Lect 2: Plate Tectonic Evolution of Singapore

Grahame Oliver

Acknowledgments: I wish to record my gratitude to the Singapore Ministry of Education who funded ACrf Tier 1 Grant R-264-000-275-133 to Professor Andrew Palmer

Aim: To reconstruct the plate tectonic evolution of the Singapore region You need to understand: Plate Tectonics Geological Deep Time Geological Maps Geochronology Stratigraphy Palaeontology Palaegeography

Plate tectonics: the unifying theory

Trench Mid-oceanic ridge Ocean Subduction Continental lithosphere Asthenoshere Convection cell Cold Upwelling Outer core Inner core Plates drift apart, plates collide Hot Mantle Oceanic lithosphere

The present is the key to the past Andean-type magma4c arc = ocean versus con4nent collision

Andesite lava and ash

d = 2.9

d = 2.75

Granite pluton feeds vol

d = 3.3

oceanic lithosphere
d = 3.3

oceanic
d = 3.3
100 km depth

m ge
d= 3.3

Andesite and granite have quartz, feldspar, hornblende and biotite (black mica)
http://www.platetectonics.com/book/page_12.asp

Andean-type of orogeny

India collides with Asia

Himalayan-type Orogeny: continental collision Everest 8.85 km = mountain belt

Normal crust 35 km thick

Eurasia

Crust
Moho

Mantle
(Red-beds)

Melting in the lower part of collisionally thickened crust forms granite magma: granite magma is less dense than solid crust and rises and crystallises as granite plutons in the middle and upper crust: Himalayan granites have quartz, feldspar, muscovite
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=398700&section=4.6

Black biotite and hornblende Glassy quartz

Black biotite

White feldspar

Andean-type biotite granite

Silvery muscovite (white mica)

Himalayan-type muscovite granite

Digital elevation model shows linear belts of mountains and valleys

www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Digital elevation model

Central Western Eastern

www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

Geology Map of Peninsular Malaysia

Granite Hutchison and Tan (2008)

100 km

Geological Belts of Peninsular Malaysia

Bentong-Raub Suture Zone: Late Devonian to Mid Triassic deep marine seds + ocean floor Late Triassic red-beds Granite

Based on fossil ages

Cambrian through to Late Triassic deep marine sediments

Carboniferous sediments, Permian shallow marine seds and volcanics

100 km

Permian to Mid Triassic shallow marine seds & volcs. Late Triassic red-beds. Late Jurassic-Cretaceous redbeds

B-R Suture Zone

Hutchison and Tan (2008)

Granite Belts of Peninsular Malaysia

Suture

Hutchison and Tan (2008)

100 km

Centr al Gra nites

HIMALAYAN - TYPE (collision)

Western Belt Granites (muscovite)

ANDEAN -TYPE (subduction) Eastern Belt Granites (hornblende & biotite)

with h

? ? Granite

bl + b

io

U-Pb Radiometric Age Dating Method

During the cooling of magma, radioac4ve parent atoms are separated from previously formed daughter atoms and incorporated into the crystal structure of the newly crystallised mineral. From that moment, new daughter element starts forming.
Zircon

Separate a U-rich zircon ZrSiO4 crystal from the rock U Pb

Half the 238U has changed to 206Pb Lead builds up over time Half-life of 238U = 4.4683109 yr At the time of crystallisation the ~ the age of the earth zircon crystal has uranium but no lead atoms

(U) (Pb)

Interpre4ng zircon cathode luminescence images:

Cut and polished zircons Growth rings of zircon grown in the magma

Laser spots are 30 microns diameter

Analysed by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS)

Khin Zhaw Univ Hobart

Granite Belts of Peninsular Malaysia

get younger from E to W, change from Andean- to Himalayan-types
Suture EARLY PERMIAN TO EARLY TRIASSIC ANDEAN TYPE (270 250 mill yr) Eastern Belt Granites (hornblende & biotite)

Centr

100 km

al Gra

LATE TRIASSIC HIMALAYAN TYPE (220 200 million yrs)

Western Belt Granites (muscovite)

nites with h bl + b io

? ?

