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Island Arc (2009) 18, 320

Thematic Article
Structure of Sumatra and its implications for the tectonic assembly of
Southeast Asia and the destruction of Paleotethys
ANTHONY J. BARBER1* AND MICHAEL J. CROW2
Southeast Asia Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham,
Surrey TW20 0EX, UK (email: 106731.1236@compuserve.com), and 228A Lenton Road, The Park, Nottingham
NG7 1DT, UK

Abstract It is now generally accepted that Southeast Asia is composed of continental


blocks which separated from Gondwana with the formation of oceanic crust during the
Paleozoic, and were accreted to Asia in the Late Paleozoic or Early Mesozoic, with the
subduction of the intervening oceanic crust. From east to west the Malay peninsula and
Sumatra are composed of three continental blocks: East Malaya with a Cathaysian
Permian flora and fauna; Sibumasu, including the western part of the Malay peninsula and
East Sumatra, with Late CarboniferousEarly Permian pebbly mudstones interpreted as
glaciogenic diamictites; and West Sumatra, again with Cathaysian fauna and flora. A
further unit, the Woyla nappe, is interpreted as an intraoceanic arc thrust over the West
Sumatra block in the mid Cretaceous. There are varied opinions concerning the age of
collision of Sibumasu with East Malaya and the destruction of Paleotethys. In Thailand,
radiolarites have been used as evidence that Paleotethys survived until after the Middle
Triassic. In the Malay peninsula, structural evidence and the ages of granitic intrusions are
used to support a Middle Permian to Early Triassic age for the destruction of Paleotethys.
It is suggested that the West Sumatra block was derived from Cathaysia and emplaced
against the western margin of Sibumasu by dextral transcurrent faulting along a zone of
high deformation, the Medial Sumatra Tectonic Zone. These structural units can be traced
northwards in Southeast Asia. The East Malaya block is considered to be part of the
Indochina block, Sibumasu can be traced through Thailand into southern China, the Medial
Sumatra Tectonic Zone is correlated with the Mogok Belt of Myanmar, the West Burma
block is the extension of the West Sumatra block, from which it was separated by the
formation of the Andaman Sea in the Miocene, and the Woyla nappe is correlated with
the Mawgyi nappe of Myanmar.
Key words: Malay peninsula, Myanmar, Paleotethys, PermoTriassic, Sibumasu, West
Sumatra block.

INTRODUCTION
Southeast Asia is considered to be made up of a
number of continental blocks or terranes (Fig. 1),
which separated from the northern margin of the
Gondwana supercontinent in the Late Paleozoic,
and accreted to the southeastern margin of the
Eurasian continent later in the Late Paleozoic or in
*Correspondence.
Received 10 May 2007; accepted for publication 19 February 2008.
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

the Mesozoic. According to the synthesis proposed


by Metcalfe (1996, 2005), the Indochina block,
forming the core of Southeast Asia, separated
from Gondwana in the Late Devonian, moved
northwards driven by the expansion of Paleotethys, to collide and amalgamate with the South
China block in the Early Carboniferous. East
Malaya, the eastern part of the Malay peninsula,
forms part of the Indochina block and, like the rest
of the block, is characterized by a Cathaysian
Permian flora and fauna. The Sibumasu terrane,
doi:10.1111/j.1440-1738.2008.00631.x

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow


100

20

IN
DO
IN
A

SIBUMASU
um

LA
OY

ine

YA
LA

nic
L

MA

lS

TE

W
ES
TS
UM
NE
AT
S
RA

S.W.
BORNEO

RA

INDIAN
PLATE

Te
ct
o

re
utu
bS

d ia

at
ra

ST

Me

EA

-R a u
Bentong

ANDAMAN
SEA

SOUTH
CHINA
SEA

CH

10

120

SOUTH CHINA

AO
SIM

lt
k Be

M og o
A
RM
W E S T BU

INDIA

100

which includes the western part of the Malay


peninsula and eastern Sumatra, is characterized
by pebbly mudstones, interpreted as glaciogenic
diamictites or tillites (Stauffer & Lee 1986), separated from northern Gondwana, which was then in
a glacial environment, with the opening of Mesotethys in the Early Permian. Subsequently, Sibumasu moved rapidly northwards to collide and
amalgamate with the Indochina block in the Late
Permian. Metcalfe (2005) suggested that the
Sikuleh terranes, incorporated in the Woyla terranes and West Burma (Fig. 1), separated from
Gondwana in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic,
and were accreted to the southwest margin of
Southeast Asia in the mid Cretaceous.
There are several contentious issues in that synthesis: the timing of the collision of Sibumasu with
Indochina with the destruction of Paleotethys as
proposed by Metcalfe (1996, 2005) is disputed by
Japanese radiolarian researchers from evidence of
Middle Triassic Paleotethyan Oceanic sediments
in the northwest Malay peninsula and Thailand
(Sashida et al. 1995, 2000a,b; Kamata et al. 2002).
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Fig. 1 Continental tectonic blocks in


Southeast Asia (after Metcalfe 2005).

Since Metcalfes (1996) synthesis, a separate West


Sumatra block with Cathaysian affinities has been
recognized (Hutchison 1994; Barber & Crow 2003);
it is necessary to determine the origin and time of
emplacement of this block. Metcalfes (1996, 2005)
recognition of microcontinental terranes among
the Woyla terranes has been disputed (Wajzer
et al. 1991; Barber 2000; Barber & Crow 2003).
Also, the timing of the separation from Gondwana
of the West Burma block and its accretion to
Asia needs to be determined. These issues are
addressed in this paper.
TIMING OF COLLISION BETWEEN SIBUMASU AND
EAST MALAYA
Since there is discussion concerning the timing
of the collision between the Sibumasu and East
Malaya blocks and the destruction of Paleotethys,
it is worth re-iterating the evidence put forward
originally by Metcalfe (2000) from the Malay peninsula, with the addition of supporting evidence
from the Langkawi Islands and Bangka Island.

