2. Geological setting of the Bentong–Raub Suture Zone
Peninsular Malaysia has traditionally been divided into three north–south-trending zones based on differences of
stratigraphy, mineralisation and structure. These zones have been variously referred to as the Western, Central
and Eastern “Belts” “Zones” or “Domains”. In addition, some authors
recognise a Northwestern “Zone” or
“Domain” Fig. 1. The traditionally recognised suture is exposed as an
approximately 20 km wide zone bordering the eastern limit of the Main Range granitoids in Peninsular Malay-
sia and comprises me´lange, oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts,
schist, and
discontinuous, narrow,
elongate bodies of serpentinised mafic–ultramafic rocks, inter-
preted as ophiolite Hutchison, 1975, 1989; Tjia, 1987, 1989a,b. An occurrence of sheared diamictite, here
interpreted as possibly tectonic me´lange, was reported
I. Metcalfe Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 2000 691–712 692
Fig. 10
Bahau
Muar
50 100
150 km
L e
b ir
F a
u lt
Z o
n e
5N 5N
102E 102E
Suture Zone Rocks B
e n
to n
g
R a
u b
S u
tu re
Raub Bentong
Radiolarian locality with age
Alor Star
Semanggol Formation
THAILAND
Cameron Highlands
Jengka
U. Dev. L. Perm.
L. Carb. Tourn
L. Carb. Visean
L. Carb. Visean
U. Dev., L. Carb.
L. Perm., U. Perm
L. Perm., U. Perm.,
M. Trias.
SIBUMASU TERRANE
PART
N
U. Dev. Fam
L. Perm. ?L. Carb.
M. Trias.
EASTERN BEL
T CENTRAL
BEL T
WESTERN BELT
Kuala Kangsar
Sheared Diamictite
INDOCHINA TERRANE
PART
Malacca
L. Carb. Tourn
Gunong Semanggol
KAZAKSTAN TARIM
AL QD
NORTH CHINA
SOUTH CHINA
INDIA QI
L KL
WB
SWB
SG NORTHEAST CHINA COMPOSITE
QS
? ?
SI SIBUMASU
INDOCHINA
600 km
Fig. 1. Western, Central and Eastern “Belts” of Peninsular Malaysia and distribution of suture zone rocks oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts, argillites, me´lange, serpentinites and ribbon-bedded cherts, argillites and turbidites of the Semanggol Formation. Radiolarian localities and ages are also shown after Metcalfe et
al., 1999. Inset map shows the distribution of principal continental terranes and sutures of East and Southeast Asia. WB West Burma, SWB South West Borneo, S Semitau Terrane, HT Hainan Island terranes, L Lhasa Terrane, QI Qiangtang Terrane, QS Qamdo-Simao Terrane, SI Simao Terrane,
SG Songpan Ganzi accretionary complex, KL Kunlun Terrane, QD Qaidam Terrane, AL Ala Shan Terrane after Metcalfe, 1998.
I. Metcalfe
Journal of
Asian Earth
Sciences 18
2000 691
– 712
693
v v v v v v v v
Semantan Fm Gemas Fm
Jerus Lst Warm
Warm Warm
Warm
Warm Warm
Warm Warm
Warm Warm
Warm
Warm Warm
Warm Cool
Cool O
18
Palaeo Climate
Palaeo Climate
Biogeographical province faunal affinities
Biogeographical province faunal affinities
1. Langkawi
and N.W. Malaya
?
2. South Perlis
and North Kedah
?
150 km 5N
5N
102E 102E
Suture Zone Rocks B
e n
to n
g R
a u
b S
u tu
re THAILAND
SIBUMASU TERRANE
PART INDOCHINA
TERRANE PART
1 2
3 4
5
7 6
3. Kanthan,
Kinta Valley, Perak
?
4. Kuala Lumpur,
Selangor 5.
Trengganu East Pahang
6. West Central
Pahang 7.
South Pahang, Johore, Singapore
? Yunnan, Kwangsi
Laurasia Laurasia
Laurasia Ryoseki Type
Ryoseki Type Tethyan
Tethyan Tethyan
Tethyan Yunnan
Eastern Tethys Cathaysian
Euramerican China
China
INDOCHINA TERRANE SIBUMASU TERRANE
? ?
? ?
? ?