Granite

EARLY MIDDLE TRIASSIC ANDEAN-TYPE 250 230 million yrs)

The Geological Column Singapore and adjacent Malaysia

Continental red-beds Deep marine CB BRSZ WB Based on fossil ages

? Shallow marine EB + volc s

Granites WB BRSZ CB EB

Andean-type Himalayantype

Based on radiometric ages What happened in the Late Triassic?

Geology of Johor and Singapore

Tait et al. (2008) 25 km

JOHOR BATHOLITH
Central Belt Eastern Belt

Granite Diorite Gabbro Carboniferous

Upper Triassic

Mid Triassic Oliver (2011)

Geology Map of Singapore

Let s go to Little Guilin, ete.... Punggol Point Pulau Tekong P. Ubin s v s Dairy Farm Quarry

Murai Slate

Little Guilin

KEY Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) + Sajahat Fm sediments (s) Granite Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009) Gabbro

Kent Ridge Sentosa North . St John s Is 10 km scale

Little Guili

Granite dyke Gombak Gabbro

Fault

Gombak Gabbro 260 +/- 2 Ma

White feldspar Dark green pyroxene

1 cm

Dior

Gabbro inclusion

e Granit

ite

Granite veins

Gomback gabbro cut by diorite, cut by granite

b Gab ro

Little Guilin Park: dark grey 260+/-2 Ma Gombak Gabbro intruded by 250+/-2 Ma dyke of white Bukit Timah Granite; therefore the granite is younger

Bukit Timah Granite: Dairy Farm Quarry

White feldspar Glassy quartz Larger black hornblende Smaller black biotite i.e. Andean-type Granite

Massive, equigranular granite

Gombak Gabbro 260+/-2, 254+/2, 249+/2, 246+/-2 Ma Little Guilin Granite dyke 250+/-2 Ma

Mandai Quarry Granite 237 +/- 1 Ma

P. Ubin Ketam Quarry Granite 230+/-6 Ma

Punggol Pt

P. Ubin Jetty Diorite 95+/-1 Ma

Pulau Tekong

s
Dairy Farm Granite 244+/-2Ma

Murai Slate

Pengerang Volcanics 238+/-2Ma

KEY
Jurong Fm detrital zircons 209+/-2 Ma to 2.7Ba

North .

RESULTS OF AGE DATING 10 km scale

Holocene Alluvium and land-fill Plio-Pleistocene Old Alluvium Upper Triassic Jurong Fm s

v Middle Triassic andesitic volcanics and sediments Middle Triassic granite

Permian gabbro Devonian to Murai Slate (?)Carboniferous?

Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009)

U-Pb zircon age dates (Oliver et al. 2011, unpub)

Punggol Point
Boulders were quarried from Pengerang in nearby Johor

Geology of Johor and Singapore

Tait et al. (2008) 25 km

Pengarang Quarries

Punggol

P. Tekong volcanics Oliver (2011)

Flow banded rhyolite lava

Zircon, U/Pb age of Pengerang Volcanics 10 km to the W in Jahor = 238+/-5 Ma (Oliver et al. 2012)

<10 cm

Brick-sized andesite bombs and ash explosively erupted from an Andean-type volcano not far away

Clast size Pengerang: 10 cm = <1 km from source

P. Tekong Andesitic volcanic ash

Murapi Volcano 2011 = Eastern Singapore, 238 million years ago

Biggest bombs fall nearest the crater

Volcanoes Singapore Granites

Middle Triassic andesite volcanoes Pengerang Volcano 238+/-2 Ma Oliver et al un pub

Eastern Belt, Andean biotite + hornblende granites Mandai Granite 237 +/22 Ma (Oliver et al unpub)

25 km

Geology: Tait et al. (2008)

P. Ubin Granite 230+/-6Ma (Oliver et al 2011)

Chain of Andean-type volcanoes in E and Cental Belts, none in the Western Belt
Hutchison and Tan (2008)

Age Jurassic Triassic Permian Volcanics (mainly andesitic ash)

100 km

Granite plutons

The present is the key to the past: Eastern Belt of Malaya = Andean-type Magma4c Arc above a Subduc4on Zone

Pengerang andesite lava and ash Pengarang volcano

Cold + wet

crust

Singapore granite

Singapore granites

m gen
Andean-type Orogeny
Learn this
http://www.platetectonics.com/book/page_12.asp

Granite Belt of Western Peninsular Malaysia?

