The Island Arc (1998) 7, 202222

Thematic Article
Tectonic implications of new age data for the Meratus Complex
of south Kalimantan, Indonesia
KOJI WAKITA1 , KAZUHIRO MIYAZAKI 1, ISKANDAR ZULKARNAIN 2, JAN SOPAHELUWAKAN 2
PRIHARDJO SANYOTO3

AND

Geological Survey of Japan, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 Japan,

Research and Development Centre for Geotechnology, Bandung 40135 and
3
Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung, 40122, Indonesia
2

Abstract Cretaceous subduction complexes surround the southeastern margin of Sundaland in Indonesia. They are widely exposed in several localities, such as Bantimala
(South Sulawesi), Karangsambung (Central Java) and Meratus (South Kalimantan).
The Meratus Complex of South Kalimantan consists mainly of me lange, chert, siliceous shale, limestone, basalt, ultramac rocks and schists. The complex is uncomformably covered with Late Cretaceous sedimentary-volcanic formations, such as
the Pitap and Haruyan Formations.
Well-preserved radiolarians were extracted from 14 samples of siliceous sedimentary
rocks, and KAr age dating was performed on muscovite from 6 samples of schist of the
Meratus Complex. The radiolarian assemblage from the chert of the complex is assigned
to the early Middle Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. The KAr age data from schist
range from 110 Ma to 180 Ma. Three samples from the Pitap Formation, which unconformably covers the Meratus Complex, yield Cretaceous radiolarians of Cenomanian
or older.
These chronological data as well as eld observation and petrology yield the following
constraints on the tectonic setting of the Meratus Complex.
(1) The me lange of the Meratus Complex was caused by the subduction of an oceanic
plate covered by radiolarian chert ranging in age from early Middle Jurassic to late
Early Cretaceous.
(2) The Haruyan Schist of 110119 Ma was affected by metamorphism of a high
pressurelow temperature type caused by oceanic plate subduction. Some of the
protoliths were high alluminous continental cover or margin sediments. Intermediate
pressure type metamorphic rocks of 165 and 180 Ma were discovered for the rst time
along the northern margin of the Haruyan Schist.
(3) The Haruyan Formation, a product of submarine volcanism in an immature island arc setting, is locally contemporaneous with the formation of the me lange of
the Meratus Complex.
Key words:
accretionary complex, chert, Cretaceous, Indonesia, Kalimantan, me
lange, Meratus, radiolarian, schist, ultramac rocks.

INTRODUCTION
The southeastern spur of the pre-Cretaceous
continental basement of Sundaland extends into
West Kalimantan (Hutchison 1989). Cretaceous
Accepted for publication May 1997.

granites were intruded into the basement of

central and western Kalimantan, Sumatra and
the western part of the Java Sea (Hamilton
1979).
Cretaceous subduction complexes surround
the southeastern margin of Sundaland. Cenozoic
sedimentary and volcanic cover rocks are

extensive, and the complexes are exposed only in

the Bantimala (South Sulawesi), Karangsambung
(Central Java) and Meratus (South Kalimantan)
areas (Fig. 1).
Prior to Neogene foreland subsidence of the
Makassar Strait (Bergman et al. 1996), the Cretaceous complexes of the Meratus and Bantimala
areas were located close together. Tertiary subduction complexes and obducted ophiolite are
distributed to the east in Central and East Sulawesi (Simandjuntak 1990; Parkinson 1991; Cofeld et al. 1993; Bergman et al. 1996), and the
Late Miocene collision of the BanggaiSula
Platform has resulted in west-directed overthrusting throughout Sulawesi (Fig. 1).
Cretaceous subduction complexes of the Indonesian region are characterized by ultramac
rocks, metamorphic rocks and me langes
con- taining radiolarian chert. These complexes
have not previously been studied in detail.
The joint GSJLIPI research on Indonesian
Cretaceous subduction complexes has been conducted since 1993. During 1993 and 1994, the age,
petrology, geochemistry and structures of the
complexes of Central Java and South Sulawesi
were investigated (Wakita et al. 1994a,b; 1996;

Miyazaki et al. 1996). The differences and similarities between the two subduction complexes of
Central Java and South Sulawesi were noted.
Wakita et al. (1994a) determined the history of
the accretionary process to form the LukUlo
Me lange Complex of the Karangsambung
area, central Java on the basis of radiolarians
ex- tracted from siliceous and argillaceous rocks.
The detailed age data of the sedimentary rocks
sug- gests that subduction continued from
Early to Late Cretaceous. Oceanic materials
such
as chert, limestone and pillow basalt
travelled on the oceanic plate, and were
accreted with ter- rigenous materials at the
`Karangsambung Trench'. Wakita et al. (1994b;
1996) studied ages and the stratigraphical
relationship of radiolarian chert, metamorphic
rocks and other components of the Bantimala
Complex of South Sulawesi, and reported the
mid-Cretaceous collision of a mic- rocontinent
covered by Jurassic sedimentary rocks, the
exhumation of very high pressure metamorphic
rocks (1824 kbar: Miyazaki et al.
1996), and successive chert sedimentation
(Wakita et al. 1996).
Although various authors have discussed the
relationship between the three complexes of

Fig. 1 Distribution of Cretaceous subduction complexes in Indonesia.

