Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the mid- to upper Palaeozoic succession in Northwest Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The stratigraphy of the Devonian to Permian succession in Northwest Peninsular Malaysia is revised. The Timah Tasoh Formation consists of black mudstone containing graptolites and tentaculitids indicating a Pragian or earliest Emsian age. The Sanai Limestone overlies the Timah Tasoh Formation at Sanai Hill B and contains conodonts indicating a Late Devonian (Frasnian to possibly early Famennian) age. In other places, Late Tournaisian chert of the Telaga Jatoh Formation overlies the Timah Tasoh Formation. The overlying Kubang Pasu Formation is predominantly composed of mudstone and sandstone, and can be divided into 3 subunits, from oldest to youngest: (1) Chepor Member; (2) Undifferentiated Kubang Pasu Formation; (3) Uppermost Kubang Pasu Formation. The ammonoid Praedaraelites tuntungensis sp. nov. is reported and described from the Chepor Member of Bukit Tuntung, Pauh. The genus indicates a Late Viséan age for part of the subunit. Dropstones and diamictites from the Chepor Member indicate a glacial marine depositional environment. The Carbo-Permian, undifferentiated Kubang Pasu Formation consists of similar interbedded mudstone and sandstone. The uppermost Kubang Pasu Formation of Kungurian age consists of coarsening upward cycles of clastics, representing a shallow marine, wave- and storm-influenced shoreline. The Permian Chuping Limestone also represents shallow marine, wave- and storm-influenced deposits. A Mid-Palaeozoic Unconformity separating Early–Late Devonian rocks from overlying Late Devonian–Carboniferous deposits probably marks initiation of rifting on Sibumasu, which eventually led to the separation of Sibumasu from Australian Gondwana during the late Sakmarian (Early Permian).