Upper Triassic 220-200 Ma Western Belt muscovite-bearing Himalayan-type Granites. Western continent collided with Central/ Eastern continent along the B-R Suture
100 km

BentongRuab Suture

Western

Central - Eastern Belt Andean-type granites ? ?

Singapore

Malayan Westerrn Belt has Himalayan-type granites. Therefore = continental collision, formed a mountain belt Everest 8.85 km
India and Asia collided during the Himalayan Orogeny Eastern and Western Belts have collided in Malaya during the Indosinian Orogeny

Normal crust 35 km thick Western Belt Eastern Belt

Indosinian Orogeny is an Himalayan-type Orogeny

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=398700&section=4.6

The Geological Column Singapore and adjacent Malaysia

Continental red-beds Indosinian Orogeny Deep marine CB BRSZ WB Shallow marine EB + volc s

Granites WB BRSZ CB EB

Andean-type Himalayantype

Summary Geology of Peninsular Malaysia

Suture

100 km

Western Belt Central Belt Eastern Belt ?

Petronas (1999)

Siam/Burma/Malaya/Sumatra = SIBUMASU

Mesozoic Plate Tectonic Reconstruc4ons

(Palaeogeography) After Metcalfe 1996

290 Ma

210 Ma
Same fauna

Exotic fauna

SP KL

SP Suture KL

Palaeomagnetics 3,500 km apart

Glacial marine Aussi fauna

NC = North China SC = South China EM = Eastern Malaya

WB = West Borneo S = Sibumasu incl Western Malaysia WC = Western Cimmerian Con4nent

Cartoons to illustrate the plate tectonic evolution of the Singapore region

a) Permian 290 250 Ma
Western Belt
No tin
crust

Central Belt 3,500 km wide

Eastern Belt Magmatic arc + tin mineralisation Andean-type 264 Ma(3) margin crust Sibu 285-276 Ma(1) Mantle melts

Glacials

Sibumasu

Palaeo

Tethys Lithosphere Asthenosphere

Vertical scale = 25 km Horiz scale = 100 km

Sibumasu = Siam Burma Malaya Sumatra Sibumasu (without any tin mineralisation) is drifting towards the Andean-type margin of Eastern Malaysia like an ice berg drifts across the sea. A shallow dipping subduction zone consumes the Palaeo Tethys Ocean and forms the tin-bearing magmatic arc in the east of the Eastern Belt Siam/Burma/Malaya/Sumatra = SIBUMASU

b) Lower to Middle Triassic 260 230 Ma

Pengerang Volcano 235 Ma(1) Passive margin Andean-type tin-granites Singapore gabbro + granites 260-230 Ma(1)

Subduction zone steepens as slab rolls back and magmatic arc moves westwards to produce tin-mineralisation and magmatism in the Singapore area. Deep sea sediments are scraped off the down going slab to form an accretionary prism

c) Upper Triassic 230 -200 Ma: Indosinian Orogeny

Granite mountains

Himalayan-type tin-granites Neo- Tethys 219-198 Ma(3) W. Belt

Jurong Fm Central Belt Eastern Belt

Tin-bearing lower crustal melts? Indosinian Orogeny

Singapore

The subduction zone steepens further and magmatism occurs in the Central Belt. The Palaeo Tethys Ocean is finally consumed and the Western Belt has collided with the Central Belt forming the Bentong-Raub suture zone (BRS). Tin-bearing granite terrane in the lower crust of the Central Belt is melted and forms tin-bearing Himalayan- type granite mountains in the upper crust of the Western Belt. This is the Indosinian Orogeny. The Jurong Formation is deposited in Singapore as the mountains are eroded.