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

Hutchison (1975) identified the northsouth


BentongRaub Line separating the eastern and
western parts of the Malay peninsula as the suture
zone marking the site of the collision and amalgamation of Sibumasu (Sinoburmalaya: Hutchison
1994) with the East Malaya block (Fig. 2). Metcalfe
(2000) describes the BentongRaub Line as a 13
to 20-km wide zone of imbricated ribbon-bedded
cherts and schists containing elongated blocks of
serpentinized mafic and ultramafic rocks. A characteristic feature is the occurrence of bodies of
mlange containing randomly arranged blocks of
chert, limestone, and volcanic and volcaniclastic

rocks in a fine-grained mud and silt matrix.


Metcalfe et al. (1999) found that radiolaria from
the bedded cherts ranged in age from Late Devonian to Late Permian (Fig. 2), but no radiolarian
cherts of Triassic age were found. The bedded
cherts are interpreted as deep-sea oceanic sediments deposited on the Paleotethys floor. From
that study Metcalfe (2000) concluded that Paleotethys opened in the Late Devonian and that its
ocean-floor sediments were incorporated into an
accretionary complex immediately prior to the
collision of Sibumasu with the western margin of
East Malaya in the Late Permian. In places, the

(a)

Middle Triassic

102E

INDOCHINA
BLOCK

Middle Permian
Lower Permian
Alor
Star

L.Carb.
M.Triassic

5N

Semanggol
Section in B

EAST
MALAYA

L/U.Permian.

L.Carb.
L.Carb.

WEST U.Dev.
MALAYA

RAUB

L.Perm. Jengka
BENTONG
L.Permian.
L.Carb.

U.Devonian
L.Carb.

Kuala
Lumpur
L.Carb.
U.Devonian

SIBUMASU
Semanggol Formation
Bentong-Raub Suture Zone
0

(b)

100

150km

102E

10135
445

schist

serpentinite
thrust

Triassic
Granite

roa
d

Singapore
10145

10140
schist

)
an
se
Vi
t(
er
ch

Fig. 2 (a) Peninsular Malaysia and the


BentongRaub Suture Zone with locations of
dated bedded radiolarian chert, (b) map along
forest road section across the BentongRaub
Suture Zone near Pos Mering. The granite is a
member of the Main Granite Suite giving Late
Triassic to Early Jurassic, 230270 Ma, ages,
Cobbing et al. (1992), after Metcalfe (2000).

50

melange

POS MERING
granite/schist
contact zone

melange

schist

chert
L.-U. Permian)

mudstone

5km

2008 The Authors


Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow

BentongRaub Zone is intruded by granites, representatives of the Main Range granites of the
western Malay peninsula, which have been dated
as having been intruded in the Late Triassic to
Early Jurassic (230207 Ma). The evidence from
the radiolarian cherts and the intrusive granites
provides constraints for the age of the collision as
Late Permian to Early Triassic.
Confirmatory evidence for the timing of this
collision event is provided by radiolarian studies
of Middle Permian, Late Permian, and Middle Triassic ribbon-bedded cherts and lensoid conodontbearing siliceous limestones in the lower Chert
Member of the Semanggol Formation near Alor
Star in the northwest Malay peninsula (Ahmad
et al. 1987; Sashida et al. 1995; Metcalfe 2000)
(Fig. 2). While Permian cherts and limestones are
interpreted as having been deposited in a pelagic
environment, Triassic foraminiferalalgal limestones and possibly the associated radiolarian
cherts were deposited in a shallower water environment. Sashida et al. (1995) supposed that the
Permian and Triassic rocks formed part of a continuous sequence, marking the transition between
the shelf and slope sediments of the Sibumasu
terrane and the deposits on the floor of the Paleotethys Ocean. They concluded, therefore, that
the collision between Sibumasu and East Malaya
occurred after the Late Triassic, following the
deposition of the complete sequence in the lower
Chert Member of the Semanggol Formation.
In their account, Sashida et al. (1995) reported
that the Permian cherts dip steeply and are tightly
folded. Metcalfe (2000) pointed out that the ages of
rocks in the sequence are repeated, implying
imbrication or isoclinal folding of the chert. On the
other hand, the Triassic cherts and overlying turbidites are only gently folded, indicating that the
Permian and Triassic cherts are separated by an
unconformity. Metcalfe (2000) therefore interpreted the Permian cherts and limestones as
pelagic sediments deposited on the Paleotethys
ocean floor and which were imbricated into an
accretionary complex. The latest Permian and the
Early Triassic are missing, representing the
unconformity, followed by the deposition of Middle
Triassic cherts, limestones, and turbiditic sandstones in a successor basin.
One problem in understanding the geology of
the western Malay peninsula has been that
although fossiliferous units are common, and units
ranging in age from Lower Paleozoic to Upper
Paleozoic have been identified, on the geological
map stratigraphic units appear to be arranged
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

randomly, so that it has neither proved possible to


recognize continuous stratigraphic sequences, nor
to reconstruct a coherent depositional or structural basin. In part this is due to the discontinuity
of exposures. However, in Perlis, northwest Malay
peninsula, north of Alor Star, Meor and Lee (2005)
described a steeply eastward-dipping Silurian to
Carboniferous sequence folded with western vergence, and broken by eastward-dipping thrusts. In
the offshore Langkawi Islands, Kimura and Jones
(1967) showed Lower Paleozoic rocks thrust westwards over the Upper Paleozoic, which includes
Permian pebbly mudstones (Fig. 3). These structures are characteristic of foreland fold-and-thrust
belts.
In the western Malay peninsula, Paleozoic
(CambrianPermian) sandstonelimestoneshale
continental margin sediments of Sibumasu and
the Paleotethyan ocean floor bathyal shales and
cherts, extending all the way from the Bentong
Raub suture to the west coast of the Malay peninsula and into the offshore Langkawi Islands, are
deformed into an accretionary complex and a foreland fold-and-thrust belt. In the Langkawi Islands
the major thrust plane is cut by an intrusive
Middle Triassic (242 ! 10 Ma) granite (Fig. 3),
providing a further constraint on the age of the
collision of Sibumasu with East Malaya, which
must have been completed before the Middle
Triassic.
A similar constraint is provided by the relationships between the PermoCarboniferous and
Triassic rocks and intrusive granites on the island
of Bangka to the southeast of Sumatra (Fig. 4).
According to Ko (1986) the oldest rocks on the
island are of PermoCarboniferous age. In the
north they consist of slates and schists with isoclinal folding on northwestsoutheast axes, imbricated with basalts, andesites, bedded cherts, distal
turbidites, black pyritic shales, and limestones.
One of the limestone blocks yielded Permian
fusulinids (De Roever 1951). In the adjacent island
of Billiton a poorly preserved Cathaysian flora
was found in shales and a limestone contained
Schwagerina sp. (Van Overeem 1960), indicating
affinities between these rocks and the East
Malaya block. The Carboniferous and Permian
rocks are interpreted as Paleotethyan ocean-floor
sediments imbricated into an accretionary
complex, prior to the collision between Sibumasu
and East Malaya, corresponding to the Bentong
Raub suture of peninsular Malaysia. However, at
Toboali in the far south of Bangka, the Permo
Carboniferous rocks include pebbly mudstones,

