The Alas Formation was defined by Cameron

et al. (1982a) in the valle y of the lower Alas River on the

Medan Sheet (Fig. 4.3). It is distinguished by its geographical
location, occupying a graben within the Sumatran Fault System,
between the outcrops of the Bohorok and Kluet formations,
and by a preponderance of limestones and meta-limestones.
Otherwise, in the remainder of the outcrop, shales, siltstones, sandstones, sometimes calcareous, quartz wackes and conglomerates,
are identical to those of the Bohorok Formation, without the
pebbly mudstones, and to the Kluet Formation as well. Cameron
et al. (1982a) also report the occurrence of possible green tuffs.
The outcrop is much dissected by faults and the rocks are intensely
folded locally, intruded by granites and migmatised.
Limestones in the Alas Formation are sometimes oolitic, may
show cross-bedding and are locally fossiliferous with abundant
productid and spiriferid brachiopods and some corals. However,
the limestone is frequently metamorphosed to massive, coarsely
crystalline and sometimes graphitic marble with phlogopite,
and deformed to form calcareous schist. The marbles and catc schists are associated with slate, phyllite, mica schist, locally
containing garnets, biotite hornfels with cordierite and/or chiasto lite, quartzite and more rarely gneiss, migmatites, mylonites and
cataclasites (Cameron et al. 1980). Much of this metamorphism
may be attributable to the contact effects of intrusive granites,
affected synchronously or subsequently by shearing, but not all
areas of metamorphic rocks are closely associated with igneous

ti

e, a

Tuffs

Batumilmil

198

NG

/ 99 '

,,---_____

Toba

Triassic strat.igraphic units in northern Sumatra,

with Late Permian to Early Triassic intrusions (after
map sheets, Cameron et at 1982a, b 1983). Areas left
sediments and volcanics.
,

intrusions and some, particularly where the

rocks are garnetiferous, may be of regional
metamorphic origin and may even represent
an earlier, Pre-Carboniferous, basement. The
occurrence of mylonites and cataclasites suggests that some of
the rocks included in the Alas Formation have undergone major
shearing.
A fossiliferous limestone locality within the Alas Formation at
the junction of the Lau Pakam and the Sungai Alas north of
Laubaleng has yielded a rich fauna (Fig. 4.4). Cameron et al.
(1980) reported the coral Allotriophyllum chinense, known from
the Lower Permian Chiksa Limestone of southern China, but
this coral has been re-identified by Fontaine (1989) as the solitary
horn-shaped rugose coral Zaphrenlites, indicative of a Carboniferous
age. Brachiopods, which include Cleiothyridina (?) and Marginatie,
indicate a Visean age and Metcalfe (1983) obtained a conodont fauna
from this same locality which included Gnathodus girtyi rhodesi
Higgins, Gnathodus sp., Hindeodella sp., Spathognathodus campbelli
Rexroad and Sputhognathodus scitulus (Hinde), confirming the
Visean age of the limestones. The form Gnathodus girtyi rhodesi,
in particular, is restricted to the Bollandian Stage of the Late
Visean, defining the age of this outcrop of the Alas Formation even
more precisely (Metcalfe 1983).
Kluet Formation. The Kluet Formation was defined by Cameron

et al. (1982b) from outcrops along the Krueng Kluet in the

28

CHAPTER 4

Fig. 4.4. Distribution of Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic stratigraphic units in north central Sumatra from GRDC map sheets, showing rock types and

96'E

NAlas.
Lak
Formatie Toba
&VIKA N

99`' Toba.Tuffs -

101"

Pangaruran
ozoa

Major

Tob
Tuffs
1 W: ' ' ,
Sibaganding
:Limestone
MeTber .
21

Pakicat:

Kualu
Formation

PermoTriassic

Pangunjunga
n Member

tc

Intrusions

RANTAUPRAPAT

Formation

2)N

Recent
Volcanoes

Baru

SIBOL
cucut

50

Bohorok Fm
encountered
in borehole

100km

ADANGSIDEMPUAN
LATE PERMIAN-LATE TRIASSIC
(Peusangan Group)
MOM MN Mt
MN

I11
i

Lst
Mb
Kuanta
Format

Kualu Fm, Silungkang

Fm,
Telukkido
Fm,
Cubadak
Fm
Tuhur
Formation

PASARSIBUHAN
Lst
b

PASIRPENGARAYAN

CARBONIFEROUS-?EARLY PERMIAN
(Tapanuli Group)

