Warta Geologi, Vol. 49, No. 2, August 2023, pp. 45–54
Mazlan Madon
Malaysian Continental Shelf Project, National Security Council, Level G Perdana Putra, 62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia
Present address: 6, Jalan Kelab Golf 13/6G, Seksyen 13, 40100 Shah Alam, Malaysia
Email address: mazlan.madon@gmail.com
Abstract: This article presents bathymetric and seismic evidence of a submerged Late Pleistocene river valley on the Sunda Shelf, off Sarawak. The submarine feature identified as the Paleo-Lupar is detectable in digital elevation models (DEM) at water depths of about 40 m near the Lupar river mouth to more than 100 m to the north nearer the shelf edge. Bathymetric profiles revealed an ~30 km-wide submarine valley, with individual channels that, in places, can be more than 80 m deeper than the surrounding seabed. The Paleo-Lupar is one of several major paleo-rivers that drained the Sunda Shelf when sea level was lowest during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) around 21 ka BP and were subsequently submerged due to the sea level rise that has since occurred.
Keywords: Paleo-Lupar, Sunda Shelf, bathymetry, submerged river valley, incised valley
REFERENCES
Alqahtani, F.A., Johnson, H.D., Jackson, C.A.-L. & Som, M.R.B., 2015. Nature, origin and evolution of a late Pleistocene incised valley-fill, Sunda Shelf, Southeast Asia. Sedimentology, 62, 1198–1232.
Alqahtani, F.A., Jackson, C.A.-L., Johnson, H.D. & Som, M.R.B., 2017. Controls on the geometry and evolution of humid-tropical fluvial systems: insights from 3D seismic geomorphological analysis of the Malay Basin, Sunda Shelf, Southeast Asia. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 87(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2016.88.
Bailey, G., 2004. World prehistory from the margins: the role of coastlines in human evolution. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology, 1(1), 39-50.
Bicket, A. & Tizzard, L., 2015. A review of the submerged prehistory and palaeolandscapes of the British Isles. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 126(6), 643-663. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2015.08.009.
Cheng, Z., Wu, J., Luo, C., Liu, Z., Huang, E., Zhao, H., Dai, L. & Weng, C., 2023. Coexistence of savanna and rainforest on the ice-age Sunda Shelf revealed by pollen records from southern South China Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 301, 107947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107947.
Dung, B.V., Stattegger, K., Unverricht, D., Van Phach, P. & Thanh, N.T., 2013. Late Pleistocene–Holocene seismic stratigraphy of the Southeast Vietnam shelf. Global and Planetary Change, 110, 156-169.
Haile, N.S., 1969. Quaternary deposits and geomorphology of the Sunda Shelf off Malaysian shores. Etudes sur le Quaternaire dans le Monde. VIII. Congres Inqua I, 162–164.
Hanebuth, T.J.J. & Stattegger, K., 2003. The stratigraphic evolution of the Sunda Shelf during the past fifty thousand years. Tropical deltas of Southeast Asia-Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Petroleum Geology, 1(1), 189.
Hanebuth, T.J.J. & Stattegger, K., 2004. Depositional sequences on a late Pleistocene–Holocene tropical siliciclastic shelf (Sunda Shelf, southeast Asia). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 23(1), 113-126.
Hanebuth, T.J., Stattegger, K. & Bojanowski, A., 2009. Termination of the Last Glacial Maximum sea-level lowstand: the Sunda-Shelf data revisited. Global and Planetary Change, 66(1-2), 76-84.
Hanebuth, T., Stattegger, K. & Grootes, P.M., 2000. Rapid flooding of the Sunda Shelf: a late-glacial sea-level record. Science 288, 1033-035. https://doi.org/10.1126/ science.288.5468.1033.
Hanebuth, T.J., Stattegger, K. & Saito, Y., 2002. The stratigraphic architecture of the central Sunda Shelf (SE Asia) recorded by shallow-seismic surveying. Geo-Marine Letters, 22, 86-94.
Hanebuth, T.J., Stattegger, K., Schimanski, A., Lüdmann, T. & Wong, H.K., 2003. Late Pleistocene forced-regressive deposits on the Sunda Shelf (Southeast Asia). Marine Geology, 199(1-2), 139-157.
Hanebuth, T.J.J., Voris, H.K., Yokoyama, Y., Saito, Y. & Okuno, J.I., 2011. Formation and fate of sedimentary depocentres on Southeast Asia’s Sunda Shelf over the past sea-level cycle and biogeographic implications. Earth-Science Reviews, 104(1), 92-110.
Hutchison, C.S. & Vijayan, V.R., 2010. What are the Spratly islands? Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 3(5), 371-385.
Keunen, P.H., 1950. Marine Geology. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 568 p.
Madon, M. & Jong, J., 2022. The crustal structure and evolution of the Bunguran Trough, offshore Sarawak, Malaysia. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 139, 105608. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2022.105608.
Molengraaff, G.A.F., 1921. Modern deep-sea research in the East Indian archipelago. Geographical Journal, 57, 95–121.
Molengraaff, G.A.F. & Weber, M., 1921. On the relation between the Pleistocene glacial period and the origin of the Sunda Sea (Java- and South China-Sea), and its influence on the distribution of coral reefs and on the land- and freshwater fauna. Proceedings of the Section of Sciences, 23, 395–439. [English translation].
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022a. ETOPO 2022 15 Arc-Second Global Relief Model. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi. org/10.25921/fd45-gt74. Accessed 16 April 2023.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022b. Marine Trackline Geophysical Data. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/ products/marine-trackline-geophysical-data. Accessed 16 April 2023.