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

(b)

(a)
100
8

101

1 PERLIS

THAILAND

LANGKAWI ISLANDS
Kimura & Jones (1967)

Langkawi
Islands

th
ru
st

Alor Star

SIBUMASU

granite

KEDAH

Meor & Lee (2005)

i
Ab
ai
ng
Su

Locality 1
64

Devonian

HILL C

40m

20m

60

Devonian-Carboniferous

se
cti
on
0

5km

NW

SE

granite

1km

HILL B

50
72

100m

Locality 2

60m
40m

Middle Triassic Granite (24210Ma)


Permo-Carboniferous
(with pebbly mudstones)

Lower Palaeozoic

10023

Devonian-Carboniferous

6232N

Sibumasu continental margin


sediments in a foreland
fold-and-thrust belt

70

Fig. 3 (a) Northwest peninsular Malaysia


with maps of localities 1 and 2 after Meor and
Lee (2005), (b) map and cross-section of the
Langkawi Islands after Kimura and Jones
(1967). Middle Triassic granite cuts thrust
plane.

100m
Silurian

623

glaciogenic diamictites characteristic of Sibumasu


(Ko 1986). Throughout the island highly deformed
PermoCarboniferous rocks are in fault contact
with gently folded Middle to Upper Triassic sandstones. Although a stratigraphic contact has
not been described, given the difference in their
structure, the relationships between the Permo
Carboniferous and Triassic rocks must be unconformable. Both groups of rocks are cut and
extensively hornfelsed by granites yielding ages
ranging from 250 to 200 Ma (Cobbing et al. 1992)
(Fig. 4), showing that the collision between Sibumasu and East Malaya had already occurred
before latest Permian times.

STRUCTURE OF SUMATRA
Barber et al. (2005) recently published a revised
synthesis for the nature and origin of the structural units that comprise Sumatra and peninsular
Malaysia, building on earlier syntheses by Hutchison (1994) and Metcalfe (1996). The pre-Tertiary
rocks of mainland Sumatra are of Carboniferous,
Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous ages.
In eastern Sumatra, Late Carboniferous to
Early Permian rocks of the Tapanuli and Tigapuluh groups are quartz-wackes, siltstones, and
shales with interbedded pebbly mudstone units,
interpreted as glaciogenic diamictites. Also
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow


BELINYU
251Ma

PENANGAS
252Ma

106E

BANGKA ISLAND
KLABAT
BATHOLITH

KELAPA

Very Late Permian to


Early Jurassic granites

2S

MENUBING
200Ma

TEMPILAN

MANGOL

SUMATRA
Faults
Triassic
Slates, cherts,
pillow lavas etc.
older than early
Middle Permian
CarboniferousEarly Permian
0

KULUR
PERMISAN
213Ma
Tempilang
Sandstone

BEBULU
BATHOLITH

PADING

Pemali Group
'Pebbly Mudstone'
Tapanuli Group
50km

106E

TOBOALI
225Ma

included in the Tapanuli Group are the Alas limestones (Cameron et al. 1982) containing corals,
brachiopods, and conodonts identified as a temperate fauna of Visan age (Metcalfe 1983; Fontaine
1989). East Sumatra, together with the western
Malay peninsula and the Langkawi Islands, are
regarded as part of the Sibumasu block.
In western Sumatra, Early Carboniferous rocks
of the Kluet and Kuantan formations are quartzwackes, sandstones, and shales containing fossiliferous limestone lenses (Fig. 5). The limestones
include fossil corals of Visan age, sometimes
forming reef structures, intertidal algal mats,
oolites, and pisolites, that are considered to have
formed in tropical intertidal and shallow marine
environments (Fontaine & Gafoer 1989; Vachard
1989a,b). Permian rocks include basalts, andesites,
and rhyolites of the Palepat Formation, and a
cyclic sequence of conglomerates, sandstones, and
shales interbedded with limestones and thin coals
of the Mengkarang Formation (van Waveren et al.
2005). The Mengkarang Formation contains roots
and large tree trunks up to 2 m in length, sometimes in situ, of Cordaites, Calamites, and
Taeniopteris with abundant plant fragments and
leaves in siltstones, comprising the Jambi flora
(Jongmans & Gothan 1925, 1935). The tree trunks
do not show tree rings, indicating that they grew in
a tropical environment, and the plant remains are
characteristic of the Cathaysian flora found in East
Malaya, Indochina, and southern China (VozeninSerra 1989). The intercalated limestones contain
oncolites and an abundant fusuline fauna of
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

3
107

Fig. 4 Geological map of Bangka Island,


see Figure 8 for location, after Ko (1986).
PermoCarboniferous rocks in the north of
the island are imbricated Paleo-Tethyan ocean
floor materials and limestones with fusulinids, related to the East Malaya block, while
PermoCarboniferous rocks at Tobaoli in the
south contain pebbly mudstones and are
related to Sibumasu, all overlain unconformably by Middle Triassic sandstones and
intruded by very Late Permian to Early
Jurassic granites.