204204 K. Wakita et
al.

Central Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan, detailed data on the subduction complex
of South Kalimantan are sparse compared with
that for the other complexes. Detailed investigation of the complex is very important to
understand the tectonic setting of the Indonesian
region in Cretaceous times, and to understand
the type of orogenic belts in this region.
In this paper new data
of radiolarian
biostratigraphic and KAr age data for the preTertiary complex in South Kalimantan are presented, and tectonic development of this region is
discussed.
OUTLINE OF GEOLOGY
The Meratus Mountains and Laut Island (Meratus area) are located in the South Kalimantan

province of Indonesia (Fig. 2). Few works on the

geology of these areas have been published except for the geological 1:250 000 sheet maps of
the Geological Research and Development Centre (GRDC); for example those of Supriatna
(1989) Supriatna et al. (1983), Heryanto & Sanyoto (1994), Heryanto et al. (1994) Rustandi et al.
(1981; 1984; 1995) among others. We also have a
short description of the geology of Hamilton
(1979), and Sikumbang (1986, 1990).
The basement in the Meratus area, namely the
Meratus Complex is composed of high pressure
metamorphic rocks (Hauran Schist and Plaihari
Phyllite), ultramac rocks (Meratus Ophiolite)
and me langes
including clasts
of chert,
limestone and basalt within shale matrices. These
rocks are uncomformably overlain
by Late
Cretaceous formations, such as the Pitap and
Haruyan For- mations, or the Alino and Pudak
Groups (Fig. 3).

Fig. 2 Geologic map of the Meratus

area, South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Upper left inlet shows the localities of
schist samples for KAr age dating
(BB30A, BBII30A, BBII5, BBII3B,
BBII8A, BBII11) and locality of SK6A,
a chert clast in tuff breccia of the
Ha- ruyan Formation.
Stars
indicate the localities of radiolarian
occurrences in melanges of Laut
Island.

Fig. 3 Summary of the stratigraphy in

the Meratus area based on the
chro- nological data of this work.

All these Mesozoic rocks are unconformably

covered by Tertiary formations. These comprise
in ascending order: the Tanjung Formation (Eocene), the Berai Formation (Oligocene to Early
Miocene), the Warukin Formation (Middle to
Late Miocene), the Dahor Formation (Pliocene to
early Pleistocene) and Quaternary sedimentary
cover. Although the Dahor Formation unconformably overlies the Warukin Formation, the
other Cenozoic formations lie conformably on the
older formations. The Tanjung, Berai and
Warukin Formations are tectonically deformed,
and are locally overturned near the lithotectonic
units of the Meratus Complex.
PITAP AND HARUYAN FORMATIONS
The Pitap and Haruyan Formations (Heryanto &
Sanyoto 1994; Heryanto et al. 1994) are Late
Cretaceous sedimentary and volcanic covers of
the Meratus Complex. They are unconformably
underlain by ultramac rock, metamorphic rocks
and me langes of the Meratus Complex.
The Haruyan Formation in this paper includes
Late Cretaceous basic to intermediate volcanic
rocks distributed in the Meratus Mountains and
Laut Island. Therefore, the Pitanak Group in the
southwestern part of the Meratus Mountains
(Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994) are described as

the Haruyan Formation in this paper. The Haruyan Formation consists mainly of basic to
andesitic volcanic rocks, such as lava, tuff and
tuff breccia (Fig. 4a,b). Lava sometimes shows
pillow structures
indicating submarine volcanism. The Haruyan formation is interngered
with the Pitap Formation.
Although volcanic breccia and lavas in the
southern part of the Meratus Mountains are described as the Alino Group (Sikumbang &
Heryanto 1994), they belong to the Haruyan
Formation in this paper. The tuff breccia consists
of feldspar crystals, pumice, lava fragments and
irregular-shaped fragments of pale-colored chert
within a light purple colored tuff matrix
(Fig. 4b). One of the chert samples, SK6a, yields
Cenomanian radiolarians.
In this paper, the Pitap Formation (sensu
lato) includes all Late Cretaceous marine sedimentary formations in the Meratus area, since
the Alino Formation (Supriatna 1989) or the
Alino Group and Batununggal Formation in the
Banjarmasin area (Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994)
are equivalent to the Pitap Formation in the
Kotabaru, Amuntai, and Sampanahan areas
(Rustandi et al. 1981; Heryanto & Sanyoto 1994;
Heryanto et al. 1994). The Pitap Formation
consists mainly of ysch type sedimentary rocks
such as sandstone, siltstone, conglomerate and
shale with subsidiary limestone layers and

blocks (Fig. 4c). The limestone contains foraminifera Orbitolina cf. oculata of AptianAlbian
age (Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994), and occurs as
olistostromal blocks.