Reijenstein, H.M., Posamentier, H.W. & Bhattacharya, J.P., 2011. Seismic geomorphology and high-resolution seismic stratigraphy of inner-shelf fluvial, estuarine, deltaic, and marine sequences, Gulf of Thailand. AAPG Bulletin, 95(11), 1959–1990.
Ryan, W.B.F., Carbotte, S.M., Coplan, J.O., O’Hara, S., Melkonian, A., Arko, R., Weissel, R.A., Ferrini, V., Goodwillie, A., Nitsche, F., Bonczkowski, J. & Zemsky, R., 2009. Global multi-resolution topography synthesis. G-cubed 10, Q03014. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GC002332.
Sarr, A.C., Husson, L., Sepulchre, P., Pastier, A-M., Pedoja, K., Elliot, M., Arias-Ruiz, C., Solihuddin, T., Aribowo, S. & Susilohadi, 2019. Subsiding Sundaland. Geology, 47(2), 119–122. https://doi.org/10.1130/G45629.1.
Sathiamurthy, E. & Rahman, M.M., 2017. Late Quaternary paleo fluvial system research of Sunda Shelf: A review. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 64, 81 – 92.
Sathiamurthy, E. & Voris, H.K., 2006. Maps of Holocene sea level transgression and submerged lakes on the Sunda Shelf. The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University, Supplement, 2, 1-43.
Sim, D. & Jaeger, G., 2004. Tectonostratigraphy and trap styles of the half-graben subprovince in West Luconia, offshore Sarawak. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 49, 107–110.
Stattegger, K., Kuhnt, W. & Wong, H.K., 1997. Cruise Report SONNE 115 SUNDAFLUT. Sequenzstratigraphie, spätpleistozän– holozäne Meeresspiegelschwankungen und hochauflösende Rekonstruktion der postpleistozänen Transgression am Sunda Schelf. Ber.-Rep., Geol.-Palaeontol. Inst. Univ. Kiel, 86, 1-211.
Steinke, S., Kienast, M. & Hanebuth, T., 2003. On the significance of sea-level variations and shelf paleo-morphology in governing sedimentation in the southern South China Sea during the last deglaciation. Marine Geology, 201(1-3), 179-206.
Sturt, F., Flemming, N.C., Carabias, D., Jöns, H. & Adams, J., 2018. The next frontiers in research on submerged prehistoric sites and landscapes on the continental shelf. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 129(5), 654-683. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.04.008.
Ta, T.K.O., Nguyen, V.L., Saito, Y., Gugliotta, M., Tamura, T., Nguyen, T.M.L., Truong, M.H. & Bui, T.L., 2021. Latest Pleistocene to Holocene stratigraphic record and evolution of the Paleo-Mekong incised valley, Vietnam. Marine Geology, 433, 106406.
Tjallingii, R., Stattegger, K., Wetzel, A. & Van Phach, P., 2010. Infilling and flooding of the Mekong River incised valley during deglacial sea-level rise. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(11-12), 1432-1444.
Tjia, H. D., Sujintno, S., Suklija, Y., Harsono, R. A. F., Rachmat, A., Hainim, J., & Djunaedi, 1984. Holocene shorelines in the Indonesian tin islands. In: G. Bartstra & W. A. Casparie (Eds.), Modern Quaternary research in South-East Asia, 8. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. 103-117 p.
Tjia, H.D., 1980. The Sunda Shelf, SE Asia. Zeitschrift fu¨r Geomorphologie, N.F. 24, 405–427.
Tjia, H.D. & Liew, K.K., 1996. Changes in tectonic stress field in northern Sunda Shelf basin. In: Hall, R. & Blundell, D. (Eds.), Tectonic Evolution of Southeast Asia, Geological Society of London, Special Publication 106, 291–306.
Tozer, B., Sandwell, D.T., Smith, W.H.F., Olson, C. Beale, J.R. & Wessel, P., 2019. Global bathymetry and topography at 15 arc sec: SRTM15+. Earth and Space Science, 6, 1847. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000658.
Vijayan, V.R., Foss, C. & Stagg, H., 2013. Crustal character and thickness over the Dangerous Grounds and beneath the Northwest Borneo Trough. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 76, 389-398.
Voris, H.K., 2000. Maps of Pleistocene sea levels in Southeast Asia: shorelines, river systems and time durations. Journal of Biogeography, 27(5), 1153-1167. https://doi.org/10.1046/ j.1365-2699.2000.00489.x.
Wessel, P., Luis, J.F., Uieda, L., Scharroo, R., Wobbe, F., Smith, W.H.F. & Tian, D., 2019. The generic mapping tools version 6. G-cubed, 20, 5556–5564. https://doi. org/10.1029/2019GC008515.
Wetzel, A., Feldens, A., Unverricht, D., Stattegger, K. & Tjallingii, R., 2021. Late Pleistocene sea-level changes and the formation and fill of bent valleys incised into the shelf of the western South China Sea. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 206, 104626.
Yu, J., Li, L., Zhang, X., He, J., Jia, G. & Kuhnt, W., 2023. Mangrove sediment erosion in the Sunda Shelf during meltwater pulses: Insights from biomarker records. Organic Geochemistry, 175, 104542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. orggeochem.2022.104542.
Manuscript received 17 April 2023;
Received in revised form 12 July 2023;
Accepted 26 July 2023
Available online 30 August 2023
DOI : https://doi.org/10.7186/wg492202301
0126-5539; 2682-7549
Published by the Geological Society of Malaysia.
© 2023 by the Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License 4.0