CathaysianTethyan affinity and Early Permian,


AsselianYahtashian (Artinskian) age, also indicating a tropical environment (Ueno et al. 2006). The
tropical Early Permian fauna and flora of West
Sumatra contrast with the Early Carboniferous
temperate fauna and Early Permian glaciogenic
sediments of the East Sumatra (Sibumasu) block
against which it is juxtaposed.
MEDIAL SUMATRA TECTONIC ZONE
The contact between the Sibumasu block and the
West Sumatra block is marked by the Medial
Sumatra Tectonic Zone (MSTZ), traceable as a
zone of highly deformed rocks including schists
and gneisses, extending the whole length of
Sumatra from the Andaman Sea to Palembang, a
distance of 1760 km (Hutchison 1994; Barber et al.,
2005) (Fig. 5). At its northern end the zone
includes limestones of the Alas Formation associated with lenses of massive marble, phlogopite,
and graphitic marble, scapolitecalc-silicate schist
and garnetiferous augen gneiss (Cameron et al.
1980). In other parts of the zone rock types include
slate, phyllite, biotitegarnetsillimanite schist,
biotiteandalusite hornfels with cordierite, and
chiastolite, quartzite, quartzfeldspar augen
gneiss, migmatite, mylonite, and cataclasite, the
latter with horizontal slickensides.
The southern segment of the zone is less well
exposed, as much of its course is covered by
Tertiary and Quaternary sediments. However,

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia


95E

96

BANDA ACEH

97

98

99

104

103

102

105

106

PRE-TERTIARY TECTONIC UNITS IN SUMATRA

Situtup

5N

101

100

ue

Lake
Toba
Kualu

MSTZ Medial Sumatra


Tectonic Zone

Kaloi, Batumilmil, Kualu


Triassic
unconformity
Permo-Carboniferous
Alas Limestone (Visean)
(Tapanuli Group)
Bohorok, Tigapuluh Group
(pebbly mudstones)

MEDAN
Batumilmil

200km

EAST SUMATRA BLOCK


(SIBUMASU)

Kaloi

k
oro

Kl

h
Bo Alas

100

SIBOLGA

WOYLA NAPPE
JurassicWoyla Group
Cretaceous
Island arc and accretionary
complex

LUBUKSIKAPING

PEKANBARU
Tanjungpuah

Ku

WEST SUMATRA BLOCK


(CATHAYSIAN)

1S

PADANG

an

ta

Carboniferous
96

Tigapuluh
Hills

Tuhur

unconformity
Permian
Palepat, Mengkarang
95E

Tuhur

Triassic
2

Pawan
Rokan Granite
(189Ma)

Palepat

Mengkarang

Kluet, Kuantan (with Visean limestone)


97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

PALEMBANG 106

Fig. 5 Distribution of the pre-Tertiary stratigraphic and tectonic units in Sumatra, based on data from the 1:250 000 geological map sheets published
by the Indonesian Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung (after Barber et al. 2005). Darker tones indicate areas of outcrop, lighter tones
indicate that the pre-Tertiary is overlain by Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary and volcanic rocks.

between Pekanbaru and Lubuksikaping it is represented by intensely folded muscovite, tremolite,


chlorite, carbonate, and quartz schists, mapped as
the Pawan and Tanjungpuah members of the
Kuantan Formation (Clarke et al. 1982) (Fig. 5).
The Pawan Member is intruded by the Rokan
granite, a foliated syntectonic granitoid, dated by
the K/Ar method at 189 ! 2 Ma (Early Jurassic)
(Rock et al. 1983). This and other deformed granitoids of TriassicJurassicEarly Cretaceous age,
surrounded by metamorphic aureoles, are interpreted as syntectonic intrusions related to a magmatic arc formed during eastward subduction
beneath the western margin of the West Sumatra
block and emplaced in an active shear zone
(Barber et al. 2005). Further to the southeast, the
zone is represented by the Gangsal Formation of
the Tigapuluh Group on the southwestern side of
the Tigapuluh Mountains, composed of intensely
quartz-veined slates and phyllites (Simandjuntak

et al. 1991; Suwarna et al. 1991). Further to the


southeast it can be traced beneath Tertiary sediments only through oil company boreholes (De
Coster 1974; Eubank & Makki 1981).
The MSTZ does not represent a suture zone
formed from a subducted oceanic crust as it does
not contain any significant ophiolitic components.
However, the intense deformation of the rocks in
the zone indicates that it represents a major shear
zone between the Sibumasu and West Sumatra
crustal blocks. The occurrence of syntectonic
granitoids and of a distinct tin anomaly related
to the zone, determined from stream sediment
samples (Stephenson et al. 1982; Barber et al.
2005), indicate that the MSTZ is a structure of
crustal scale. The MSTZ is interpreted as a major
transcurrent shear zone, analogous to the present
Sumatran Fault zone, (Barber & Crow 2003;
Barber et al. 2005). As is the case with the present
Sumatran Fault and the Quaternary volcanic arc, in
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

10

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow

the JurassicCretaceous the MSTZ was also the


site of an active magmatic arc, with granitoid
magma chambers emplaced in an active shear zone.
There is a problem in accounting for present
position of the Cathaysian West Sumatra block,
separated from the Cathaysian East Malaya block,
and lying outboard the Sibumasu block (Barber &
Crow 2003; Barber et al. 2005). The MSTZ is interpreted as a major transcurrent fault along which
the West Sumatra block was translated from
its original position as part of Cathaysia and
emplaced against the western margin of the
Sibumasu block (Hutchison 1994; Barber & Crow
2003). The MSTZ incorporates slices of the
western margin of the Sibumasu block, including
possibly the basement as well as its sedimentary
cover. Metamorphic rocks derived from different
crustal depths are juxtaposed along the MSTZ,
a feature of major transcurrent fault zones, and
have been re-metamorphosed in contact aureoles
around the syntectonic granitoids.
PERMOTRIASSIC UNCONFORMITY
Fossiliferous Permian and Triassic rocks are widespread throughout Sumatra, occurring in both the
West Sumatra and Sibumasu terranes. Sometimes
Permian and Triassic limestones occur in the same
group of outcrops (Situtup limestone, Kaloi limestone, and Batumilmil formations) (Fig. 5), identified by fossils from spot samples (Bennett et al.
1981; Cameron et al. 1982, 1983), but the relationships between the Permian and Triassic
carbonates have not been described, and no unconformable contacts have been recognized. However,
Fontaine and Gafoer (1989) made a systematic
study of all the outcrops and their fossil content.
They found that all Permian and Triassic stages
are represented, apart from the uppermost
Permian and the lowermost Triassic. Direct evidence of an unconformable relationship between
the Permian and Triassic is provided by limestone
clasts containing Middle Permian fusulinid fossils
in Middle Triassic sediments (Tuhur and Limau
Manis formations: Silitonga & Kastowo 1975;
Turner 1983; Barber & Crow 2003) (Figs 6,7).
Middle to Upper Triassic sediments in Sumatra
are either carbonates (e.g. Situtup and Batumilmil
formations) or a chertclastic facies (e.g. Kualu
and Tuhur formations). The chertclastic facies
resembles the Semanggol Formation of West
Malaya, with cherts at the base, overlain by rhythmites composed of finely-bedded alternating tur 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