This formation includes various rock facies

such as deep marine turbidite, shallow marine
calcareous mudstone with Cenomanian molluscs
(Turritella: Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994), and

Fig. 4 Photographs showing lithology: (a) pillow lava of the Haruyan Formation, east of Kandagan; (b) tuff breccia with chert clasts in the
Haruyan Formation; (c) ysh of the Pitlap Formation, east of Kandagan, Mandikapau, southeast of Marutapura; (d) melange of the
Meratus Complex, including angular chert blocks, Sekoyang, Laut Island; (e) bedded chert of the Meratus complex, Sekoyang, Lauf Island;
(f) bedded very siliceous shale of the Meratus Complex, Sekoyang, Laut Island.

conglomerate rich in clasts of ophiolite origin.

Volcanic lava and breccia in the Alino Group
(Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994) are excluded from
the Pitap Formation of this paper.
MERATUS COMPLEX
The Meratus Complex is a tectonic assemblage of
slabs and blocks consisting of sandstone, shale,
conglomerate, chert, siliceous shale, basalt, ultramac rocks and schist. The ages of components range from Jurassic to early Late
Cretaceous.
ME
LANGE

Me langes do not occur in the Meratus area

but are distributed on Laut Island (Fig. 2).
The me langes are dened as assemblages of
tectonic slabs with various lithologies and
stratigraphic formations ranging in age from
Jurassic to Cre- taceous. The me langes are
unconformably over- lain by or in fault contact
with Late Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary
formations.

The most distinct outcrop of me lange

occurs along the southwestern coast of Laut
Island (Fig. 5). The me lange includes clasts
and blocks of chert, siliceous shale, basalt,
limestone, marl and manganese carbonate
nodules embedded within
a sheared shale
matrix (Fig. 4d). It is signicant
that
sandstone or other coarse- grained detrital
sediments are lacking in the me lange. The
detailed structure of the me langes are unclear,
because of limited exposures in this region. The
shale
matrix is usually
sheared to some
degree. In the Sekoyang area, tectonic slabs
and blocks are tectonically mixed with mudstone
dominant matrices. The dip of the fo- liation of
sheared matrix ranges from 20 to 80 toward
the northwest or north (Fig. 5).
Major clasts include chert, siliceous shale,
limestone and basalt. Chert and limestone are
thinly bedded. Basalt is mainly lava, and pillow
structures are sometimes preserved. Limestone
clasts
are locally dominant in the me
lange. Fragments of manganese carbonate
nodules
oc- cur
rarely. The
clasts
are
subrounded to suban- gular, lenticular to blocky
in shape.
Clast
size ranges from several
millimeters to several hun-

Fig. 5 Geologic sketch map of the melange, Sekoyang, Laut lsland. Shore line is subparallel to the general trend of the melange. The
melange is folded in a meter to several tens of meters order.

Table 1 KAr age data of schist of the Meratus Complex. See Fig. 2 for the sample localities
Sample no.

Material analyzed

Rock type

Locality

BB-30a

White mica

Schist

Batuditabang

BBII-30a

White mica

Schist

Batuditabang

BBII-5

White mica

Schist

Manunggul

BBII-11

White mica

Schist

Damargusang

BBII-3b

White mica

Schist

Tiwingan

BBII-8a

White mica

Schist

Pamaton

dred meters long. Clasts in the me lange

are usually less than 1 m in long axis, but
sometimes reach several metres long.
Chert is the dominant rock type in the me
lange.
Chert layers range from 1 to 20 cm thick and are
interbedded with <1 cm thick shale layers
(Fig. 4e). The bedded chert is mostly red or reddish-brown in color, and sometimes light gray or
greenish-gray in color. The chert is composed
mainly of skeletons of radiolarians, their fragments and a small amount of shale. The chert
sometimes includes well-preserved radiolarians
ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Early
Cretaceous (late Albian to early Cenomanian) age.
Siliceous shale clasts are light gray, gray or
reddish brown in color, and composed of terrigenous fragments, radiolarian skeletons and
other detrital materials (Fig. 4f). Some of them
(SK60A, B) include radiolarians of Early Cretaceous age.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Metamorphic rocks are distributed in the southwestern part of the Meratus Mountains. They
occur as wedge-shaped tectonic blocks in fault
contact with ultramac rocks and Cretaceous
formations. The metamorphic rocks
include
glaucophane schist, garnet mica schist, quartz
mica schist, piemontite schist, amphibolite and
phyllite. Lower grade metamorphic rocks called
Pelaihari Phyllite (poorly distributed around
Pelaihari village) and higher grade schist, called
Hauran Schist, are rather widely distributed in
the southern part of the Meratus Mountains. The
metamorphic rocks include schists of high pressurelow temperature type, consisting of glaucophane (crossite), quartz and small amounts of
epidote, apatite and hematite.

