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Role of pre-Tertiary fractures in formation and development

of the Malay and Penyu basins

Article in Geological Society London Special Publications · March 1996

DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.106.01.18

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Role of pre-Tertiary fractures in formation and development

of the Malay and Penyu basins
KHALID NGAH, MAZLAN MADON & H. D. T J I A
PETRONAS Research & Scientific Services, Lot 1026 PKNS Industrial Estate,
54200 Hulu Kelang, Malaysia

Abstract: Major faults in Sundaland trend NNW to NW, WNW, N and E. Some of the NNW
to NW and N-striking faults across Mesozoic areas of the Malay Peninsula were active until mid-
Eocene time. Small, fault-bounded Tertiary basins onshore may be pull-apart basins associated
with such faults. Mainly from seismic data, NNW to NW, N and E-striking faults have been
recognized in the pre-Tertiary basement of the Malay and Penyu basins off the east coast of the
peninsula. These faults were reactivated before the Late Oligocene and during the Middle to Late
Miocene. N-striking faults in pre-Tertiary areas are common throughout Sundaland. In the field,
these faults are found to be the oldest (possibly Jurassic) regional fractures. The regional
NNW-NW and WNW fractures are believed to have originated as strike-slip faults when the
peninsula was subjected to late Mesozoic deformation. The onshore E-W faults were probably
extensional fractures that developed as secondary structures associated with sinistral slip motions
along NNW-NW faults. Upper Cretaceous dolerite dykes fill some of the E-W fractures. NW-
striking basement faults of the Malay basin continue onshore SE Asia as the Three Pagodas fault
zone. Initially these were sinistral basement wrench faults creating secondary E-W extensional
fractures. In the Middle to Late Miocene the regional stress field changed, resulting in reversal of
slip movement along major wrench faults and structural inversion of the sedimentary basins. This
inversion is manifested as E-W anticlines located over half-graben. In the Penyu basin similarly
striking half-graben probably developed in the same fashion. There, the NW-striking Rumbia
fault divides the basin into two parts. Half-graben in the western part remained orientated E-W,
but those in the eastern part became rotated clockwise by continued left-lateral slip along the
Rumbia fault. After the Miocene the two basins continued to subside, developing an almost
undisturbed blanket of post-Miocene sediments. Locally, residual stress caused some of the
structures to grow.

The Malay and Penyu basins are Cenozoic sedi- to 6 km of Cenozoic sediments that have been
mentary basins located in the South China Sea and interpreted to have been deposited in an environ-
are floored by continental lithosphere (Fig. 1). This ment generally similar to those of the Malay basin.
southern portion of the South China Sea belongs The N W to N N W elongation of the Malay basin
to tectonically semi-cratonic Sundaland. is roughly parallel to the elongation of the Malay
Geologically, Sundaland comprises the entire Peninsula to its west, while the more equant shape
Sunda Shelf and contiguous land areas of Borneo, of the Penyu basin suggests its shape to be strongly
Java, Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia. The controlled by fractures. The structural history of
margins of Sundaland have experienced young these two basins comprised a tensional period
crustal movements and are tectonically transitional when the basins began subsiding before the Late
to the mobile belts bordering the region in the east, Oligocene. This subsidence continued during the
south and west. The Malay basin is 500 km long late Early Miocene to Late Miocene, accompanied
in a northwest direction, about 200 km wide, and by regional compression during the Middle to Late
contains more than 12 km of Oligocene and Miocene, and finally quiet tectonic subsidence in
younger sediments. The older sediments are of the Plio-Pleistocene. These generalized events have
terrestrial origin with minor marine intervals; holo- been described by Khalid Ngah (1975), Ng (1987)
marine conditions have prevailed only since the and Md. Nazri Ramli (1988). Figure 2 is a corre-
latest Miocene. Oil-prone areas are situated in the lation table of the stratigraphy in the Malay, Penyu
southern and central parts of the Malay basin, while and the West Natuna basins simplified from various
the northern part is gas-prone. Hydrocarbon unpublished and published reports.
prospects have also been located in the Penyu basin The oldest known sediments within the Malay
and non-commercial oil discoveries have been basin are Upper Oligocene. Their ages were deter-
made. This basin has a roughly sub-circular shape m i n e d from pollen from cuttings from wells
with a diameter of about 350 km and contains up located in the basin's border zones, while their