biditic sandstones and shales. The distribution of


these facies is plotted on Figure 8 and is interpreted as representing a submarine horst and
graben structure which extended across the whole
of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula. In Malaya
the easternmost horst appears to have been an
area of uplift and erosion related to the intrusion of
granites, while to the west the eroded sediments,
finer at the base and coarsening upwards, accumulated in the Semantan Basin. In the western part
of the Malay peninsula and in Sumatra shallowwater carbonates were deposited on horst blocks,
particularly along their margins. Triassic carbonates were sometimes deposited on top of Permian
carbonates, which perhaps formed local elevations
of the seafloor. The chert facies was deposited in
the intervening SemanggolMutus, Kualu, and
Tuhur basins, sediment-starved graben far from
a clastic sedimentary source (Barber et al. 2005).
The deposits of the Tuhur Basin, including cherts,
were deposited on the southwestern margin of the
West Sumatra block. A limestone block containing
Triassic foraminifera in mlange in the accretionary complex which forms part of the Woyla
Group emplaced on West Sumatra during the mid
Cretaceous, was interpreted by Wajzer et al.
(1991) as derived from the carbonate cap of a seamount in Mesotethys. Evidently in the Triassic the
West Sumatra block formed the southwestern
margin of Southeast Asia passing out westwards,
in present day co-ordinates, onto the Mesotethys
Ocean floor.
The breakup of the European margin of Tethys
during the TriassicJurassic (Bernouilli & Jenkyns
1974) provides an analogy for the tectonic environment on the southwestern margin of Southeast
Asia during the Triassic. In Europe as in Asia,
carbonate deposits were formed on horst blocks
formed by the extension of continental crust, while
pelagic deposits, including radiolarites, were
deposited in the intervening subsided basins.
Since Middle to Late Triassic sediments of
the same facies rest unconformably on deformed
Carboniferous and Permian rocks forming the
Sibumasu and West Sumatra blocks on either side
of the MSTZ, and also occur, only gently folded,
within the shear zone itself (Figs 5,8), the MSTZ is
considered to have been initiated in latest Permian
or Early Triassic times. It is inferred that by
Middle Triassic times the Sibumasu and West
Sumatra blocks were substantially in their present
relationship. A magmatic arc related to subduction
beneath the western margin of the West Sumatra
block was superimposed across the MSTZ in Late

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

11

Fig. 6 Stratigraphic relationships between tectonic and stratigraphic units in Sumatra and East Malaya. Triassic rocks in similar facies extend across the
East Malaya, West MalayaEast Sumatra (Sibumasu) blocks, the Medial Sumatra Tectonic Zone and the West Sumatra block and that all tectonic units are
cut by Triassic and younger granites (after Barber et al. 2005).

JurassicEarly Cretaceous times. As has already


been described, JurassicCretaceous syntectonic
granites in the MSTZ indicate that minor movements along the shear zone continued through
the Mesozoic, and may have continued into the
Cenozoic, since the zone is displaced by 200 km
along the Sumatran fault zone.
WOYLA NAPPE
The West Sumatra block is overlain to the west by
the Woyla Group, composed of an east-facing accretionary complex of ophiolitic ocean floor material
and pelagic and volcaniclastic sediments and
mlanges, and basalticandesitic volcanic rocks,
interpreted as a Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
volcanic arc with carbonate fringing reefs. Because
the volcanic arc is intruded by the Sikuleh granite it
was interpreted initially as an Andean Arc, developed on a fragment of continental crust identified as

the Sikuleh microcontinent (Cameron et al. 1980),


and similar microcontinental fragments, the Natal
and Bengkulu microcontinents were postulated
among the Woyla terranes further south (Metcalfe
1996). This interpretation has been contested, and
arguments have been put forward for regarding the
Woyla Group as an intraoceanic island arc developed offshore West Sumatra on the Triassic
Cretaceous oceanic crust of Mesotethys (Wajzer
et al. 1991; Barber & Crow 2003).
Subsequently, by the subduction of the intervening part of the Mesotethys Ocean floor, the Woyla
Group collided with, and was thrust over, the West
Sumatra block to form the Woyla nappe (for a full
discussion of this controversy see Barber et al.
(2005, pp. 5253). The overthrust assemblage
includes carbonates of AlbianAptian age, and the
emplacement of the nappe resulted in the deformation and metamorphism up to amphibolite grade
of rocks in West Sumatra, ranging in age from
Carboniferous to mid Cretaceous, providing con 2008 The Authors
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12

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow

Fig. 7 Paleontology of PermoTriassic stratigraphic units in Sumatra, data taken from Fontaine and Gafoer (1989). *, fossils diagnostic of these stages
occur in these areas. Note the apparent absence of fossils corresponding to the uppermost Permian and the lowermost Triassic stages, and that clasts
containing derived Middle Permian fusulinids are incorporated in Middle Triassic stratigraphic units (after Barber et al. 2005).

straints on the age of collision (Barber et al. 2005).