Isotopic age (Ma) Average age (Ma)

181.
180.
165.
165.
119.
118.
116.
116.
116.
115.
112.
108.

9.
9.
8.
8.
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.
6.

180. 9.
165. 8.
119. 6.
116. 6.
115. 6.
110. 6.

The major protoliths of the metamorphic rocks

were pelitic and basic rocks. Chloritoidequartz
schist and kyanitequartz schist are characteristic of the Haruyan Schist. Chloritoidequartz
schist consists only of chloritoid and quartz,
while kyanitequartz schist contains kyanite,
quartz, hematite and small amounts of white
mica. These mineral assemblages indicate that
protoliths of the schists had enormously high
contents of aluminium. The origin of high aluminous metamorphic rocks could be high aluminous detrital sediments derived from a tropical
continent covered by laterite.
KAr age date for muscovite was obtained
from six samples of (garnet)quartzmuscovite
schist from the Meratus Mountains (Fig. 2, Table 1). These samples were analyzed by Keith
Noyes of Teledyne Brown Engineering. KAr
age data of micas from the schists range from 110
to 180 Ma. The samples yield KAr ages between
110 and 119 Ma except for BB-30a and BBII-30a.
These data are consistent with data previously
reported (113 Ma: KAr age of hornblende
schist; Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994). Older ages,
such as 165 and 180 Ma were obtained from the
samples BB-30a and BBII-30a which were collected at the same locality on the northern margin of the schist distribution. The apparently
older metamorphic rocks may belong to a different tectonic block from the main part.
ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS

Ultramac rocks are widely distributed in the

Meratus area (Fig. 2). The ultramac rocks are
dark green in color, are mostly serpentinized,
sheared and faulted. They comprise serpentinized peridotite, harzburgite and dunite with minor pyroxenite, and are intimately associated

with gabbro and amphibolite. The ultramac

rocks are variably affected by low grade metamorphism. Chromite is sometimes present but is
a minor constituent. The KAr radiometric age
of a metadolerite dyke in the upper stream of the
Satui River was reported as 116 Ma (Sikumbang
1986).
The ages of ultramac rocks in Laut Island are
estimated from the age of chert which originally
overlay the ultramac rock, together with basic
igneous rocks such as basalt and gabbro. The
oldest chert in Laut Island, of early Middle
Jurassic, indicates the age of ultramac rocks
is older than early Middle Jurassic at Laut Island.
INTRUSIVE ROCKS

Leucocratic rocks in an ultramac unit include

quartz diorite and trondhjemite which are closely
associated with dolerite and gabbro (Sikumbang
1986). These rocks are classied as `Plagiogranite'.
Granite and granodiorite have been recorded
from a few localities in the Meratus Mountains
(Sikumbang & Heryanto 1994). Granodiorite intruded into the Pitap Formation. KAr dating of
the granite yields an age of 115 Ma (Heryanto
et al. 1994).

RADIOLARIAN BIOSTRATIGRAPHY
The following samples and extracted radiolarians
were collected: one sample from the Haruyan
Formation at Mandikapan and three from the
Haruyan Formation near Mount Baturung, 16
samples from the Pitap Formation along the road
between Kandagan and Batulicin, ve samples
from the Pitap Formation east of Kotabaru, Laut
Island, one shale sample from the Haruyan
Formation east of Kotabaru, Laut Island, three
samples from chert on the ophiolite at Batricin,
three samples from chert east of Kotabaru, 20
samples from chert in me lange at Sekoyang,
10 samples from siliceous shale in the me lange
at Sekoyang, nine from a shale matrix of me
lange at Sekoyang and
ve samples from
manganese carbonate nodules in me lange at
Sekoyang.
Among the samples mentioned above, 14 samples in the Laut Me lange, one sample from
the Haruyan Formation and two from the Pitap
Formation yielded diagnostic radiolarians for age
determination. Radiolarians were chemically extracted from chert and siliceous shale using hydrouoric acid as discussed by Pessagno &
Newport (1972). The associations recognized are
shown in Figs. 713 and the Appendix. These
associations range in age from early Middle Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous (Fig. 6) based on

Fig. 6 Age of chert and siliceous shale based on the ranges of yielding radiolarians.