From Hall, R. & Blundell, D. (eds), 1996, TectonicEvolution of Southeast Asia, 281
Geological Society Special Publication No. 106, pp. 281-289.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

282 K. NGAH ET AL.

VIETNAM
BASEMENT
NORTH
SUNDALAND

CON SON SWELL

• ~iiiiiiii
TERENGGANU~
1 2 3 4 5

900 O~iiiiiiiiiii!! BASIN

1200
I!i¸ iiiiiiiiiiiiiii
i !ili !ii?'iiii:iii
iii!;ili i !i i i i!i i i i i~ii!i~i'!iiii~i
;:: i . ? : : :~::il~'ltl i ! ! : :: ! F-~.UkSIN IA!

SOUTH CHINA SEA

...... PENINSULAR ::
MALAYSIA i: : i DRM

Fig. 1. Outline of the Cenozoic Malay, Penyu and West Natuna basins of northern Sundaland, SE Asia. Pre-Tertiary
basement depths are shown in two-way travel time, for which an approximate conversion curve is given in the inset.
Heavy lines are major faults.

interpreted equivalents in the deeper part of the et al. (1992) believe that such younger intrusive
basin were extrapolated using seismic profiles. rocks may well exist offshore but have yet to be
Seismic profiles across the basins suggest that a discovered.
thick sequence of older, possibly mainly Cenozoic, Heatflow studies in the Malay basin and other
sediments still exists beneath the interpreted Upper well data from the West Natuna basin show above
Oligocene strata. normal values with certain areas possessing high
Felsic granitic rocks in the Natuna, Anambas and values over 140 mW/m 2 (Mohd Firdaus Abdul
Tambelan islands yield Upper Cretaceous radio- Halim 1993; Wan Ismail Wan Yusoff & Swarbrick
metric dates ranging between 90 Ma and 70 Ma 1994). One area of high heatflow coincides with
(Katili 1973). The ages of granitic (granites to the triple junction of the Malay, Penyu and West
granodiorites; Areshev et al. 1992) basement of Natuna basins. Pre-Tertiary basement is topo-
the Mekong basin and the adjacent shelf range graphically high in a wide region around the triple
from 9 7 M a to 178Ma, and most are around junction and has been postulated to represent the
100-110 Ma or Albian. This basement is also part remnants of a Malay Dome (new name; Tjia 1995).
of Sundaland. Upper Cretaceous-lower Palaeogene It has also been suggested that the centre of the
gramtes have been determined onshore in the Bana, dome was situated above a mantle plume. The
Ankroet and Deo-Ka complexes, and Areshev widespread occurrence of Upper Cretaceous felsic
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MALAY & PENYU BASINS 283

MALAY BASIN 1
AGE PENYU BASIN i WEST NATUNA
(Approximate) PULAI NO, 1 T CONOCO i PETRONAS I, BASIN
EPMI CARIGALI
I VIII
i
RECENT - [ PILONG i PILONG ! VII MUDA
PLIOCENE and " PILONG
Vl

MIOCENE .... J
J
UPPER PARI
J ! BEKOK [ SANDCOAL i V
IV
i BARAT
,
l TAPIS ~--LOWER SAND-COAL
K i --- [- TERENG~:3ANU liB TERENGGANU i UDANG
PULAI _-SHALE
................................... L GABUS •
TAPIS IIA
L [ SELIGI l
PENYU
OLIGOCENE
u _i
J
N
i
i

Fig. 2. Stratigraphic correlation table of the Malay, Penyu and West Natuna basins from published and unpublished
data. EPMI; Esso Production Malaysia Inc.; Conoco, Continental Oil Company. Unpublished material is held by
Petronas.

