Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, Volume 69, May 2020, pp. 53 – 65

A contemporary review of sedimentological and stratigraphic framework of the Late Paleogene deep marine sedimentary successions of West Sabah, North-West Borneo

Muhammad Jamil^1,2,*, Abdul Hadi Abd Rahman¹, Numair Ahmed Siddiqui¹, Noor Azahar Ibrahim¹, Nisar Ahmed¹

1 Department of Geosciences, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak D.R., Malaysia
2 Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), 22060 Abbottabad, KPK, Pakistan
* Corresponding author email address: jamil287@gmail.com

Abstract: A timely and updated review of the Late Paleogene deep marine sedimentary successions is vital for a better understanding of the historical advances in sedimentology and stratigraphic evolution of West Sabah. The main objective of the study is to discuss the facies characteristics and depositional environment of the Late Paleogene rock formations. In addition, the stratigraphic aspects of the Paleogene interval will also be discussed. The Oligocene Temburong Formation exposed in several localities of West Sabah had been field researched with varying depositional processes and facies analysis. Moreover, the distribution of submarine fan, the observed variety of deep marine sediments associated with various sedimentary processes and the source of sediments of the co-eval West Crocker Formation were also investigated with contorted layers of mass transport deposits (MTD) reported first time in the formation. The upper and lower stratigraphic contacts of Late Paleogene formations, the age of individual rock formations and use of the term “Crocker Formation” in the literature are discussed with numerous unconformities and their stratigraphic positions in the Paleogene interval have been incorporated to understand the historical development of the Paleogene stratigraphy of the West Sabah. Owing to degrading tropical climate of the area, there are limitations and constraints on field-based research where the older outcrops are altered with housing development and dense vegetative cover. This review outlined the scientific developments and highlighted the ambiguities associated with stratigraphic placement of the Temburong and Crocker formations that still needed to be resolved to get an upgraded depiction of the Late Paleogene sediments of West Sabah.

Keywords: West Sabah, Late Paleogene, sedimentology, stratigraphic framework, Crocker Formation, Temburong Formation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm69202005