The Woyla nappe is intruded by Late Cretaceous
and younger granites. Evidently following collision,
subduction polarity was reversed and these
granites are related to eastward subduction of
Mesotethys beneath West Sumatra and the
accreted island arc (Barber 2000; Barber et al.
2005).
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUMATRA AND
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Crustal blocks identified in Sumatra and the Malay
peninsula can be recognized in the mainland of
Southeast Asia to the north. As has already been
mentioned, the East Malaya block is considered to
be part of the Indochina block; the Sibumasu block,
characterized by PermoCarboniferous diamictites, can be traced from Bangka Island through
eastern Sumatra, the western part of the Malay
peninsula, peninsular Thailand and eastern
Myanmar (Burma) to Yunnan in southwest China;
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

but, to the west, the northward continuity of structural units is interrupted by the Andaman Sea.
Here, since the Miocene, the continental crust has
been extended and replaced by oceanic crust, separating western Myanmar from Sumatra by some
460 km (Curray et al. 1979; Curray 2005) (Fig. 1).
In eastern Myanmar, the Shan Plateau is composed of a Proterozoic, Cambrian, to Early Permian
succession, including Late CarboniferousEarly
Permian diamictites (Mergui Group) and so forms
part of the Sibumasu (ShanThai) block (Fig. 9).
The western margin of the block is marked by the
Mogok Metamorphic Belt, 1400 km long, which
contains high to low grade metamorphic rocks,
migmatites, mylonites, and marbles with (?) Early
Carboniferous fossils (Mitchell et al. 2007). The
marbles included in the Mogok Belt are regarded as
the metamorphosed equivalents of the Cambrian to
Devonian limestones of the plateau succession in
the Shan Plateau to the east. Mitchell et al. (2007)
suggested that the Mogok Belt represents the
deformed and uplifted margin of the ShanThai
(Sibumasu) block. The Mogok Belt is intruded by

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

Situtup

TAKENGON

KU
U
AL

Kaloi

LAKE
TOBA

MEDAN

AS
IN

Batumilmil

N
SI
H
BA
HIG
YA
ALA
T M ault
N
TA
EAS
ir F
N
A
Leb
n
ta
SEM
Hamu
H
SI
G
HIGKer
BA
HI
E
)
ne
ANG
RA Zo
MAIN R
US
T
UR
AT nic
MU
H
M ecto
OL SEMANGG
TU
SUtra T
L ma
IA l Su
ED dia
M (Me

BANDA ACEH

100

LANGKAWI
Kodiang

MALACCA

Cubadak

Fa

ul
t

Sawahlunto
PADANG

JAMBI

N
SI
BA

Horst Block (shallow marine


with carbonate banks)
Sediment-starved graben
(with cherts)

syntectonic granitoids (augen gneiss) which have


yielded Middle Jurassic isotopic ages and by undeformed granitoids of Late Cretaceous and younger
ages (Mitchell et al. 2007).
The Mogok Belt is the same age and has similar
characteristics to the MSTZ (although the gemstones found in the northern part of the Mogok Belt
have not been recorded in Sumatra). In Myanmar
the West Burma block lies to the west of the Mogok
Belt. The West Burma block, defined by Hutchison
(1989, p. 225) and formerly termed Mount Victoria
Land (Mitchell 1989), is bounded by the Sagaing
strikeslip fault in the east and the IndoBurman
Ranges to the west. The West Burma block is
largely covered by Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks, but is underlain by continental crust, as
metamorphic rocks overlain by Triassic turbidites
are exposed in Mount Victoria and a late Cenozoic
high-K calc-alkaline volcanic arc was extruded
through it. In Sumatra the West Sumatra block lies
to the west of the MSTZ. If the correlation of the
Mogok Belt with the MSTZ is accepted, it raises the
possibility that the West Burma block is the north-

BINTAN

KUNDUR

PEKANBARU

Horst Block (land area)

300km

KUALA
LUMPUR

Sibaganding

Fig. 8 Middle to late Triassic paleogeography in the Malay peninsula and Sumatra. A
submarine horst and graben structure is postulated, based on the distribution of the
carbonate and the chertclastic facies, where
the carbonates were deposited on the horsts,
especially along their margins, and the cherts
and rhythmites were deposited in the intervening sediment-starved graben (after Barber
et al. 2005).

200

13

LINGGA
SINGKEP
BANGKA
Belinyo

PALEMBANG

BENGKULU

BANDAR
LAMPUNG

ward extension of the West Sumatra block, from


which it became separated by the development of
the Andaman Sea.
This correlation is supported paleontologically
by a Middle Permian (Murghabian) fusulinid fauna
described from limestones at Karmine, northern
Myanmar (Oo et al. 2002) (Fig. 9). In Figure 10
the fusulinid fauna from Karmine is compared
with the faunas of the Thitisipin limestone in the
Shan Plateau, Myanmar (Garson et al. 1975; Oo
et al. 2002; Mitchell et al. 2004, 2007), and the
Murghabian fusilinid faunas from Situtup,
Muarasipongi, and Silungkang in West Sumatra
(Fontaine & Gafoer 1989). The Thitispin limestone
Formation, which is part of the Sibumasu block,
has no fusulinid genera in common with the fauna
of the Karmine area, while Parafusulina sp. and
Rugoschwagerina sp. occur both at Karmine and
in the Situtup Formation and the Muarasipongi
area in the West Sumatra block. The Karmine and
West Sumatra faunas both include fusulinid
genera which also occur in South China, and therefore, belong to the Cathaysian faunal province.
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

14

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow


94E

la
Hima

96
28

yas

Karmine

CHINA

Ga
nga
w

Magma
tic Ar
c

NAPP
E

R.

Jade
Belt

- BURMAN R
INDO
ANG
ES
MAWGYI

Mogok Metamorphic Belt = MSTZ

Kum

INDIA

24

Shan Thai
(Sibumasu) Block
Late Cretaceous
Granites

an R.

28N

24

Mogok

West Burma Block


= West Sumatra Block

Mawgyi Nappe
= Woyla Nappe
Ophiolites

Mandalay

Mount Victoria
metamorphics

SHAN

Mount
Victoria

PLATEAU

20

Fault
Sagaing

20

YANGON

THAILAND

Cenozoic Accretionary
Complexes
Deformation Front
Strike-Slip Fault

Moulmein

16

16

ANDAMAN SEA
0

200km

98

In western Myanmar, along the eastern margin


of the IndoBurman Ranges Mitchell (1993)
described the Mawgyi andesites as a belt of basaltic andesites and basaltic pillow lavas, underlain by
ophiolitic rocks, serpentinites, talc-schists, cherts,
phyllites, and mudstones, which is interpreted as
a JurassicCretaceous intraoceanic arc, with its
basement and associated accretionary complex.
The arc is duplicated in the Upper Irrawaddy
Basin by dextral movements of about 300 km
along the post-Miocene Sagaing Fault (Fig. 9). The
Mawgyi andesites and associated rocks were
emplaced on the western margin of Myanmar as
the Mawgyi nappe in the mid Cretaceous. Mitchell
(1993) correlated the Mawgyi andesites with the
Woyla Group of western Sumatra, which was
emplaced on the western margin of the West
Sumatra block in the mid Cretaceous (Cameron
et al. 1980; Wajzer et al. 1991). Mica schists and
gneisses in the eastern IndoBurman Ranges, the
KathaGangaw Range and in the Jade Mines area
may represent the metamorphic footprint of the
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Fig. 9 Tectonic units in Myanmar (after


Mitchell 1993). MSTZ, Medial Sumatra
Tectonic Zone.

