Abstract: Timing of Cenozoic Basin Formation in Northern Sundaland, Southeast Asia

K. K. Liew

The present shorelines of northern Sundaland show preferential northwest-southeast elongation. This trend is parallel or subparallel to major faults and suture in this region. Continental wrench/shear basins developed on the western portion of this region and back-arc basins in the rest of the region are also aligned to this trend. Different basin geometries and structural patterns among Cenozoic basins in northern Sundaland indicate different origins and/or timing of basin formation. Wrench faulting has played a significant role in the formation of these Cenozoic basins. The continued collision of the Indian subplate with the Eurasian plate during early Cenozoic has caused a redistribution of stress within this region. Zones of weakness have been reactivated or created with large lat ral displacements by these changes, thus initiating the subsidence of these basins. The episodic initiation of Cenozoic basins may have begun as early as Jurassic and continued till Oligocene.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90982©1994 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 21-24, 1994