GeologyOfSingapore Ocr

: , ~ j
GEOLOGY OF THE
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
~ I
Published Bl'
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, SINGAPORE
December 1976
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Frontispiece: A syncline in rocks o/ the Jurong Formation at Jurong ( GR 317458 ) showing il1lerbeds o'-thl:'
fossili/erous and tuffaceous Aver Cha wan Facies and the red- brown sandstone of the Tellgall
Facies. The fold is aSVllllllet rical about a sub-horizontal axis trending at lI Do The int er- lilllb
angle is about 80" and the axial plane o/ the/old dips at aboUl 65') 10 the west -south- west. Beds ot
both facies are deeplv leached at the upper surface so that they can no longer be difTerenlialed 0 11
colour.
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FOREWORD
The Geological Unit of the Public Works Department was formed in 1972. The main objectives for its
establishment are:
(i) To prepare and update continuously the geological maps of the Republic of Singapore;
(ii) To assess the engineering and geotechnical characteristics of the rock formations ;
(i ii ) To study the sources of construction materials and other natural resources; and
(iv) To provide expert and consultative advice on geological matters.
This book attempts to fulfil some aspects of these objectives.
Over the past years, geological data has become increasingl y important in engineering planning and
constr uction . There is a vital need for a revised and comprehensive geological reference of Singapore to
supplement the publication of F.E.S. Alexander made in 1950. This book with its nine geologic maps a nd
one locality map seeks to fulfil thi s need . It should become a useful companion to all professions connected
wi th the earth sciences.
[ wish to congratulate every one who has made the publication of this book possible. I am confident
that this book will be considered as a major cont ri bution to the world of earth science in this region and to
the civi l engineering and allied professions .
YAP NENG CHEW
Director of Public Works
December 1976
v
PREFACE
This book aims to provide a comprehensive account of the geology of the Republic of Singapore for
the various disciplines that are involved with the ground, namely, civil engineering, land utilization, urban
planning, agriculture, etc. For the civil engineers the nature, distribution and relationship of the various
rocks and deposits described in the book will furnish geological information for preliminary planning and
design of foundations, roads, water supply, drainage and sewerage works and others. Those concerned with
land planning and uses will find the information helpful in delineating potential areas for granite quarrying,
sand washing, agriculture, brick and pottery works, etc. Besideothese practical objectives, the book aims to
become the Republic of Singapore's contribution to the earth sciences in the South-east Asia Region as well
as to acquaint the public, teachers and students with the geological constitution and evolution of Singapore
over the past 500 million years.
This book comes in two parts. The first part features the text which relates in detail the geology of the
Republic. The summary of the text is contained in the first chapter. Some relevant aspects of the country' s
geography and a review of previous geological investigations since 1924 are described in the following
chapter. The third chapter presents, in chronological order, the definition, distribution, character, field
relation, and age and correlation of each of the nine rock units, namely, Sajahat Formation, the Gombak
Norite, the Palaeozoic Volcanics, the Bukit Timah Granite, Jurong Formation and its facies, the Old
Alluvium, Huat Choe Formation, Tekong Formation and Kallang Formation and its members. Many of
these units are introduced for the first time. Petrographic descriptions form an integral part of the
presentation in this chapter. The next chapter is concerned with fold and fault structures that had affected
the older rock formations. The geologic evolution is discussed in the final chapter. The text's appendices
include a list of references; analyses of rocks and water from hot-springs and a list of fossils and their
locations .
The second part of the book is represented by 8 coloured geological maps at a scale of I : 25,000: 1
sheet of cross-sections which reveal the subsurface distribution of geologic deposits along six lines of
traverse across various areas of the Republic of Singapore and a locality map at a scale of I : 75,000. The
geological maps can be assembled into a convenient wall map.
This book is prepared with the assistance of Uni ted Nations and the Government of New Zealand.