4
Cm

Bohorok Formation
(Pebblymudstones)
Alas Formation
(limestones)
Kluet/Kuantan Formation
Limestone Member (Lst Mbr)

Pawan
Membe

NATAL

Silungkan
g

Muarasipongi
Rag,
w
Cubadak
Formatio

Telukkido
Formatio

Kuantan
Formation

LUB KSIKAPING

Tuhur
ormatio
n
/ / I \
critical fossil localities, as well as Late Permian to Triassic intrusives. Areas left blank are covered by Late Mesozoic to Quaternary sediments and voleanies.

Equator

98
Q

99

Barisan Mountains to the north of Tapaktuan. Outcrops of the

Kluet Formation on the 1:250 000 map sheets are shown lying
to the southwest of the outcrops of the Bohorok and Alas
formations and extend from Lake Tawar near Takengon in the
north to Sibolga in the south (Figs 4.2 & 4.3).
The formation consists predominantly of black slates, with
phyllites, quartzose arenites and conglomeratic metagreywackes,
the latter containing lithic clasts up to 40 cm in diameter. Poorly
sorted volcaniclastic wackes occur along the Sibolga to Tarutung
road. The size and proportion of clasts in the conglomerates
decreases across the outcrop from NE to SW. Locally there are
calcareous horizons and detrital limestones. More massive
meta-limestones occur at Rerebe, south of Takengon (Fig. 4.3).
The sandstones are generally massive and commonly devoid of
sedimentary structures, although in the type area of the Krueng
Kluet (Cameron et al. 1982h) and on the Sidikalang Sheet
(Aldiss et al. 1983), graded beds, mud clasts, slumped units,
load casts and dewatering structures, typical of deposition as
turbidites are reported. Rocks of the Kluet Formation have yet
to yield age-diagnostic fossils.
The rocks are metamorphosed, predominantly in the slate grade,
but show varying degrees of metamorphism. An extensive area of
highly metamorphosed rocks of the Kluet Formation is shown
occupying the southwestern side of the outcrop on the Tapaktuan
Sheet, including the type area of Krueng Kluet (Cameron et al.
1982b) (Fig. 4.3). The rocks are described as coarse muscovite biotite schists, sometimes garnetiferous, quartzo-feldspathic
gneisses and calc-silicate schists. In the Blangkejeren area in

--- 100'

01'"

the central part of northern Sumatra metamorphic rocks include

biotitegarnetsillimanite schists, staurolite schists and biotiteandalusite hornfels, chiastolite slate, quartzite, scapolite-bearing
calc-silicates, marbles and amphibolites. Some of these rocks,
where they are associated with meta-limestones, are shown on
the Takengon Quadrangle Sheet as part of the Alas Formation
(Cameron et al. 1983a) (Fig. 4.3).
The surveyors attribute the metamorphism in the Kluet Formation to contact metamorphic effects (Cameron et al. 1982a).
This is clearly the case for the hornfelses and chiastolite slates,
but is less certain for garnet- and staurolite-bearing schists. An
obvious metamorphic aureole is developed around the Serbajadi
Granite on the Langsa Sheet (Bennett et al. 1981c) where the
rocks are altered to musovitebiotite hornfels and wollastonite,
diopside and phlogopite marbles and skarns. As the metamorphic
rocks in the Krueng Kluet are closely associated with concordant
granitoids, and at Blangkejeren enclose concordant bodies of
garnetiferous gneiss, interpreted as intrusions, these were also
attributed to contact metamorphism.
Pangururan Bryozoan Bed. On the western shore of Lake Toba

at Pangururan in the Sidikalang Quadrangle, fossiliferous, calcar eous, silty mudstones and limestones, with a rich shallow water
fauna are distinguished as the Pangururan Bryozoan Bed (Aldiss
et al. 1983) (Fig. 4.4). The limestones contain abundant shelly
debris, including brachiopods, fenestellid bryozoa and crinoid fragments and some pelecypods. Decalcified, fan-shaped fenestellids up
to 10 cm long are conspicuous on weathered bedding surfaces. The