Fig. 7 (1) Archaeodictyomitra sp.; (2) Hsuum sp.; (3) Hsuum sp.; (4) Transhsuum hisuikyoense (Isozaki and Matsuda); (5) Transhsuum
hisuikyoense (Isozaki and Matsuda); (6) Unuma sp.; (7) Nassellaria gen. and sp. indet.; (8) Tricolocapsa sp.; (9) Hsuum sp.; (10) Cyrtocapsa sp.
aff. mastoidea Yao; (11) Cyrtocapsa sp. aff. mastoidea Yao; (12) Archicapsa (?) pachydema (TAN); (13) Archicapsa (?) pachyderma (Tan); (14)
Eucyrtidiellum sp.; (15) Tricolocapsa sp.; (16) Praeconocaryomma sp. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

Fig. 8 Thanarla sp.; (2) Thanarla

sp.; (3) Thanarla sp.; (4) Archaeodictyomitra apiarium (Riist); (5)
Archaeodictyomitra minoensis Mizutani; (6) Archaeodictyomitra apiarium
(Rust); (7) Cinguloturris cylindra
Kemkin and Rudenko; (8) Cinguloturris cylindra Kemkin and Rudenko;
((9) Xitus sp.; (10) Pseudodictyomitra
carpatica (Lozyniak); (11) Parvicingula
mashitaensis Mizutani; (12) Parvicingula mashitaensis Mizutani; (13)
Protunuma japonicus Matsuoka and
Yao; (14) Stichocapsa sp.; (15) Tricolocapsa (?) sp.; (16) Podobursa sp.;
(17) Podobursa sp.; (18) Sethocapsa
sp.; (19) Eucyrtidiellum pyramis (Aita);
(20) Eucyrtidiellum pyramis (Aita);
(21) Stichocapsa sp.; (22) Saitoum
sp.; (23) Pseudoeucyrtis (?) sp.; (24)
Pantanellium sp.; (25) Pantanellium
sp.; (26) Spumellaria gen. and sp.
indet.; (27) Spumellaria gen. and sp.
indet.; (28)
Stichocapsa sp.;
(29) Sethocapsa sp. Scale bar
0.1 mm.

numerous bio-stratigraphic works (Pessangno

1976; 1977a, b; Schaaf 1981; 1984; Taketani 1982;
Matsuoka 1983; 1986; Isozaki & Matsuda 1985;
Matsuoka & Yao 1985; 1986; Teraoka & Kurimoto
1986; Aita 1987; Carter et al. 1988; Tumanda
1989; Hori 1990; Qun 1993; Goric an 1994; Jud
1994; O'Dogherty 1994; Baumgartner et al.
1995a,b).

ME
LANGE
SEKOYANG

AT

Figure 6 is a geologic sketch map indicating fossil

localities and fossil ages. The components of the
me lange such as chert, limestone and basalt
are tectonically disrupted, and are
fault
bounded. Diagnostic radiolarians were extracted
from one

or two chert samples in one tectonic slab of the

me lange.
Therefore the
occurrence of
radiolari- ans does not show the biostratigraphic
relation- ship in the me lange. What we can
interpret from the radiolarian data, however, is a
reconstructed succession of the protolith which
was dismem- bered during me lange formation.
The oldest radiolarian assemblage in this me
l- ange is of early Middle Jurassic (Fig. 6; Fig.
7).
The assemblage from the sample SK47C includes
Transhsuum hisuikyoense Isozaki & Matsuda
and Archicapsa (?) pachyderma (Tan). Unuma
sp. A. (?) pachyderma is restricted to the early to
late Bajocian (Baumgartner et al. 1995a).
Sample SK52A is from the red shale matrix of
chert breccia, while Sample SK52B is a red chert

clast of the same chert breccia. The former includes a late Tithonian assemblage such as
Archaeodictyomitra apiarium, Cinguloturris
cylindra,
Eucyrtidiellum
pyramis,
Parvicingula mashitaensis, and Protunuma japo-

nicus (Fig. 8, Appendix), whereas the latter

yields a Middle Jurassic assemblage such as
Eucyrtidiellum unumaense, Protunuma c.f.
turbo, Stichocapsa himedaruma and Hsuum spp
(Fig. 9, Appendix).