Special gratitude is due to the following persons: Dr Peter Morris who worked from March 197"2 to March
1973; Dr Hans Bader from March 1974 to February 1975 and from October 1975 to November 1975, both
United Nations Office of Technical Co-Operation Experts and Mr Graham Mansergh, Colombo Plan
Expert from the Geological Survey of New Zealand from August 1974 to November 1975. Gratitude is also
due to Dr W.A. Watters, Dr I.G. Speden and Dr B.W. Collins who are staff members of the Geologi cal
Survey of New Zealand.
The assistance of other Government Departments and Statutory Bodies, namely, Mapping Unit of the
Ministry of Defence, Marine Police Department , Jurong Town Corporation, Public Utilities Board.
Housing and Development Board and Port of Singapore Authority is also acknowledged.
Thanks are also due to the Department of Geology of the University of Malaya, for making relevant
theses available .
The following staff of the Geological Unit of the Public Works Department have participated in no
small measure in the preparation of this book: Lee Kim Woon (September, 1972 - Present), Loy Wei
Choo (August, 1975 - Present), Pun Vun Tat (November, 1973 - May, 1975). The untiring support given
by the other staff members is greatly appreciated.
DR TAN SWAN BENG
Senior Executive Engineer
November 1976
Vil
CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD . . . .. .. ..... .. . . . .. ........................... v
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII
SUMMARy .
2 INTRODUCTION .
LOCATION .
PHySIOGRAPHy .
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS .
PRESENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS .
3 STRATIGRAPHy .
OUTLINE OF STRATIGRAPHy .
SAJAHAT FORMATION (S) .
Definition and Distribution .
Content. .
Field Rel ations .
Age and Co rrelation .
GOM BA K NORITE (GN) .
Content. .
Field Relations .
Age and Cor rel ation .
PALAEOZOIC VOLCANICS (PV) .
Content. .
Field Relation s .
Age and Cor relation .
BU KIT TIMAH GRANITE .
Definition .
CE TRAL SI GAPORE GRANITE ( Bt , BTh, BThy, BTb) .
Distribution .
Content. .
Granite .
Adamellite .
Granodiorit e and Diorite .
FieI'd Rel ations .
INCLUSIONS IN THE CENTRAL SINGAPORE GRANITE .
Composition .
DYKE ROC KS ASSOCIATED WITH T HE CENTRAL
SINGAPORE GRANITE .
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5
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CONTENTS - continued
Classification and Di stribution .
Compositi on .
Dy k es a/acid a/finitI' ( Da. Dp, Dg. Dt ) .
D l' k es a/basic allinity ( Db. Dd. Dsp ) .
Field Rel at ions .
PULA U UBI N GRANITE (BT, 8Th, BTb, BThy) .
Di st ributi on .
Content. .
Granite .
Adalll ellit e .
Hybrid rock s .
Field Relations .
INCLUSIONS IN THE PULAU UBIN GRANITE .
Definition and Di stribution .
Compositi on .
Inclusions a/ r ocks containing pFroxene .
Inclusion.l' 0/ rock s \\JilhoUl p l' roxene .
Field Relati ons .
DYKE ROCKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PULAU UBIN
GRANITE .
Di st ribut ion .
Composition .
Dikes 0/ acid a/finill ' ( Da ) .
Dv kes 01 Basic a/finill{ Db ) .
Field Rel ati ons .
Age and Correlati on .
MINERALIZATION .
JU RONG FORMATION .
Introduct ion .
QUEENSTOWN FACIES (Jq) .
Definiti on and Distribution .
Co ntent. .
Field Relati ons .
JONG FACIES (Jj ) .
Definiti on and Di stribution .
Content. .
Field Relati ons .
AYER CHAWAN FACIES (Jac) .
Definiti on and Di stribution .
Content. .
Field Relati ons .
RIMAU FACIES (Jr) .
Content. .
Field Relations .
ST. JOHN FACIES (Jsj) .
Defini tion and Distribution .
Page
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Content. .
Field Rel a ti ons .
TENGAH FACIES (Jt) .
Definiti on a nd Di stribution .
Co nten t. .
Field Rel a tions .
MU RAl SCHIST .
Content. .
Field Relations .
VOLCANIC ROCKS WITHINTHEJU RONG FORMATION .