PRE-TERTIARY STRATIGRAPHY

limestones have undergone deformation with the development of

alternating zones of high and low strain and the formation of pressure-solution cleavage, as illustrated by distortion of the bryozoan
networks. The limestones are interbedded with sandstones and
associated with slates of the Kluet Formation. Unfortunately,
when they were examined at the Natural History Museum the
bryozoa were found to be too decalcified, and the other fossils too
fragmentary, to provide a precise age determination for this unit.
The age range suggested for the fossil assemblage is from Late Carboniferous to Early Permian with the balance of opinion favouring
an Early Permian age (Aldiss et al. 1983). The collection of further
fossil and limestone samples from this unit are required for a more
precise age determination.
Kuantan Formation. As the Kluet Formation was mapped south-

wards towards the equator it became obvious that it was the

same unit as the Kuantan Formation, previously defined on the
Solok Quadrangle Sheet in West Sumatra, from outcrops along
the Batang Kuantan by Silitonga & Kastowo (1975) (Fig. 4.5).
On the Padangsidempuan Quadrangle Sheet to the north, the
change from Kluet to Kuantan Formation was set arbitrarily
where there is a break in the outcrop at 99'E longitude (Aldiss
et al. 1 983) (Fig. 4.4).
The outcrop of the Kuantan Formation extends along the core
of the Barisan Mountains from Padangsidempuan to the latitude
of Padang (Figs 4.4 & 4.5). Silitonga & Kastowo (1975) distin guished a Lower Member dominated by quartzites and quartz
sandstones, rarely conglomeratic, with interbedded shales,
usually metamorphosed to slates or phyllites. Finer-grained sand stone units may show graded beds, small-scale cross lamination,
ripples and slump structures. Subordinate components include
brown chert, chloritized tuffs and volcanic rocks. The lower unit
was distinguished from an upper Phyllite and Shale Member in
.

Equator

100'E

Again X:\\:\\
0

t.

- 1 T F uh r ur

iir'PAY
BUKIT
V AK
\T

I
N

Meninjau

29

which the argillaceous red brown shale and phyllite component

is dominant, with intercalations of quartzite, siltstone, dark grey
chert and andesitic to basaltic lava flows.
No systematic sedimentological study has been carried out on
the Kuantan Formation and outcrop details are not given in the
Explanatory Notes for the GRDC Quadrangle sheets. Descriptions
of the lithological features of the Kuantan Formation by Peter
Turner (Turner 1983) from three outcrops near Rao (Fig. 4.4)
are therefore particularly valuable. The first is on the Aek
Mangkais to the west of the Batang Sumpur, where massive
grey quartzite beds, 1-6 m are interbedded with blue-grey and
black phyllites and fine siltstones 10-80 cm thick. The quartzites
show both sharp tops and bases and the siltstones may show
cross-lamination. Tight folds of the slaty cleavage are seen in
loose blocks in the stream bed.
Steeply dipping (100'153N) black slates outcrop in the
Sungai Nior to the east of the Batang Sumpur, showing isoclinal
folds to which the cleavage has an axial plane relationship
(Turner 1983). The slates are interbedded with rippled, laminated
siltstones containing ribbed plant stems of Calamites type. The siltstones are sometimes deformed by slump folds. A section in the
river bank shows several lenses of matrix-supported conglomerate,
up to 1 m thick, with bases eroded into the underlying slate. Angular
to rounded clasts in the conglomerate include vein quartz, microgranite, phyllite, greywacke, quartzite and chert. Siltstone clasts show
both cleavage and crenulation cleavage, indicating two earlier
phases of deformation These conglomerates are interpreted as
debris flows (Turner 1983). Further upstream, greywacke sandstone
beds 30 cm thick are folded into upright folds, 2-3 m in amplitude.
These rocks have been identified as distal turbidites and are distinguished by Turner (1983) as the Nior Member.
Black, micaceous mudstones and slates in a small tributary
of the Aek Lajang to the NE of Ciranting contain ellipsoidal

103'

io mat oh

UFT
RENGAT

Tigapuluh
Mountains
1"s

Condong (volcanic)
Member

PADANG

Dihawah
Dlatas

JURASSIC
Major Faults
Recent
Volcanoes
Permo-Triassic

_____ Tabir Formation

MUARABUNGO

PERMO - TRIASSIC
Triassic
Permian with

Palepat
Formation

voloanies

Intrusions

.Tabir Formation

CARBONIFEROUS - ?EARLY PERMIAN

Mentulu Fm etc.with pebbly mudstone
Kerincr
Kuantan Formation
Limestone Units
t
\\
100E

101'

Duabelas
%Mountains

Serpentinite

2"

Mengkarang
50

100km

103'
1

Fig. 4.5. Distribution of Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic stratigraphie units in central Sumatra from GRDC map sheets, showing lithologies and critical localities as
well as Late Permian to Early Triassic intrusives. Areas left blank are covered by Late Mesozoic to Quaternary sediments and volcanics.