granites and their regional distribution suggest that zone, and two unnamed north-south faults on
the Malay Dome has a radius of c. 500 km. Pinang Island) moved right-laterally. In contrast,
The present paper addresses the role that pre- the NNW, NW and WNW-trending faults are left-
Tertiary structures have played in the formation, lateral strike-slip faults. These include the Lebir
delineation, and development of the Malay and fault in Kelantan; the Lepar fault, Pahang; the
Penyu basins. Baubak fault, Kedah; the Bukit Tinggi and Kuala
Lumpur fault zones in Selangor/Perak; and the
Mersing fault bundle in Johor. Details of these
Fracture patterns in the pre-Cenozoic faults have been discussed elsewhere (Tjia 1989b).
Several small Tertiary basins in the peninsula are
basement located close to or within large strike-slip fault
Figure 3 shows the fracture patterns onshore in zones. The Lawin basin in Perak seems to be
peninsular Malaysia and offshore in the Malay and associated with the Baubak (older name: Bok Bak;
Penyu basins. On land in peninsular Malaysia, the Burton 1965) fault zone and after detailed studies,
north-south trending Bentong (-Raub) suture is the Syed Sheikh Almashoor (pets. comm. 1994) has
limit to a western region of Gondwana origin. This placed the basin within the fault zone. Another
Gondwana fragment became attached to the eastern basin, the Batu Arang basin in Selangor, is tangen-
portion of the peninsula by Early Triassic time tial to the Kuala Lumpur fault zone. Pollen studied
(Metcalfe 1988; Tjia 1989a). The eastern portion by PRSS biostratigraphers indicate Middle Eocene
of the peninsula was already part of the Asian basal beds in this basin. A recent study of major
continent when the western region docked with it peninsula faults by Zaiton Harun (1992) showed
along the Bentong suture. The pattern of detectable that cataclastic to mylonitized material in certain
strike-slip motions on the major onshore faults fault zones is Upper Cretaceous to Middle Eocene
indicates that the latest motions were in response to (53-46 Ma). The regional map prepared by the
regional compression with a maximum horizontal Geological Survey of Malaysia (1985) shows
stress orientated between ENE-WSW and E-W. uppermost Cretaceous (67 Ma) granites at the
This is roughly perpendicular to the strike of Kelantan-Perak border, at Gunung Ledang (also
regional structures onshore. Approximately known as Mount Ophir), Johor and a few smaller
N-NNE-striking faults (such as the Kelau fault in felsic intrusive bodies in the central belt of the
Pahang, vertical faults within the Bentong Suture peninsula and in southern Johor. The evidence cited
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

284 K. NGAH ET AL.

$ I
102 105
ci
:!ii~:, .

Plnang
Island

FAULT PATTERNS l!'i ~'!' II "~,! ii'!!li[ ' ,

'~ .", ' ~ I ', ,i~ ' ' ~i ", , ' , iI
, ~' i '

Basement contours in km below sea level

loo lol lO2 ~ ~ ,= !~: ,li,,l~,~i~ lo3,, II1]~~11 L,h ~'.....
,04 ~rzo,'v~ lo5
I J , :,llii::Hi [~I;U,I~Ui!;U~ ] 1,,, ~ 1
Fig. 3. Fault patterns in the pre-Cenozoic basement of peninsular Malaysia and offshore in the Malay and Penyu
basins. Faults onshore are from Tjia (1989b); those in the offshore basins were derived from unpublished reports held
by Petronas. The dashed lines within the Malay basin represent major basement fractures which have been inferred
from structural styles in sediments overlying the basement and from trends of magnetic/gravity anomalies.