Introduction .
Spilite .
Composition .
Tuff .
Definition and Di stribution .
Co mposi ti o n .
Chert .
Doleri te .
Definiti o n and Distributi o n .
Co mpositi on .
Field Rela ti ons .
Age and Correlati o n .
OLD ALL UVIUM (OA) .
Definiti o n and Di stribution .
Content. .
Field Rel ations .
Age and Correl a tion .
HUAT CHOE FORMATION (HC) .
Definiti on and Distribution .
Content. .
Age .
TEKONG FORMATION (T) .
Definition a nd Di stribution .
Co nt ent. .
Age a nd Correla tion .
KALLANG FORMATION .
MARINE MEMBER (Km) .
Defi'nition a nd Distribution .
Content. .
Field Relations .
Age and Correlation .
ALLUVIAL MEMBER (Ka) .
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Content. .
Field Relations .
LITTORAL MEMBER (KI) .
Content. .
Field Relations .
TRANSITIONAL MEMBER (Kt) .
Content. .
Field Relations .
Age .
REEF MEMBER (Kr) .
Content. , .
Field Relations .
Age . .
4 STRUCTURE .
PRE-MESOZOIC STRUCTURE .
MESOZOIC STRUCTURE .
Folding .
Faulting , .
CENOZOIC STRUCTU RE .
5 GEOLOGICAL HISTORY .
REFERENCES .
Appendix I
ANAL YSES OF ROCKS
Appendix 2
ANALYSES OF HOT SPRING WATER
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Appendix 3
PLATEOFFOSSILS. ,.. .. ... .. ...... ..... ....... . . .. .. ... .. 74
LISTS OF FOSSILS JU RONG FORMATI ON . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . .. . 75
Accompanied by geological maps, cross section sheet and locality
map .
Sheet I Geology, AMA K ENG I : 25,000
2 Geology, NEE SOON 1 : 25, 000
3 Geology, CHANGI I : 25.000
4 Geology. PULAU TEKONG I : 25,000
5 Geology, JU RONG 1 : 25,000
6 Geology, CITY 1 : 25,000
7 Geology, SIGLAP I : 25 ,000
8 Geology, SOUTHERN ISLANDS I : 25,000
9 GEOLOGICAL CROSS SECTIONS AND MAP LEGEND
I : 25 ,000
10 LOCALITY MAP 1 : 75,000
-
Fig.2. 1
Fig. 2.2
Fig. 2.3
Fig.3.1
Fig.3.2
Fig. 3.3
Fig. 3.5
Fig. 3.6
Fig.3.7
Fig. 3.8
Fig. 3.9
Fig.3.10
Fig.3.11
Fig.3.12
Fig.3.13
Fig. 3.IA
LIST OF FIGURES
Map of the main island of Singapore showing the
boundaries of the seven physiographic units. Pulau
Brani and Sentosa are included in area 4.
Pulau Ubin is not classified.
Geological map of Singapore after Scrivenor (1924).
Geological map of Singapore after Alexander (1950).
Poorly sorted quartz sandstone from Pulau Sajahat.
45X Crossed Nicols
Recrystallized quartzite of the Sajahat Formation
from the Public Utilities Board Test Hole No. I
at Bedok.
120X Crossed Nicols
Well bedded and sheared argillite from Sajahat
Formation exposed at Tanjong Renggam, Pulau
Tekong Besar.
Spotted argillite from Tanjong Renggam, Pulau
Tekong Besar.
45X Plain Polarized Light
Alteration of pyroxene to coarse and fibrous
amphibole in noritic gabbro from Swee Construction
Quarry.
120X Crossed Nicols
Granite intruding norite and containing xenoliths
of norite, Peng Seng Quarry.
Large plates of hornblende with augite cores in
hornblende gabbro from G R 404504, Central
Singapore.
45X Crossed Nicols
Zoning in andesine. Sericite after a zone within
the plagicolase in porphyritic microgranite,
Singapore Granite Quarry (Mandai).
45X Crossed Nicols
Rounded, well assimilated basic inclusions in
adamellite, Public Works Department Quarry (Mandai).