? Jurong Fm
Kerum Fm
Aring Fm
Australia, Tibet, N. China S. China,
Argentina S. China
S. China S. China Pagoda Fm
Limestone Schist
Proterozoic basement
Dolomite Sandstone
ShaleMudstone Interbedded Shale,
Sandstone, Siltstone Glacial-marine
diamictites Volcanics
Volcaniclastics Conglomerate
Bedded Chert
Stratigraphic Break
Vertebrates Brachiopods
Fusulines Stromatoporoids
Trilobites Conodonts
Nautiloids Gastropods
Bivalves Small forams
Plants Kodiang
Chuping Lst.
Devonian Carboniferous
Permian Triassic
Jurassic Cretaceous
Silurian Ordovician
Cambrian Precambrian
? Saiong Beds
Continental
Singa Fm. Glacial-marine
Setul Lst Fm. Peritidal,
subtidal
Machinchang Fm.
1300-1800 Ma not exposed
1300-1800 Ma not exposed
1300-1800 Ma not exposed
1300-1800 Ma not exposed
Semanggol Fm.
? Saiong Beds
Continental
Kubang Pasu Kati Fm.
shallow-marine
Mahang Fm.
Kanthan Limestone
Kuala Lumpur Limestone
Hawthornden Schist
Dinding Schist
Kanthan Limestone
Jerai Fm.
Tethyan Eastern Tethyan
Eastern Tethyan South China, Indochina
N. W. Australia N. W. Australia
Eastern Australia
N. W. Australia Arctic-Eurasian
Arctic-Eurasian Eastern
Gondwanaland Gondwanaland
Sibumasu Province Turbidites
? Saiong Beds
Continental
Kenny Hill Formation
? 900-1400 Ma
not exposed 900-1400 Ma
not exposed 900-1400 Ma
not exposed v
v v
v v
v v
v v
v v
v Dohol Fm
Sagor Fm Panching Lst
Charu Fm Tembeling Gp
Gagau Gp v
v v
v
v v
v v
v v
v v
v Tembeling Gp
Gagau Gp Panti Sst
Tebak Fm Ulu Endau Beds
Sedili Volcanics
Sumalayang Lst. Raub Group
Kepis Fm Linggiu Fm
Mersing Beds
Gua Musang Fm
SIBUMASU TERRANE Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia
INDOCHINA TERRANE Central Eastern Belts of Peninsular Malaysia
Fig. 2. Representative generalised stratigraphic collumns and biogeographic affinities for the Peninsular Malaysia parts of the Sibumasu and Indochina terranes. Partly after Metcalfe 1988, 2000c.
by Metcalfe and Chakraborty 1988 near the eastern margin of the Central “Belt” Fig. 1, which may indi-
cate that the accretionary complex, exposed beneath Permo-Triassic rocks along the western margin of the
Central “Belt”, extends eastwards beneath the Central “Belt”, or has been displaced eastwards by faulting.
Other occurrences of Carboniferous, Permian and Trias- sic deep marine ribbon-bedded cherts to the west of the
traditional suture zone rocks previously included in the Kati and Semanggol Formations indicate that the
Bentong–Raub Suture Zone may be much wider than previously thought.
2.1. Sibumasu and Indochina terranes: origin and dispersal from Gondwanaland
2.1.1. Sibumasu Terrane Peninsular Malaysia west of the Bentong–Raub Suture
forms part of the Sibumasu continental lithospheric terrane Metcalfe, 1984, 1986, 1988. This terrane Fig. 1, inset
includes parts of western Yunnan Baoshan and Tenchong Blocks, the Shan States of Burma, northwest Thailand,
Peninsular Burma and Thailand, western Peninsular Malay- sia and northwest Sumatra Metcalfe, 1988. It is bound on
the east by the Changning–Menglian, Chiang Mai, Nan-
I. Metcalfe Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 2000 691–712 694
CAMBRIAN JURASSIC
TRIASSIC
PERMIAN
DEVONIAN
SILURIAN ORDO-
VICIAN CARBON-
IFEROUS
X X
X X
X X
X
SIBUMASU CANNING BASIN
Limestone Sandstone
Mixed clastics
Shale Conglomerate
Stratigraphic Break
Evaporites salt
Glacial-marine diamictites
M
M M
E E
E E
L L
L S
W N
V T
PRI LUD
LLY
WEN
A C
LLN A
TR
490 434
410 354
298 252
205
545
L M
E
Fig. 3. Comparison of the gross stratigraphies of Sibumasu and the Canning Basin, NW Australia.