above strongly suggests that a regional diastrophic dominant. NNW and NW-trending fractures are
event took place in the region at about the evident along the borders of the Malay basin, with
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. At that time the some NE-trending fractures in its southeast corner.
entire peninsula, and most probably the entire Figure 3 shows that strikes of major fractures in
area of Sundaland to which it geologically belongs, the offshore regions mimic those mapped onshore
was already a cratonized basement. Upper the peninsula, and the authors conclude that the
Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments (Gagau Group) offshore fault strikes are of pre-Tertiary origin.
were not folded but were only tilted ten degrees
or less, and regional compressive stresses became
decoupled along major fractures. These major Major structures in the Malay
fractures moved mainly as strike-slip faults.
The fractures in the offshore area shown on and Penyu basins
Fig. 3 were compiled from various unpublished
sources held by PETRONAS. Major basement
Malay basin and vicinity
fractures within the Malay basin have been inferred Folds in the Malay basin generally trend east-west.
from structural styles in sediments overlying the Exceptions are along its southwest margin and in
basement and from trends of magnetic/gravity its northwest corner where anticlines trend NW-SE
anomalies. In general, different parts of the offshore or almost N-S, respectively. These strikes seem
area display different dominant fracture directions. associated with the NW-striking Western Hinge-
In the Penyu basin, and in the south end and axial line fault zone (WHL), and the north-striking
parts of the Malay basin, the east-west and NW-SE Kapal-Bergading tectonic line, respectively (Fig.
fractures are dominant, whereas in the north end 4). Known major fault zones are the WHL that
of the Malay basin, north-south fractures are marks the southwest boundary of the basin; the
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MALAY • PENYU BASINS 285

i I I

"%

o,.-' • %.
.. Ser gadlng ~,,, ~ESAH
fz 7"__
::...... ~'OO~,'ff6" ........
iI ° " ~% . ,outt zo~k ~uNm

nln )n,.,L • L.arut "'

1
i ~, ...... 4/,'%_
~ ........ ~ I:['~~i,, ~ wm_,, I
! ~,\ n,~,,~, :. I ~=_ b ~ /
......... ~ cC,,~. ! I W..W'... . . . . . . . . . . . . ~Pulai

; "%~, "q) . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
l\ i ~ .;/l'~- Angsi ~ i
............... !
/

gun ! Dungun i X ~ ' A,~

A n d idni ¢ng /:
+ o+.° +
++ v'ooL
iong ]
~1~ Hydrocarbonfields 7
+++ Fetsic grani toids /
in basement ..

ii o + ,ooo (, ,.-
104' 05"
I i
Fig. 4. Major fault zones and hydrocarbon areas in the Malay basin. Note the orientations of HC fields and their
apparent displacements across north-south fault zones. Known occurrences of felsic granites in the basement are
also shown.

K a p a l - B e r g a d i n g tectonic line; north-trending There are half-graben and graben along many of
Dulang, Bundi and Mesah zones; NNW-striking the offshore fault zones. Their shapes, orientations
D u n g u n zone that includes the D u n g u n Graben; of bounding fractures, and the positions of basins
the N W Selambau zone; and an u n n a m e d NW-zone along or within these major fault zones indicate
along part of the basin's northeast margin. that the basins are pull-apart basins produced by
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

286 K. NGAHETAL.

wrenching. The pull-apart basins became depo- words, the orientation and position of the folds
centres of thick sedimentary sequences. Strike-slip were pre-determined by those of the basement
reversals along the major fault zones are demon- faults.
strated by the fact that the sediments within the Seismic profiles show that the E-W anticlines in
pull-apart basins were compressed into en echelon the axial zone of the Malay basin are located over
folds whose orientations are consistent with lateral E-W half-graben. Figure 5 indicates that many
fault slip in directions opposite to those during the of the half-graben are en echelon. Based on this
formation of the pull-apart basins (see Tjia & Liew observation, it is suggested that these staggered
1996). In cross sections, change in the regional patterns are associated with NW-striking basement
stress field from initially (trans)tensional to subse- faults. Furthermore, these faults are postulated to
quent (trans)pressional is shown by inverted anti- represent a major NW-trending basement fault zone
clines. The later stress field produced anticlinal along the axis of the basin. Towards the northwest,
bulges and domes where the sedimentary columns this basement fault zone (named as the Axial Malay
are thickest, that is, in the half-graben. In other fault; Tjia 1995) most probably continues as the

j ,<
0 t00 km 7~0~
: .\ I- I
\
\
\

\ 6%5
\
7 [ \\

Ma laysia I ~ ~ ~ '

- 1 \ I
Fig. 5. En echelon faulted sub-basins in the axial zone of the Malay basin are interpreted to have developed through
sinistral wrenching along the newly interpreted Axial Malay fault zone. Figure has been adapted from various sources
held by Petronas.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MALAY & PENYU BASINS 287