30

CHAPTER 4

calcareous nodules up to 40 cm in size, around which the slaty

cleavage diverges as the result of compaction. Indeterminate
foraminifers were recognized in one nodule, and an insoluble
re si du e fro m a no t h e r yi e l de d a b un da nt s po n ge sp ic ul es.
The associated mudstones contain leaf and fungal fragments.
These outcrops were distinguished by Turner (1983) as the Tua
Member. These records of plant fragments, foraminifers and
siliceous spicules indicate that the less deformed sediments
in the Kuantan Formation are very likely to yield age-diagnostic
fossils to a systematic search.
On the Pakanbaru Quadrangle Sheet, to the north of Solok,
Clarke et al. (1982b) distinguish the Pawan and Tanjung Puah
members of the Kuantan Formation (Figs 4.2 & 4.4). The
Pawan Member cropping out to the east of Lubuksikaping is
composed of intensely folded muscovite, tremolite, chlorite
and carbonate schist. The very similar Tanjung Puah Member to
the SW, also includes quartz schist. Both units show an early
phase of tight isoclinal folding on vertical or steep SW-dipping
axial planes and eastwest or NWSE axes, and are refolded
by later upright folds on NWSE axes. The latter are probably
represented by the large-scale folds seen on aerial photographs
and indicated on the Pakanbaru Quandrangle Sheet (Clarke et ul.
1982b). Again, these more highly metamorphosed rocks may
represent fragments of an earlier metamorphic basement, or,
where rock types include tremolite and chlorite schists, may
represent a hitherto unrecognized suture zone.
On the Solok Sheet Silitonga & Kastowo (1975) recognized
a Limestone Member within the Kuantan Formation (Fig. 4.5),
composed of massive, black, white, grey or reddish limestone,
locally containing irregularly-shaped chert nodules, with interbeds
of quartzite and siliceous shale. Detailed petrographic studies
of samples of limestone have been made by Vachard (1989a, b).
He recognized algal structures, including algal mats, oolites and
possible pisolites, and concluded that the limestones were depos ited in an intratidal to supratidal environment. From the fossils
collected during the mapping survey Silitonga & Kastowo
(1975) established that the limestones in the Kuantan Formation
range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Mid-Permian, although
the younger limestones are better considered as a separate
formation.
Subsequently the fossiliferous localities were re-examined
by Fontaine & Gafoer (1989). New collections were made and
macro- and microfossils studied to establish the ages of these
limestone occurrences more precisely. Important localities
containing Carboniferous fossils occur in the Agam River and
the Batang Kuantan Gorge (Fig. 4.5). The limestone outcrops
to the east of Lake Singkarak (Guguk Bulat) which yielded
Permian fossils are considered by Fontaine & Gafoer (1989)
to b e be st c l a s si fi e d wi t h t h e Mi d -P e r mi a n Si lu n gkan g
Formation, rather than, as shown on the map of the Solok
Quadrangle, with the Kuantan Formation (Silitonga & Kastowo
1975).
Limestone outcrops in the Agam River near the bridge on the
road from Bukit Tinggi to Pakanbaru yielded the alga Koninckopora and the foraminifers Palaeotextularia, Eoendothvranopsis
and Archaediscus, indicating a Mid-Visean age. With additional
samples the age range was extended from the late Early or
early Mid-Visean to Late Visean (Fontaine & Gafoer 1989). A Mid
Late Visean age was confirmed by the discovery of conodonts,
inc l udi ng Gnat hodus gi rt y i rhode si Hi ggi ns, from this
locality (cf. the Alas Formation above) (Metcalfe 1983).
Limestones exposed in a scenic gorge along the Kuantan River
contain large colonies of the tabulate coral Syringopora, the fascieulate Tetracorallia Siphenodendron and the alga Koninckopora
inflates, indicating a Late Visean age (Fontaine & Gafoer 1989;
Vachard 1989a, b). These limestones containing the colonial
coral Syringopora and intratidal algal mats, were evidently
deposited in a sub-tropical to tropical, shallow, warm water
environment.