Fig. 9 (1) Archaeodictyomitra sp.; (2) Archaeodictyomitra sp.; (3) Parvicingula sp.; (4) Hsuum sp.; (5) Hsuum sp.; (6) Hsuum sp.; (7)
Nassellaria gen. and sp. indet.; (8) Parvicingula sp.; (9) Eucyrtidiellum unumaense (Yao); (10) Eucyrtidiellum unumaense (Yao); (11) Unuma sp.;
(12) Hsuum sp.; (13) Unuma sp.; (14) Protunuma cf. turbo Matsuoka; (15) Stichocapsa himedaruma Aita; (16) Tricolocapsa sp.; (17)
Tricolocapsa sp.; (18) Parvicingula sp.; (19) Sethocapsa (?) sp.; (20) Sethocapsa (?) sp.; (21) Cryptamphorella sp.; (22) Cryptamphorella
sp. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

A chert sample SK41X includes a variety of

Spumellaria showing delicate structures: these
include Tritrabs, Triactoma, Emiluvia, Higmastra and Alievium together with species of
Nassellaria, such as Eucyrtidiellum ptyctum
(Fig. 10, Appendix). The dignostic species,
E. ptyctum and Emiluvia prenyogii indicate the
age of the sample is Middle Jurassic (Fig. 6).
Samples of SK47B, SK57 and SK58 are Middle
Jurassic based on the radiolarian assemblages.
Samples of SK47A, B and C are obtained from
south to north with about 1 m distances in a
continuous sequence.

Fig. 10 (1) Thanarla brouweri (Tan);

(2) Archeodictyomitra sp.; (3) Eycyrtidiellum ptyctum (Riedel and Sanlippo);
(4) Podobursa sp.; (5) Podobursa sp.;
(6) Nassellaria gen. and sp. indet.; (7)
Parvicingula sp.; (8) Parvicingula sp.;
(9) Mirifusus sp.; (10) Triactoma sp.;
(11) Tritrabs
rhododactylus Baumgartner; (12) Pantanellium sp.; (13)
Archaeospongoprunum sp.; (14) Pantanellium sp.; (15) Emiluvia sp.; (16)
Emiluvia prenyogii Baumgartner; (17)
Spumellaria gen. and sp. indet.; (18)
Alievium sp.; (19) Higmastra sp.; (20)
Nassellaria gen. and sp. indet.;
(21) Spumellaria gen. and sp. indet.
Scale bar 0.1 mm.

The me lange locally includes light gray

chert with rough surfaces, although most of the
chert is red or reddish brown in color. The
former contains various obscure fragments which
might be components of ash. It has been termed,
`tuff- aceous chert'. The beds of the chert are
rela- tively thicker than in the reddish brown
bedded chert.
The samples, SK50A and SK50B, contain
Pseudodictyomitra carpatica, Sethocapsa uterculus, Xitus gifuensis, Pantanellium lanceola
and others ranging in age from late Kimmeridgian to late Valanginian (Fig. 11, Appendix).

Fig. 11 (1) Thanarla brouweri (Tan); (2) Archaeodicyomitra sp.; (3) Archaeodicyomitra sp.; (4) Pseudodictyomitra carpatica (Lozyniak);
(5) Pseudodictyomitra carpatica (Lozyniak); (6) Pantanellium lanceola (Parona); (7) Xitus gifuensis Mizutani; (8) Xitus sp.; (9)
Pseudodictyomitra sp.; (10) Cryptamphorella shpaerica (White); (11) Cryptamphorella sp.; (12) Cryptamphorella sp.; (13) Paronaella (?) sp.;
(14) Sethocapsa cf. uterculus (Parcona). Scale bar 0.1 mm.

Fig. 12 (1) Thanarla pacica Nakaseko and Nishimura; (2) Thanarla

broweri (Tan); (3) Thanarla broweri
(Tan); (4) Thanarla lacrimula (Foreman); (5) Pseudodictyomitra carpatica
(Lozyniak); (6) Pseudodictyomitra sp.;
(7) Stichomitra mediocris (Tan); (8)
Parvicingula sp.; (9) Dictyomitrella
(?) puga Schaaf; (10) Dictyomitrella
(?) puga Schaaf; (11) Nassellaria gen.
and sp. indet.; (12) Stichocapsa cf.
japo- nica Nakaseko and Nlishimura;
(13) Cryptamphorella
shpaerica
(White); (14)
Cryptamphorella
shpaerica
(White);
(15)
Cryptamphorella cf. cli- vosa (Aliev);
(16) Nassellaria gen. and sp. indet.;
(17) Sethocapsa
sp.; (18)
Pseudoeucyrtis cf. hanni (Tan); (19)
Eucyrtidiellum
sp.; (20) Archaeodictyomitra sp.; (21) Hiscocapsa
grutterinki (Tan); (22) Pantanellium
lanceola (Parona); (23) Acaeniotyle
umbilicata (Rust); (24) Deviatus sp.;
(25) Sethocapsa uterculus (Parona);
(26) Sethocapsa uterculus (Parona);
(27) Bistrkum sp.; (28) Crucella sp.;
(29) Crucella sp. scale bar 0.1
mm.