Let s go to Pulau Tekong

Diorite Granite 95+/-2Ma 230+/-6Ma s

Andesite 238+/-4Ma s v

Gabbro 260+/-2 Ma

Granite 244+/2Ma

Pulau Tekong

KEY Jurong Formation youngest = 209+/-2 Ma North . Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and sediments (s = Sajahat) Granite Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009) Gabbro

10 km scale

Sajahat Formation from Pulau Tekong: Unknown age. No fossils, no age dating: Either Lower Palaeozoic Or same age as Pengerang Volcanics (Lee & Zhou 2009)

Thick beds of sandstone: Tanjong Batu Koyok

Sheared mudstone, Tanjong Renggam

Contact metamorphosed Sajahat sandstone

X 45 magnification

Spotted hornfels, Tanjong Renggam

Sajahat Formation from Pulau Tekong: contact metamorphosed quartzite: i.e. sandstone baked by the heat of intrusive granite. Lee & Zhou (2009) argue that Sajahat Fm may be interfingered with the andesitic volcanics on P. Tekong. The volcanics have been radiometrically U-Pb zircon dated at 238 +/- 4 Ma. i.e. Middle Triassic by Oliver et al (2012)

Half time
5 minutes

Let s look at the Jurong Formation

Jurong Mt Faber Rimau Pt Sentosa North . Mt Guthrie Jurong Formation: conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, limestone

10 km scale

Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009) Fossil localities

Marine fossils in the Jurong Formation (Lee & Zhou, 2009)

Scallops

Plicatula cf carinata (Healy) Upper Triassic = 237.0 and 209.5 Ma Palaeonucula sp

Corals from the Pandan Limestone, Jurong Formation

Geological Map of the NW end of Sentosa (G. Oliver un-pub) Serang Rimau

.. . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . ... . . . . .. .. . . . . .
Possible fault
Dinosaur Footprints? Dinosaur Footprint? Gley sol (soil)horizon Key . .

Low water . . . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . Start of logged section

Jetty High water

Under Water World Car Park

Red and purple mudstone Yellow and white siltstone

..
North

..

..

..

End of logged section

..

..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yellow and white sandstone .. . . White pebbly sandstone . .

Scale = 100 m

and conglomerate Current direction after rotation to horizontal Younging direction (southwest)

All strata are sub-vertical and strike NW - SE

Red and purple mudstones, Sentosa.

Continental red-beds

Worm burrows, Sentosa Dinosaur foot prints? Sentosa

Lacustrine Queenstown Facies

in gravel

Claw marks of a dinosaur?

Fossilised (woody?) vegetation, pieces of conifer, cycad or tree fern? Now coal + goethite

Red, purple, and white mudstone and siltstone Lake deposits?

White siltstone above thin bedded sandstone River sands?

Channelised Sandstones River delta flowing into lake?

NE

Conglomerates and sandstones at Remau Point

SW

NE

SW

Y
2 m tape Pebbly sandstones in river channel young to SW

Channel bank

Gravel bar

Y Y
Sand channel

Where did the gravel and sand come from to make the Jurong Formation?

Gabbro pebbles form Little Guilin

Granite pebbles from Bukit Temah Pink K-feldspar sand grains White quartz pebbles and sand grains

Typical Rimau Facies conglomerate: extract detrital zircon sand grains for age dating

Summary so far

Continental Indosinian Orogeny red-beds Deep marine CB BRSZ WB Shallow marine EB + volc s

Granites WB BRSZ CB EB

Andean-type Himalayantype

Late Triassic geography of Singapore: forests, rivers, lakes and Indosinian mountains

KEY Pleistocene Old Alluvium Jurong Formation (white) with Queenstown Facies lake beds (blue) Middle Triassic Granite Mainly rivers flowing into the sea i.e. deltaic marine Permian Gabbro

Singapore palaegeography during the Upper Triassic/Lower Jurassic (~200 Ma)

North Indosinian Mountains Lake

Structural template Bukit Timah Fault

Bukit Timah Fault trends NW/SE

Murai Slate

Note distribution of lakes, swamps, rivers, fault scarps, alluvial fans. Shaded area is Lake Sentosa. Lake valley forms due to extensional tectonics.
(After Fraser et al.1995).

Singapore palaegeography during the Upper Triassic/Lower Jurassic

North Indosinian Mountains

Structural template Bukit Timah Fault

Bukit Timah Fault trends NW/SE

Murai Slate?

Rise in sea level, +/- subsidence rate > rate of deposition = syn-rift basin with marine, lake, river and alluvial facies: Extensional tectonics continue (After Fraser et al.1995).