Tigapuluh Group
Pre-Tertiary rocks form the Tigapuluh Mountains, isolated as
an inlier 70 km long and 40 km wide among the surrounding
Tertiary sediments, east of the Barisan Mountains to the south
of Rengat (Fig. 4.5). Three formations have been identified: the
Mentulu, Pengabuhan and the Gangsal formations, interpreted as
different facies of the Tigapuluh Group. The distribution of
these units are shown on the Rengat and Muarabungo Quadrangle
Sheets (Suwarna et al. 1991; Simandjuntak et al. 1991) (Fig. 4.6).
Deformation increases in intensity from NE to SW and in the
aureoles of TriassicJurassic granitic intrusions the sediments
are converted to spotted slates or hornfels.
Mentulu Formation. The Mentulu Formation, defined from out crops in the upper part of the Mentulu River, occupies large
areas in the northern and eastern parts of the Tigapuluh Mountains
(Fig. 4.6). The formation is characterized by pebbly mudstones,
similar to those of the Bohorok Formation of northern Sumatra.
The mudstones are interbedded with greywacke sandstones
and shales, the latter generally occurring as slates, or as hornfels
adjacent to granite contacts. The mudstone matrix contains irregu larly distributed angular to rounded clasts of granite, silicified
basalt, vein quartz, slate, quartzite and feldspar. The clasts are
generally of pebble size, up to a few centimetres, but may reach
30 cm in diameter. The pebbly mudstone is usually deformed,
with the matrix altered to slate, and the clasts flattened and
elongated within the cleavage planes. Cordierite is commonly
developed where the pebbly mudstones have been converted to
spotted slates or hornfels within metamorphic aureoles.
The interbedded greywacke sandstones are massive, dense, grey
sandstones, sometimes conglomeratic, containing folded quartz
veins. The sandstones are poorly sorted and also contain irregu larly distributed clasts, of the same rock types as those found in
the mudstones. The conglomerates are polymict and are composed
of sub-angular to rounded clasts. Finer sandstone units show
parallel lamination and may he poorly graded. Shale or claystone
units are well bedded and parallel laminated and contain scattered
matrix-supported fragments of quartz and feldspar. Some of
the sandstone units are tuffaceous and andesitic and basaltic
tuffs distinguish the Condong Member in Bukit Condong and
Gunung Endalang (Fig. 4.6).
The pebbly mudstones of the Mentulu Formation, like those
in the Bohorok Formation in northern Sumatra are considered to
be of glacio-marine origin, and the lithology of the clasts indicates
a continental provenance.
Pengabuhan Formation. The Pengabuhan Formation occurs in the

central part of the Tigapuluh Mountains where it is defined from

outcrops in the upper part of the Pengabuhan River (Simandjuntak
et al. 1991) (Fig. 4.6). The formation is composed principally
of lithic greywackes or sandstones, quartzites and siltstones.
These lithologies contain irregularly distributed elasts of granite,
vein quartz and quartzite, similar to those seen in the Mentulu
Formation. The quartzites are often feldspathic and are wellsorted, being composed of well rounded grains of quartz and
feldspar. The siltstones also contain clasts of feldspar, quartz
and lithic fragments. The outcrop patterns in the northern part of
the Tigapuluh Mountains, as delineated by Suwarna et al.
(1991) (Fig. 4.6), show the Mentulu and Pengabuhan formations
interdigitating, suggesting that they are facies variants, distin guished only by the presence or absence of pebbly mudstone.
Alternatively the two units may have been imbricated by thrusting.
Gangsal Formation. The Gangsal Formation crops out in the
western part of the Tigapuluh Mountains, and was defined from
the upper part of the Gangsal River. The formation is also
s ho wn oc cu p yi n g a s ma ll a rea be t we en t he Men tu lu an d

PRE-TERTIARY STRATIGRAPHY

31

Fig. 4.6. Distribution of stratigraphic units in the Tigapuluh Hills (after Suwarna et al. 1991; Simandjuntak et al. 1991). Areas left blank are covered by Tertiary to Recent
10215'E

103'00'

45'

to Renga

TIGAPULUH
MOUNTAINS

45'

45'

c
o

-4-- 20km
Inliers of
Gangsal
Formation
in Limau Hill

as

Triassic-Jurassic
Granites
TIGAPULUH GROUP

4/

')) Kentang

e ezi,

Gunun
Endalan

1"00's

Condong (volcanic) Member

Mentulu Formation
(pebbly mudstones)
Pengabuhan Formation
Gangsal Formation

0 ,z

C
A

1"00'

Bukit'

.