Three Pagodas fault. Sinistral slip along the Axial

Malay fault produced the east-west half-graben
Penyu basin
before the Late Oligocene. Strike-slip reversal The pre-Tertiary basement highs that frame the
during the Middle to Late Miocene compressed Penyu basin include (clockwise on Fig. 1): the
the sub-basin fills into east-west anticlines. Tenggol Arch (N and NE), Johor Platform (S),
The major N-S faults of the Malay basin peninsular Malaysia (W) and Pahang Platform
delineate tectonic domains of different structural (NW). The Tenggol Arch separates the Penyu basin
styles and/or different deformation history, and from the Malay and West Natuna basins.
have laterally displaced crustal blocks. The distri- Sedimentary cover over the basement highs is thin,
butions of oil and gas fields (structural domes) except for the Tenggol Arch that subsided some-
across the Kapal-Bergading Line and across each what and is capped by more than a kilometre of
of the other three N-S fault zones (Dulang, Bundi Tertiary sediments. Basement faults in NW-SE and
and Mesah) appear displaced dextrally by several E-W directions have compartmentalized the basin
tens of kilometres (Fig. 4). The position and orien- into ten half-graben. The basin is further divided by
tation of these domes have been determined by the NW-striking Rumbia fault into a west part and
those of the basement fractures. The stratigraphic an east part. Half-graben and fault scarps strike
record of the basin suggests that compressive E - W in the west, but strike WNW in the east part.
tectonic deformation took place in the Middle to The Rumbia fault is over 100 km long and its heave
Late Miocene, during which time right-lateral is more than 2 km. Left-lateral separation by the
wrench motion could have occurred along the fault of once-contiguous structures is believed to
major N-S fault zones. The regional maximum exceed 20 kin. En echelon sigmoidal fractures near
compressive stress was most probably orientated the fault support this left-lateral slip interpretation
between NE-SW and ENE-WSW. This orientation (Fig. 6). The E - W striking fractures and half-
of regional compression is also consistent with the graben are interpreted as secondary structures that
observed strike-slip reversals along the WHL and resulted from left-lateral slip along the Rumbia
Dungun fault zones. fault and other, as yet undiscovered NW-trending

WRENCH
,,~!~..~,,, DEPRESSION WITH
" ~ ~ DIRECTION OF
DEEPENING
2;iii;iii;;;;(:~'El~Ttl~i;11i
FAULT SCARP

BASEMENT HIGH

i!i~iii!i!ii~ii!i!!ii!~.

PARI 1 0

PENYU BASIN ii.~';iiiiiii

i iiii iiii" .¢,: ~'~"~"" ~"~i:
BASE OF TERTIARY ~ ....... ~.~'!!i~i ~ _.~,,.

10 km

Fig. 6. Plan of major basins and faults at the base of the Tertiary in the Penyu basin. The Rumbia fault separates
E-W structures in the western part from WNW structures. En echelon sigmoidal fault pattern (top centre) suggests
wrenching. Simplified from an unpublished map by Texaco (1992) and held by Petronas.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