Geology Map of Singapore (after Lee & Zhou 2009) with the contact of the Jurong Formation and the Singapore Granites drawn as the Bukit Temah Fault. Note folds in JF.

Murai Slate

s s

folds

Recent alluvium and land-fill

Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and sediments (s)

Granite

North .

St John s 10 km scale

Gabbro

Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009) and Oliver et al. (2011)

Murai

Schist is actually a slate

Murai Slate: regionally metamorphosed mud

Squeezed into sub-vertical flat layers (foliation = leaves) by tectonic forces and heated under pressure. Jurong Fm is not regionally metamorphosed. Gombak Gabbro is not regionally metamorphosed. Therefore the Murai Slate is older than 260 Ma and is the oldest rock in Singapore(?)

Age of radioac4ve sand grains: Histogram of U-Pb ages from the Jurong Forma4on
245 Ma Eastern Malaysian Climax of Andean-type Orogeny 245 Ma 217 Ma Western Malaysia (Himalayantype Collision), IndoSinian Orogeny Youngest grain = 209 Ma
Deposition of Jurong Fm at 200 Ma

N = 48

270 Ma start of subduction

350 Ma from Murai Slate?

Triass

Perm

Carb

Dev

Age in Ma

Oldest grain 2719 +/- 25 Ma, eroded from China or Australia?

P. Ubin Jetty Diorite 95+/-1 Ma

s v

Murai Slate

KEY Holocene Alluvium and land-fill Plio-Pleistocene Old Alluvium Upper Triassic Jurong Fm .

North

s
10 km scale

v Middle Triassic andesitic volcanics and sediments Middle Triassic granite Permian gabbro
Devonian to Carboniferous?

Geology after Lee and Zhou (2009)

Murai Slate

Pulau Ubin Jetty Diorite 95 +/- 1 Ma late Cretaceous

Sundaland = amalgamated SIBUMASU-Indo China-East Malaya

Petronas (1999)

Woyla Island Arc collides with Sumatra at ~95 Ma: Barber & Crow (2003)

Woyla Island Arc collision, causes NW/SE trending folding of Jurong Fm?
Petronas (1999)

Woyla

P. Ubin

Mid-Cretaceous (subduction zone?) granites. Collisional tectonics?

d) Lower Cretaceous 100-95 Ma

Woyla Island Arc

BR suture Western Belt Central Belt Eastern Belt Pulau Ubin 95 Ma(1)

The Woyla Island arc has formed off-shore of the Western Belt in the Neo-Tethys Ocean. The shallow dipping subduction zone has produced Andean-type magmatism in the Singapore area of Pulau Ubin.

e) Upper Cretaceous 80 Ma

Woyla Island Indian Arc collision Ocean Woyla Nappe

Sikuleh Sumatra

BRSZ

Folding in Singapore

Stong 76 Ma(2)

Pulau Tioman 80 Ma(1)

The Woyla Island Arc has collided with the western Belt in Sumatra. The shallow dipping subduction zone has produced Andean-type magmatism at Sikuleh, Stong and Pulau Tioman. The collision has caused folding of the Jurong Formation in the Singapore area.

NW/SE trending Lokos An4cline St John s Island

SW to NE compressional tectonics
Lokos Anticline, SE end of St Johns Island: sandstones and conglomerates of the Upper Triassic Jurong Formation have been folded by NE/SW compressive forces. The age of the folding may be related to the collision of the Woyla Isand Arc with western Sumatra in the Cretaceous: see below

f) Tertiary to Recent <65 Ma

Sumatra Volcanic Arc Central Sumatra Straits of Basin Malacca Singapore Fore arc Accr prism W. Belt
BRSZ

Malay Basin

Central Belt

E. Belt

Crustal stretching has formed petroleum-rich basins in Central Sumatra, Straits of Malacca and the Malay Basin. Magmatism has continued to occur in the Sumatra Volcanic Arc and sediments have accumulated in the fore arc and accretionary prism. Superficial river deposits (Old Alluvium) were formed during the Pleistocene glacial periods (~ 1Ma) when the sea levels were ~40m less than today. The Kalang Formation was deposited as sea level rose due to global warming and melting ice caps, starting 18,000 years ago and continuing to the present.