K:2

p.D

. ' . . .rp

ondong
spy&P

.
" "u1Mentulu
" Formation.

Pengabuhan . . .
0
Formation -
4,
"

10

15

20km

to Jambi

15'
15'

30'

45

15'

103'00'

sediments.

Pengabuhan formations in the southern part of the mountains

(Fig. 4.6). It is distinguished from the other Pre-Tertiary units in
this area by the predominance of argillacous material, usually as
dark grey or black slate, grey, white or green phyllite, by a
higher degree of deformation, and in the neighbourhood of intru sions, dark hornfels. The argillacous rocks are interbedded with
grey-green sandstones, composed of subangular to rounded
grains of quartz with lithic fragments, dark grey quartzites and
massive grey argillaceous limestones. All lithologies are extensively veined by quartz.
Correlated formations in southern Sumatra
An isolated outcrop of low-grade metamorphic rocks in the
Duabelas Mountains to the SE of Muarabungo (Figs 4.2 & 4.5)
consisting of quartzite, siltstone, claystone, marble and rare mica
schist, distinguished as the Tarantam Formation, has been
correlated with the Kuantan Formation (Simandjuntak et al. 1991).
The Garba Mountains form an inlier of Pre-Tertiary rocks to
the south of Baturaja (Fig. 4.7). Here the oldest unit, composed
of low grade metamorphic rocks, is distinguished as the Tarap
Formation from a type locality in the Tarap River (Gafoer et al.
1994). These metamorphic rocks crop out on both the eastern
and western sides of the inlier where they are in thrust contact
and imbricated with the unmetamorphosed Lower Cretaceous
Garba Formation. The metamorphic rocks, which include phyllite,

schist, slate, minor quartzite and marble metamorphosed in

the greenshist facies, are interpreted as the metamorphosed
Palaeozoic basement of Sumatra, and are correlated lithologically
with the Tarantam and Kuantan formations of Central Sumatra
(Gafoer el al. 1994) and with the Gunungkasih Complex to the
south near Bandarlampung (Amin et al. 1994h).
Metamorphic rocks of the Gunungkasih Complex, named
from a hill to the SE of Tanjungkarang, form scattered outcrops
among Cretaceous granites and Quaternary volcanics in South
Sumatra (Fig. 4.8). Rock types include graphitic, micaceous,
sericitic, chloritic, quartzose and calcareous schist, sericitic quart zite and marble of low- to medium-grade greenschist facies,
associated with migmatites, amphibolites and granitic gneisses
and intruded by granites. Amin et al. (1994b) and Andi Mangga
et al. (1994a) suggest that these metamorphic rocks may be
correlated with the Kuantan and Kluet formations of central and
northern Sumatra. The boundaries of lithological units and the
foliation strike in a NWSE direction, parallel to the Sumatran
trend. Schistosity strikes in the same direction, is folded about east
west axes and is refolded by NWSE trending upright folds
and by variably oriented kink bands. KAr ages of 125 5
and 115 6 Ma (mid-Cretaceous) obtained from rocks of the
complex are taken to indicate the age of granite intrusion and
metamorphism of the metasediments. In outcrops to the NE of
Kotaagung, and SW of Tanjungkarang, rocks of the Gunungkasih
Complex are thrust southwestwards over unmetamorphosed
sediments of the Early Cretaceous Menanga Formation.

32

CHAPTER 4

104'0D'

ii!,atur

Qs Quaternary Sediments

Qv
415'

QuaternarWolcanics
Pliocene

Qv

Late Miocene

y
S.

Qv

S o
V

S P
V

V
V

V
V

V
V

V
V

V
V

V
v
V

V
V

Y
V

V
Y

Y.

V .

S .

V
V

Y.

V S .
V

V
V

'ktim Middle Miocene

V .

Y
VV

Oligo-Miocene
Eocene

V S .

M A RTA P U R A i

S .