SK50B is sampled at about 3 m north of SK50A

with a 2 m lack of outcrop in between.
Demonstrably the youngest rock in the me
- lange at Sekoyang is a very siliceous shale.
The
shale consists of light greenish gray very siliceous beds of 115 cm thick interbedded with
thinner dark gray shale partings. The sample
SK60A is a very siliceous shale part, while
SK60B comes from a dark gray shale parting.
They yield similar Early Cretaceous assemblages ranging from late Valanginian to early Aptian.
The assemblage contains Acaeniotyle umbilicata, Cyptamphorella shaerica, Pantanellium
lanceola, Pseudodictyomitra carpatica, Sethocapsa uterculus, Stichomitra dediocris and
Thanarla lacrimula (Fig. 12, Appendix).

The shale matrix of the me lange and

manga- nese carbonate nodules show a lack of
radiolari- ans or include only very poorly
preserved radiolarians.
ME LANGE
KOTABARU

AT

EAST

OF

Sample SK34, pale green chert, was obtained

east of Kotabaru (Fig. 2). It includes Rhopalosyringium adriaticum which ranges from
Middle Albian to Cenomanian (Fig. 6).
HARUYAN FORMATION

Fragments of light yellowish or milky colored

chert are embedded in basaltic tuff breccia south

Fig. 13 (1) Archaeodictyomitra sp.; (2) Thanarla sp.; (3) Dictyomitra sp.; (4) Dictyomitra sp.; (5) Stichomitra (?) sp.; (6) Thanarla
brouweri (Tan); (7) Dictyomitra sp.; (8) Dictyomitra sp.; (9) Dictyomitra sp.; (10) Xitus sp.; (11) Stichomitra communis Squinabol; (12)
Eucyrtidiellum sp.; (13) Thanarla sp.; (14) Rhopalosyringium sp.; (15) Rhopalosyringium sp.; (16) Stichomitra communis Squinabol; (17)
Archaeodictyomitra cf. obesa (Squinabol); (18) Thanarla sp.; (19) Dictyomitra sp.; (20) Novixitus sp. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

of the Meratus Mountains (Fig. 2). Chert sample,

SK6A, which occurs at the foot of Mount Baturung, includes Dictyomitra cf. formosa, R. adriaticum, Stichomitra communis, Thanarla
brouweri, Xitus sp. and other species (Fig. 13,
Appendix). The assemblage indicates an Early
Cretaceous to Cenomanian age (Fig. 6).
PITAP FORMATION

Two samples, SK24E and SK36B of shale alternating with thinner sandstone beds in the Pitap

Formation contain
(Nassellaria).

Cretaceous

radiolarians

DISCUSSION
The Meratus Complex is characterized by high
pressurelow temperature metamorphic rocks,
ultramac rocks, and me langes including clasts
of radiolarian chert,
pillow
basalt and
limestone. The chronological, stratigraphical and
petrologi- cal data presented in this paper give
us the new

Fig. 14 Middle to Late Cretaceous

tectonic setting of
the Meratus
area (South Kalimantan).

view of tectonic evolution of the Meratus Complex in Cretaceous time.

Radiolarian biostratigraphic studies on the
me lange in Laut Island revealed that the
cherts in the me lange range in age from
Bajocian to Cenomanian, although previous
works recog- nized only cherts including Early
Cretaceous radiolarians. The data suggests
that the sub- ducted oceanic plate covered by
these cherts was at least older than early
Middle Jurassic. The oceanic plate evolved at
some time before early Middle Jurassic, migrated
toward the Sundaland Continent, and nally
subducted in middle Cre- taceous time.
Granite, granodiorite, diorite and gabbro intruded the Meratus Complex. The radiometric
age of granite is 115 Ma (Heryanto et al. 1994).
These igneous rocks may have been caused by
the subduction of the oceanic plate already
mentioned beneath the marginal sea along the
Sundaland margin.
Basaltic to andesitic lava and tuff breccia of
the Haruyan Formation and Pitanak Group are
products of submarine volcanism, because chert
fragments in the tuff breccia include deep marine
fauna, radiolarians. These submarine volcanic
products are often recognized near immature
island arcs caused by the interaction between
two oceanic plates. The lower part of the Haruyan Formation and Pitanak Group are formed
in an immature island arc setting. Contemporaneously, the me lange of Laut Island was
formed by the subduction of the oceanic plate
during late Early Cretaceous time.