Glaciers melt, sea levels rise = Kallang Formation Ice Age, sea levels drop = Old Alluvium rivers and lakes P. Ubin Jetty Diorite Cretaceous subduction? Jurong Formation, lakes, rivers, deltas, shallow marine

KF OA Gap Sibumasu collides with East Malaya = Indosinian Orogeny Gombak Gabbro/Norite Singapore Granites & Pengarang Volcanics = Andean magmatic arc = Subduction zone

Gap GN, PV

Murai Slate? marine

MS

Oldest sand grain in the Jurong Formation = zircon = 2.7 Ba from China/Aussi?

The Geological Column for Singapore

(1) Murai Slate deposited as mud at ~350 Ma and regionally metamorphosed (2) Gabbro intruded into (350 Ma?) Murai Schist at 260 Ma (Middle Permian)

Gombak Gabbro ?

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(3) Granites intruded into Murai Slate, Gombak Gabbro and Sajahat Formation at 244 -230 Ma (Middle Triassic). Pengerang andesite volcanoe erupts on P. Tekong, Sajahat Formation sandstone and mudstone deposited during volcanism? Murai Slate Gombak Gabbro ? ? Bore hole s s s P. Tekong v

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(4) Jurong Formation deposited on top of Murai Schist, granite and gabbro in Late Triassic~200 Ma

s ? ss

P. Tekong v

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(5) Bukit Timah Fault active during deposition of Jurong Formation (~200 Ma) (6) Jurong Formation folded during Cretaceous?

P. Tekong v

Folds

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(7) Pulau Ubin Jetty Diorite intruded in the Late Cretaceous (95+/-1 Ma)

P. Tekong v

Folds

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(8) Old Alluvium deposited on top of Jurong Formation and Singapore Granites from 2.7 to 0.7 Ma (Pliocene-Pleistocene) when sea levels were lower during glacial periods

P. Tekong v

Recent alluvium and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

(9) Deposition of Kallang Formation on top of Old Alluvium, = recent alluvium filling estuaries and valleys as sea level rose during last deglaciation

Recent alluvium (Kallang Fm) and land-fill Old Alluvium Jurong Formation Andesitic volcanics (v) and Sajahat sediments (s) Granite Gabbro Murai Slate (MS)

Summary (1) The geological history of Singapore can be explained by the theory of Plate
Tectonics. During Permian to Middle Triassic, Singapore, was part of the Eastern Belt of Malaya lying near the equator. It evolved on an Andean-type active margin, as the Palaeo Tethys Ocean was subducted. Gabbro and tin-bearing granite plutons were intruded as part of the Johor Batholith. Large volcanoes erupted lava and ash (P. Tekong). When Western Malaya collided with Eastern Malaya in the Late Triassic, the Bentong-Ruab suture formed from deep water sediments and Palaeo Tethys oceanic materials. Himalayan-type collisional tin-granites were formed in the doubly thickened lower crust and intruded into the middle and upper crust of the overthrusted Western Belt of Sibumasu. This collision (the Indosinian Orogeny) formed an uplifted mountain belt which immediately began to be eroded.

Summary (2)
In the Late Triassic a fresh water lake (Lake Sentosa)

and associated river sediments were deposited in the Jurong Formation: granite detritus was eroded from the Indosinian Mountains from both the east and west. As the basin subsided, marine sandstone, shale and limestone were interbedded with the lake and river deposits. There is now a ~100 Ma gap in the geological record. No sediments survive. In the Middle Cretaceous, the Woyla Island arc formed off-shore of the Western Belt in the Neo-Tethys Ocean. A shallow dipping subduction zone produced more Andean-type magmatism in the Singapore area of Pulau Ubin. The Jurong Fm was folded.

There is another gap of ~95 Ma in the geological record until the superficial Old Alluvium and Kallang Formations were deposited in the Pleistocene glacial (low sea level) and Recent (rising sea level) times (see lecture Week 11)

Conclusions
Singapore s greatest natural asset is its location as a deep water seaport near the centre of SE Asia on the cross roads between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. If it was not for plate tectonics, Singapore would not be where it is today and what it is today. (Discuss!)

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