Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, Volume 80, November 2025, pp. 45 – 57
Late Quaternary denudational chronology of the Kampung Air Jernih area, Terengganu, Malaysia
John Kuna Raj
No. 83, Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi 2, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Author email address: jkr.ttdi.tmc@gmail.com
Abstract: Four geomorphological units with distinctive subsurface earth materials were identified in the Kampung Air Jernih area, i.e., flood-plains and swamps over Holocene Beruas Formation sediments (3-8 m thick), river terraces over Pleistocene Simpang Formation sediments (3-6 m thick), and denudational terrain over Carboniferous meta-sediments (Sungai Perlis Beds), and over Triassic granite. The flood-plains and swamps are 5 to 8 m above mean sea-level, the terraces between 9 and 15 m, and the denudational terrain above the 15 m topographic contour. Three main rivers are present; the south flowing Sungai Air Jernih, and Sungai Payuh, in the western, and central, sectors, respectively, and the east flowing Sungai Tumpat in the northern sector. Correlation with Quaternary global sea-levels indicates that denudational processes under a tropical savanna climate were operative from circa 500 ka to circa 140 ka BP; the global sea-level rise (Termination II) from -120 m (circa 140 ka) to +6 m (circa 120 ka) giving rise to a tropical rainforest climate and deposition of Simpang Formation sediments by south flowing rivers. The global sea-level fall from +6 m (circa 120 ka) to -120 m (circa 20 ka) led to denudational processes under a tropical savanna climate and formation of river terraces, as well as capture of Sungai Tumpat by the east flowing Sungai Kemasik. Global sea-level rise (Termination I) from -120 m (circa 20 ka) to +5 m (circa 5 ka) led to a tropical rainforest climate and deposition of Beruas Formation sediments followed by down-cutting of rivers from circa 5 ka to the present day. It is concluded that correlating the development of landforms and river capture with Quaternary global sea-levels that allowed for derivation of the denudational chronology.
Keywords: Denudational chronology, Late Quaternary global sea-levels, river capture, Kampung Air Jernih
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Manuscript received 14 October 2024;
Received in revised form 13 December 2024;
Accepted 20 February 2025
Available online 28 November 2025
https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm80202504
0126-6187; 2637-109X / Published by the Geological Society of Malaysia.
© 2025 by the Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License 4.0.