The me lange of Laut Island is characterized

by a lack of coarse-grained detrital clastic
sediments such as sandstone and conglomerate.
The sedi- ment supply from the continental side is
absent or very poor, although pelagic sediments
to trench and fragments of seamounts were
derived from the oceanic plate and accreted on
the continental margin. This evidence suggests
that the trench was far from the continent and
that mountain building did not proceed near the
trench.
In the Late Cretaceous, detrital clastic sediments of the Pitap Formation covered the me
- langes, metamorphic rock and ultramac rocks
in a shallow marine environment. This signies
that the Meratus Arc was mature enough to
provide coarse-grained detrital clastic rocks on
the con- tinental slopes and in the forearc
basins.
Glaucophane schist of the Hauran Schist is
caused by oceanic plate subduction along the
trench. Judging from the petrological studies,
however, the protoliths of some schists are different from the products of normal subduction
metamorphism such as the Sambagawa Metamorphic Rocks in Japan. The presence of schist
consisting only of quartz and chloritoid and the
common occurrence of kyanite in the schists indicate that some of the protoliths had high aluminium contents. The origin of highly aluminous
metamorphic rocks could be continental cover or
margin sediments. Various sizes of continental
fragments drifted northward and accreted along
the Asian continental margin following the
break-up of the Gondwanaland (Nur & BenAvraham 1983; Maruyama et al. 1989). The high

aluminous sediments could have been derived

from the surface of a continental fragment (a
microcontinent), detached from the margin of the
Gondwana super-continent. This is a similar situation to that of the Bantimala Complex, South
Sulawesi (Wakita et al. 1996). The Jurassic
shallow marine sedimentary rocks incorporated
in the Bantimala Complex were evidence of the
microcontinent collision and accretion (Wakita
et al. 1996).
The older metamorphic rocks of 165 and
180 Ma occurred as a small tectonic block along
the northern margin of the Hauran Schist Block.
They are not high pressure type metamorphic
rocks like the other metamorphic rocks, but of
intermediate pressure type. They were exhumed
and tectonically mixed with other components of
the Meratus Complex during the processes of
subduction, collision and accretion of oceanic
plate and micro-continent.
Major tectonic events are recorded in three
stages of unconformity in the Meratus area; that
is the Middle Cretaceous, Paleocene and Late
Miocene (Fig. 14). Ultramac rocks, high-pressure schist and me langes were locally
exhumed and provided their fragments into
the Pitap Formation.
Before the deposition of the Eocene Tanjung
Formation, ultramac rocks, schists and me
- langes
were
tectonically juxtaposed with
Late
Cretaceous
sedimentaryvolcanic
formations such as the Pitap and the Haruyang
Formations. This CretaceousPaleocene event
is contempo- raenous with rearrangement of the
components of Cretaceous island arc systems
along the
Sun- daland
margin such as
Karangsambung, Central Java (Wakita et al.
1994a) and Bantimala, South Sulawesi (Wakita et
al. 1994b; 1996).
Finally, Tanjung, Berai, and Warukin Formations were tectonically deformed until they were
covered by the Pliocene Dahor Formation. The
latest tectonism could be related to the westward obduction of the East Sulawesi ophiolite in
Oligocene time and Miocene to Pliocene collision
of the Sula microcontinent (Parkinson 1991;
Cofeld et al. 1993, Bergman et al. 1996).
SUMMARY
(1) The Meratus Complex is a product of oceanic
plate subduction and successive collision of microcontinents during Cretaceous time.

(2) Radiolarian biostratigraphic studies reveal

that the me lange of the Meratus Complex
in- cludes chert ranging in age from early
Middle Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous.
(3) The Haruyan Schist of 110119 Ma was a high
pressure-low temperature type caused by oceanic plate subduction. Some of the protoliths
were high alluminous continental cover or margin sediments. Intermediate pressure type
metamorphic rocks of 165 and 180 Ma were discovered along the northern margin of the Haurun Schist.
(4) The Haruyan Formation is a product of submarine volcanism in an immature island arc
setting, locally contemporaneous with the formation of the me lange of the Meratus
Complex.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is one of the results of the joint project between the Research and Development
Centre for Geotechnology (RDCG) in Bandung,
University of London and the Geological Survey
of Japan (GSJ) under the ITIT program `Research on Mineral Resources Assessment of
Oceanic Plate Fragments'.
The authors wish to thank to Ir. S. Suparka,
vice president of LIPI for his helpful support
during our geological survey. We also express
thanks to Dr A. J. Barber of Royal Holloway,
University of London for his effective suggestions and discussion of the geology of this area.
We are grateful to Dr C. D. Parkinson, STA
fellow of GSJ, and Dr C. Kurimoto for their
critical review of our manuscripts.
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APPENDIX 1. Fossil details