V
V

V
' V

Qv

V V V V
1 , ,

V V

Y V

V
V V

V
.

' ,

. . . V V . . .
,

0, 0.

."

V V V Y

1.

.uunung

Faults

Garb
e
N. N.

4.4:4X+
N
Nt+4.44x

4'30'

e
,

' ^1 . N

s
0

10

15

20km

Late Cretaceous Granites

Mesozoic Units
(correlated with the Woyla Group)
Melange
Situlanglang (chert) Member
kKa;
Garba (volcanic) Formation
1

Fig. 4.7.
GRDC
with the

The distribution of the Pre-Tertiary units in the

geological map of Baturaja (Gafoer et al. 1994).
Tapanuli Group and the Garba and Situlanglang
Cretaceous Woyla Group of northern Sumatra (see

Pemali
Group, Ban
yka Island
Ca rboni fe rous --Pe rmi a n roc ks of t he Pe ma l i
Group oc c ur on Bangka Island where they are imbricated with
the Triassic Tempilang Sandstones (Ko 1986) (Fig. 4.2). The
Pemali Group occurs in eastwest trending, fault-bounded
outcrops throughout the island. Rock types include isoclinally
folded pyritic shales a n d l i m e s t o ne s, t he l a t t er c on ta in in g
P er mi a n fus ul i n i d s (De Roever 1951), volcanics and bedded
cherts, with radiolaria, laminated mudstones and pebbly
mudstones. According to the description by Ko (1986) the
pebbl y mudstones from the Toboali District in the southern part
of the island resemble very closely those already described from
the Bohorok and Mentulu formations, above, and contain clasts
with a similar range of sizes and lithologies, although
previously these same outcrops were described by De Roever
(1951) as arkosic conglomerate.

Persing Complex, Singkep and the 'Quartzite Terrain'

The Persing Complex of the island of Singkep consists of
phyllite, slate, graphitic schists with quartz veins and bands of quartzite
(Sutisna et al. 1994). The quartzites are compared lithologically with
those of the Tarantam Formation in the Duablas Mountains. The Persing
Complex lies along strike from the 'Quartzite Terrain' identified in oil
company boreholes in the Pekanbaru area (Fig. 4.2).

Interpretation

Tarap Formation
(metamorphosed ?
Garba Mountains, South Sumatra. after
The Metamorphosed Palaeozoics arc correlated
Formations are correlated with the Jurassic-

below).

Stratigraphy. Because of poor exposure,

scattered outcrops and
the large numbers of faults which disrupt the
sequence, it has
not yet proved possible to determine the stratigraphic relationships
of the units which make up the Tapanuli Group. The Visean
Alas Formation and Limestone Member of the Kuantan Formation
are the only units for which there is direct palaeontological
evidence of age. The Bohorok and Kluet/Kuantan formations
have also been regarded as of Carboniferous age because of their
close association with the Alas and Kuantan limestones in the
field, and because all three formations contain similar lithologies,
and in general show the same degree of deformation. The presence
of fossils indicating an age near the DevonianCarboniferous
boundary in a borehole in the Malacca Strait (Eubank & Makki
1981), the identification of Late CarboniferousEarly Permian
fossils in the Pangururan Bryozoan Bed (Aldiss et al. 1983)
suggests that the Tapanuli Group may cover an age range from
Late Devonian to Early Permian.
The BGS/DMR surveyors, who mapped the Tapanuli Group
as part of the North Sumatra Project, considered that all three
units were broadly contemporaneous. They observed that pebbly
mudstones, characteristic of the Bohorok Formation, are inter bedded with quartz sandstones and pelitic sediments of turhidite
facies. These turbiditic sediments, with variations in the pro portions of the components, are the dominant lithologies in the
Kluet and Kuantan formations and also in the Tigapuluh Group
of Central Sumatra. Cameron et al. (1982a) report that, apart
from the presence or absence of pebbly mudstones, the lithologies
of the Bohorok and Kluet formations are so similar that the bound ary between them on the Medan Sheet was drawn arbitrarily
because of the difficulty in distinguishing between the two units.

The outcrop of the Alas Formation is interposed between the

Bohorok and Kluet formations (Figs 4.2 & 4.3). As reported

above a Visean (Lower Carboniferous) age has been established

for the Alas Formation (Fontaine 1989; Metcalfe 1983). A