Uttaradit, Sra Kaeo and Bentong–Raub Suture Zones, which have been interpreted as representing the main
Palaeo-Tethys Ocean Metcalfe, 1999; Metcalfe et al., 1999. Its eastern boundary in Sumatra is contentious.
Hutchison 1975, 1983 and Gasperon and Varne 1995 suggest, principally on the distribution of granite types,
that the Bentong–Raub Suture extends southeast-wards through the tin islands of Bangka and Billiton. Tjia 1985,
1989a, Tjia and Zaiton Harun 1985 and Metcalfe 1988, 1996, 1998 have suggested, on structural and stratigraphic
grounds, that the suture extends into the Bengkalis Graben see Hutchison, 1993; Metcalfe, 1996 for discussions.
2.1.2. Indochina terrane The eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, east of the
Bentong–Raub Suture, has a different pre-Jurassic tectonos- traigraphy and evolution to the Sibumasu terrane. It was
interpreted by Stauffer 1973 as part of an “East Malaya Block”, but is now regarded as a southwards extension of
the Indochina Terrane Metcalfe, 1998. This terrane is bounded to the northeast by the Song Ma Suture Zone,
and to the west by the Uttaradit-Nan–Sra Kaeo and Bentong–Raub sutures in Thailand and Malaysia, respec-
tively. It is here taken to include what has previously been referred to as the “East Malaya Block” excepting Borneo
of Stauffer 1974, 1983 and Metcalfe 1988.
2.1.3. Terrane origins and dispersal from Gondwanaland Palaeobiogeographic and tectonostratigraphic data for
both Sibumasu and Indochina indicate that these continental blocks formed part of the India–Australian margin of Gond-
wana in the Lower Palaeozoic Metcalfe, 1988, 1990, 1993c, 1996, 1998; Burrett et al., 1990; Rong et al.,
1995. Gondwana biogeographic affinities of faunas and floras on Sibumasu continue up to the Early Permian
Sakmarian, and the presence of Lower Permian glacial- marine diamictites, associated with cold climate indicators
and Gondwana faunas and floras Fig. 2, dictate that this terrane was still attached to the margin of Gondwana up
until the Early Permian. This is supported by gross tecto- nostratigraphical
comparisons between
the Sibumasu
Terrane and the Canning Basin of NW Australia Fig. 3, suggesting that the Cambrian to Lower Permian stratigraphy
of Sibumasu is an extremely good fit for a position outboard of NW Australia during that period. In the Assellian–Early
Sakmarian, brachiopods on the Sibumasu Terrane belong to the Gondwanan Indoralian Province, but shortly after
separation from Gondwana in the Late Sakmarian-Midian, the brachiopods developed their own Sibumasu Province
faunas with endemics. By Wujiapingian–Changxingian times, the brachiopod faunas had become assimilated into
the Cathaysian Province. These changes of provincial affi- nities of the brachiopod faunas of Sibumasu document the
northwards drift of the terrane during the Permian Shi and Archbold, 1998.
Ordovician and Silurian faunas of Indochina show Gond- wana affinities, but by Lower Carboniferous and younger
times there appears to be no Gondwana connections Metcalfe, 1988, 2000c; Fig. 2. It seems most likely that
the Indochina Terrane, along with South and North China and Tarim, separated from Gondwana in the Devonian.
2.2. Palaeomagnetic data Palaeomagnetic summaries and studies of the Sibumasu
and Indochina terranes and of Peninsular Malaysia have been made by Richter and Fuller 1996 and Richter et al.
1999. Palaeozoic and Mesozoic palaeomagnetic data from SE Asia remain problematic, due to widespread Mesozoic
and Cenozoic overprints, and the Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic rocks often carry Late Triassic or Late Cretaceous
overprints Metcalfe, 1994; Richter and Fuller, 1996; Rich- ter et al., 1999. Palaeolatitude data do, however, provide
some constraints on terrane positions at certain times.
I. Metcalfe Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 18 2000 691–712 695
40 30
20 10
-10 -20
-30 -40
-50 ✽
✽
▲ ▲
▲ ▲
▲ ▲
▲ ▲
▲ ▲
▲
● ●
● ●
● ●
● ●
S. CH INA
Kategori