Mawgyi nappe, as has been suggested for metamorphic rocks in a similar relationship to the
Woyla nappe in West Sumatra (Barber et al. 2005,
p. 249). The implication of this correlation is that
the whole of western Myanmar, from the Mogok
Belt to the IndoBurman Ranges and the Mount
Victoria Land of Mitchell (1989), and the West
Burma block of Hutchison (1989) and Metcalfe
(1996), is the northward extension of the West
Sumatra block.
Unfortunately, western Myanmar is covered
largely by Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and
volcanics, so that exposures of the underlying
basement are rare. However, this correlation is
strengthened by the occurrence of Triassic turbidites, mudstones, and limestones along the western
margin of the West Burma block, which are
deformed, metamorphosed, and overthrust by
ophiolites of the Mawgyi nappe. Although no
cherts are recorded amongst these turbidites they
occupy a similar position along the western margin
of the West Burma block to the Triassic Tuhur

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

15

Fig. 10 Comparison of the Permian Fusilinacean faunas of Central Tethys (Paleotethys), Myanmar, the West Sumatra block and South China. Data from
Fontaine and Gafoer (1989), Oo et al. (2002), Ross (1995) and Ueno et al. (2006). Note that in Myanmar the fauna of the Thitispin limestone Formation has
no fusulinid genera in common with the fauna in the Karmine area, while Parafusulina sp. and Rugoschwagerina sp. occur at Karmine and in the Situtup
Formation and the Muarasipongi areas in the West Sumatra block.

Formation on the western margin of the West


Sumatra block. In addition, the West Burma block
and the Mawgyi nappe, like the West Sumatra
block and the Woyla nappe in Sumatra, are
intruded by Late Cretaceous granitoids. Mitchell
(1993) interpreted these intrusions as due to the
reversal of subduction polarity after the emplacement of the nappe, as has also been suggested for
Sumatra (Wajzer et al. 1991; Barber 2000).
The western part of the IndoBurman Ranges
constitutes material accreted from the subduction
of the Indian Ocean Plate which can be traced into
the Andaman and Nicobar islands and southwards
into the outer arc islands and the current subduction system offshore western Sumatra (Acharyya
2007).
CONCLUSIONS
AGE OF COLLISION OF SIBUMASU WITH
INDOCHINA BLOCK

In a series of papers on radiolarian-bearing bedded


cherts and siliceous shales of Triassic age from the
northern Malay peninsula, southern and western
Thailand, Sashida and co-workers (Sashida et al.

1995, 2000a,b; Kamata et al. 2002; Ueno et al. 2006)


argued that the presence of Triassic cherts indicates that the collision of Sibumasu with the
Indochina Block, with the destruction of Paleotethys, occurred after the Middle Triassic. The
assumption in this interpretation is that the cherts
were deposited on Paleotethyan oceanic crust. As
has been pointed out here and elsewhere, in
Sumatra cherts were deposited in intracontinental
basins on continental crust of the Sibumasu and
West Sumatra blocks. In the SemanggolMutis,
Kualu, and Tuhur basins Middle to Late Triassic
cherts were deposited in extensional basins on a
basement of deformed Carboniferous to Permian
rocks, in the case of the Tuhur Basin, over 400 km
to the west of the SibumasuIndochina collisional
suture (Fig. 8). Radiolarian cherts in a continental
environment, resting on crystalline basement and
passing up into turbidite deposits in Southeast
Asia, have been described previously from the
Cretaceous of Sulawesi and Timor (Haile et al.
1979; Earle 1983; Wakita et al. 1994).
It can not therefore be taken for granted that
radiolarian cherts were deposited on oceanic crust.
It is not the presence of oceanic or continental
crust that controls the deposition of radiolarian
2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

16

A. J. Barber and M. J. Crow

cherts, but the environmental conditions in a sedimentary basin. Radiolaria are deposited on the
seafloor where other sedimentary material is not
available, in areas remote from a terrigenous
source, as in the major ocean basins, or where the
supply of clastic sediment is restricted by the
aridity or submergence of potential source areas,
and where the supply of carbonate material is
restricted by the carbonate compensation depth
(CCD) and its relationship to the depth of the basin
floor. The CCD can vary locally and over time, as it
depends on the chemistry and the temperature
of the seawater (cf. TriassicJurassic European
margins of Tethys: Bernouilli & Jenkyns 1974).
In many of the occurrences of Triassic radiolarian chert studied by Sashida and co-workers in
Thailand and Malaysia (e.g. Sashida et al. 1995,
2000a,b), older stratigraphic units of Carboniferous or Permian ages show evidence of internal
deformation by intense shearing or cleavage, while
the Triassic rocks may be folded or faulted, but are
rarely internally deformed. It is the age of the
internal deformation which indicates the age of
the collision between Sibumasu and Indochina;
less deformed Triassic cherts and clastics may
have been deposited on the top of the deformed
rocks subsequent to the collision. In northern
Thailand, Helmcke and co-workers (e.g. Helmcke
1984; Helmcke et al. 1985; Heggemann et al. 1994)
described deformed Carboniferous and Permian
rocks overlain unconformably by undeformed Triassic rocks which were deposited in extensional
half-graben (Drumm et al. 1993), and concluded
that the collision of the ShanThai (Sibumasu)
and Indochina blocks, with the destruction of
Paleotethys occurred in the Late Permian or
Early Triassic.
In many occurrences of radiolarian Triassic
chert studied by Sashida and colleagues (Sashida
et al. 1995; Kamata et al. 2002), the cherts are
associated, and sometimes closely interbedded,
with terrigenous siltstones or fine sandstones, and
carbonates. They interpret this association as indicating deposition on a continental margin, with the
cherts being deposited on the continental slope
leading down onto the deep ocean floor. The relationship between the cherts and the other lithologies could equally well be interpreted as the result
of fluctuations in the environment, by changes in
sealevel or climate, leading to increased erosion of
the land areas, the increased supply of terrigenous
sediment, and to changes in the level of the CCD in
basins developed on continental crust. These possibilities, together with evidence from the struc 2008 The Authors
Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