288 K. NGAH E T A L .

wrench faults in the basement. Continued left-slip of Sundaland. The northern part of the basin is
movement along the Rumbia fault is postulated to controlled by N-S fractures that became especially
have rotated the E-W faults and basins in the dominant farther north in the Gulf of Thailand.
eastern part of the basin into their present W N W - Geological evidence from onshore peninsular
ESE orientation, with rotation of up to 25 ° (Fig. 7). Malaysia indicates that the NNW-NW tectonic
There are anticlinal features over the deepest parts grain was established in Late Triassic-Early
of the corresponding half-graben but the effect of Jurassic time. In the mid-Eocene, parts of con-
compressional tectonics in the Penyu basin is less tinental SE Asia experienced expulsion as a conse-
obvious compared to that in the Malay basin. A quence of collision between the Indian plate with
regional unconformity at the top of the Penyu the Eurasian plate. Fractures parallel and sub-
Formation (see Fig. 2) represents tectonic uplift at parallel to the tectonic grain in the basement of the
the end of Oligocene time. Subsidence in Early basin moved as wrench faults. A bundle of long
Miocene time began with deposition of the Pari NW-SE fractures along the axis of the offshore
Formation consisting of alternating sandstone and sub-basins (the Axial Malay fault zone) became an
shale. Unpublished palaeontological information extension of the Three Pagodas zone. Through
from a study conducted by TEXACO in 1992 dates left-lateral motion of the Axial Malay fault zone,
a transpressional event in mid-Miocene. en echelon east-west tension faults and half-graben
developed. At that time dextral wrench movement
along the WHL and its major fault splay, the
Dungun zone, resulted in the formation of smaller
Discussion and conclusions
pull-apart basins.
The structural history and its relationship to (3) The Penyu basin is dominated by NW-SE
regional tectonics are postulated to be as follows. and E - W structures. The NW-SE structures are
(1) The Malay and Penyu basins originated sub-parallel to the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic
during the Late Cretaceous as two of the three rift tectonic grain of the Malay Peninsula. The Rumbia
arms that developed above a continental crustal fault zone consists of NW-SE fractures and divides
dome located over a mantle plume. The West the basin into two parts. In the western part, E - W
Natuna basin is the third rift arm. trending half-graben and faults are dominant,
(2) The main strike of the Malay basin follows whereas on the east the dominant trend is W N W -
the NNW-NW trending tectonic grain of this part ESE. It is interpreted that this strike deviation is

SOUTHWEST EFt
NORTHEAST
Cherating- 1
E)
c~
Rumbia- 1 Rhu- IIIA Alu - Alu E- I

Fig. 7. Schematic cross-section of the Penyu basin. Note half-graben, mild inversion structures at Rumbia-1 and at
Cherating-1. From unpublished material by Texaco (1992) and held by Petronas.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at Petroliam Nasional Berhad on October 22, 2016

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MALAY & PENYU BASINS 289

the result of clockwise rotation of initially E - W Malay basement faults, accompanied by com-
trending half-graben and other structures through pression that developed anticlinal features forming
continued sinistral slip along the Rumbia fault. oil- and gas-bearing structures. Unpublished data
These E - W structures are believed to have from EPMI-acreage in the southeastern part of the
developed within and across fault-bounded, basin suggest thrusting towards the south. These
N W - S E elongated crustal blocks, which slipped thrust faults and the anticlines trend E-W, that is,
sinistrally during differential expulsion of SE Asia. the orientation determined by the basement
Expulsion began in mid-Eocene, when the Indian fractures. Slip reversals along the Dungun fault
plate started to push into the Eurasian plate. zone and other N - S to N W - S E trending regional
(4) By the late Early Miocene, the Australian faults which inverted the pull-apart sedimentary
continent had approached SE Asia sufficiently in fills are also indicative of the movement. The
closely as to obstruct free expulsion of its crustal axes of the inversion were orientated in a sense
fragments. In addition, the effect of the westward consistent with the lateral slip sense of the associat-
drive of the Pacific plate also began to be felt in this ed wrench fault. The Rumbia fault does not seem to
region. Before that time, active N - S spreading in have experienced slip reversal. On the contrary,
the South China Sea basin and the Philippine basin continued sinistral slip appears to have rotated
apparently prevented stress generated by the Pacific structures in its eastern part clockwise for 25 ° .
plate motion to reach the SE Asian region. From the Since the mid-Miocene, continued sinistral strike-
late Early Miocene to Late Miocene, the combined slip on the Rumbia fault most probably negated
effect of northward and westward convergence of the effect of most of the compressive stress exerted
the Indian-Australian and Pacific plates manifested by the convergence of the plates. This stress-
themselves in a regional compressive regime and decoupling explains the milder deformation
reversals of slip sense along several of the N W - S E observed in the Penyu basin.
striking wrench faults. Some examples of the
resultant effect of this movement are in the Malay We are grateful to C. S. Hutchison and R. E. Swarbrick for
basin, where dextral slip occurred along its Axial constructive comments on an earlier version of the paper.

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