ture, should be taken into account in assessing the


tectonic significance of occurrences of radiolarian
chert.
Sashida et al. (2000a) also describe an occurrence of radiolarian cherts at Chang Dao in northern Thailand, where the cherts are interbedded
with red, chocolate, and black shales and green
claystones, interpreted as pelagic deposits. The
radiolarian fauna ranges across the Permo
Triassic boundary from the Dorashamian (Latest
Permian) to the Middle Triassic. This locality is
shown by Sashida et al. (2000a, fig. 1) as lying
within the continental ShanThai (Sibumasu)
block or within the Inthanon Zone of Ueno (1999),
but the sequence is inverted. These deposits were
clearly affected by a major tectonic event after the
Middle Triassic. Wonganan and Caridroit (2005)
described radiolarian cherts of Middle and Late
Devonian ages from the same area, occurring as
blocks in an olistostrome and with an overall
nappe-like structure. They proposed that these
rocks form an accretionary complex within a previously unrecognized suture zone between the
ShanThai and Indochina blocks. They went onto
to propose that the Middle Devonian cherts,
together with the Carboniferous, and Permian to
Middle Triassic cherts in the same area (Fang
Cherts) represent a wide paleo-ocean which
once separated the ShanThai (Sibumasu) and
Indochina continental blocks.
It may be that the collision of the Sibumasu and
Indochina blocks occurred later in northern
Thailand than in peninsular Malaya and Sumatra.
But clearly the problems of the age of collision of
the Sibumasu and Indochina blocks and the position of the major suture marking the destruction
of Paleotethys have not yet been satisfactorily
resolved and further study is required.
AGE OF EMPLACEMENT OF WEST SUMATRA BLOCK

There is also a dispute concerning the timing of


transcurrent movement along the Medial Sumatra
Tectonic Zone and the time of emplacement of the
West Sumatra block. Hutchison (1994) suggested
that the major phase of movement occurred in the
Cenozoic, and this view has recently been supported by Ueno et al. (2006). Ueno et al. (2006) had
their conclusion concerning the age of collision
of Sibumasu and Indochina based on the occurrence of Triassic cherts to argue that the West
Sumatra block could not have arrived at its
present position against Sibumasu in Triassic time,
but must have arrived later, after the Early Juras-

Tectonic assembly of Southeast Asia

sic. However, as has already been pointed out, in


the Triassic the tectonic and depositional environment of horsts and graben extended from East
Malaya, across the western Malay peninsula and
east Sumatra onto the West Sumatra block, suggesting that all these blocks had reached something like their present relationship at that time.
The continuity of the MiddleUpper Triassic
Kualu and Tuhur formations composed of undeformed Triassic sediments, with similar facies and
similar sequences, occur on the Sibumasu and
West Sumatra blocks on either side of the shear
zone, and occasionally within it (Cameron et al.
1978, appendix), indicating that the major movement along the MSTZ occurred before the Middle
Triassic (Fig. 6). But the occurrence of syntectonic
granitoids of Triassic to Jurassic age along the
MSTZ suggests that movement to some extent
continued throughout these periods. The MSTZ
was dissected and displaced by the present Sumatran Fault system during the late Cenozoic; the
central segment displaced dextrally by 50 km
along the LokopKutacane Fault, and the southern
segment displaced by 150 km along the main
strand of the Sumatran Fault near Sibolga (Fig. 5).
At the present day on digital elevation model
images the MSTZ forms a topographic lineament,
so it is probable that the shear zone has been
re-activated as a strikeslip fault during these
movements and may still be active.
AGES OF SEPARATION AND ACCRETION OF WOYLA
MICROCONTINENTS AND WEST BURMA BLOCK

In the formulation of a synthesis for the formation


of Southeast Asia by the separation of continental
blocks from Gondwana and their accretion to the
southwest margin of Asia, Metcalfe (1996, 2005)
suggested that the Sikuleh microcontinental terranes and the West Burma block separated in the
Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and were
accreted in the mid Cretaceous. The Woyla Arc
was certainly accreted to Southeast Asia as part of
the Woyla nappe in the mid Cretaceous (Barber
2000; Barber & Crow 2003), but if the volcanic arc
is identified correctly as an intraoceanic rather
than a continental Andean arc, it is not necessary
to look for an age of separation of microcontinents
from Gondwana. This conclusion requires further
confirmation.
Arguments have been put forward in this
account for identifying the West Burma block as
the northward extension of the Cathaysian West
Sumatra block, now separated by the development

17

of the oceanic crust of the Andaman Sea. The


implication is that it is unnecessary to consider the
separation and accretion of the West Burma block
as an independent continental block; it will have
shared the same tectonic history as Indochina and
the other components of Cathaysia. According to
Metcalfe (1996, 2005) Indochina separated from
Gondwana in the Late Devonian and was accreted
to South China in the Early Carboniferous. At this
stage both West Sumatra and West Burma would
have formed part of the Indochina block. According to the hypothesis proposed by Barber et al.
(2005), during the Triassic an elongated slice,
including West Sumatra and West Burma, became
detached from Cathaysia (Indochina) along a
major transcurrent fault and was translated along
the western margin of Southeast Asia to its
present position outboard of the Sibumasu
terrane. Further studies are required to confirm
or refute this hypothesis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors have benefited from discussions with
Andrew Mitchell (Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings
Ltd), K. Ueno (University of Fukuoka), K. Wakita
(Geological Survey of Japan) and M. Ridd during
the preparation of this paper. The comments and
suggestions of Guest Editor K. Hisada have stimulated a reassessment of some of our earlier conclusions and are much appreciated.
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