Weathered basic dyke in granite soil, Admiralty
Road (G R 450611), North Central Singapore.
Phenocrysts of rounded quartz and sericitized
acid plagioclase in granite porphyry, Hindhede
Quarry.
45X Crossed Nicols
Radiating structure of slender feldspar and
quartz in granophyre, Yun Onn Quarry.
120X Crossed Nicols
Subparallel alignment of acid plagioclase laths in
trachyte, Swee Construction Quarry (Bukit Batok).
45X Crossed Nicols
Altered calcic plagioclase, smaller augite
crystals, and occasional quartz in altered
dolerite from Swee Construction Quarry (Bukit
Batok). The habit of augite is in marked contrast
with that of the younger dolerite cutting the
J urang Formation at Pulau Senang. (See Fig. 3 AI,
Pg. 53 a)
Page
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LIST OF FIGURES - continued
Page
Fig.3.15
Crystals of a ugi te, slim laths of biotite, and
23
patches of calcite in spessartite, Public Works
.,
Depa rtment Quarry (Mandai).
45X Pl ain Polarized Light
Fig.3. 16
Dolerite cutting 25 m wide microgranite dyke in
23
norite, Chai Oh Ka ng Quarry. The yellowish-brown
coloration is a stain on the acid dyke and the
norite.
Fig.3.17
Outcrop of granite at Changi . Pegmatite veins
25
,.
l ~
(not visible in photograph) are fo und in this
outcrop. (G R 653540)
Fig.3 . 18
Large plates of hornblende contai ning pyroxene
25
"'7J
in hybrid granodiorite from Lian Moh Quarry,
,\
Pulau Ubin.
45X Pl ai n Polarized Light
Fig.3 . 19
Dense clusters of biotite, hornblende, and opaque
27
~
grains of magnetite in granodiorite, Changi.
Fig. 3.20
Dyke-like inclusions in the Housi ng Development
27
Board Quarry, Pulau Ubi n.
Fig.3 .2 1
Clusters of hornblende and biotite associated wi th
28
accessory allani te in biotite-hornblende granite
from Kampong Mamam, Pulau Ubin.
45X Crossed Nicols
Fig. 3.22
Numerous stubby prisms of pyroxene grains and
28
dense cluster of brown biotite in hypersthene
hornfel s, Ka mpong Jelut ong, Pulau Ubin.
45X Plain Polarized Ligh t
Fig. 3.23
Garnet, tattered biotite nakes, and hornblende in garnet-
30
biotite hornfels at Gim Huat Quarry. Pulau Ubin.
Fig. 3.24
Rect angular-shaped inclusions in granite at the
30
Housi ng Development Board Quarry, Pulau Ubin .
Fig. 3.25
Expos ure of the Queenstown Facies showing the
33
massive character of purpli sh red mudstone,
Jal an Bukit Merah, South Cent ral Singapore.
Fig. 3.26
Photomicrograph of a fine red sa nd stone in the
33
Queenstown Facies showing very angular quartz
detrital grains in a limonit ic clayey matrix,
Kay Siang Road , (G R 467434). South Central
Singapore.
Fig. 3.27
Diagrammatic representation, not drawn to scale,
35
of facies relations in the J urong Formation.
Fig. 3.28
A 2 m thick conglomerate bed containing clasts
36
of sandstone, siltstone, quart z porphyry and
schist , Mount Faber.
Fig. 3.29
Conglomerate of the Jong Facies containing
36
sandstone, siltstone, grey mudstone, and quartz
porphyry clasts at Pulau Jong.
Fig. 3.30
Heavy quartz veining in fine sandstone of the
38
Jong Facies, Pulau Senang.
Fig.3.31
A pale grey bed of mudstone exposed at ]uron'g
38
(G R 327462) showing features indicating reworking
by biota.
XIV
Fig. 3.32
Fig. 3.33
Fig. 3.34
Fig. 3.35
Fig. 3.36
Fig. 3.37
Fig. 3.38
Fig. 3.39
Fig. 3.40
Fig. 3.41
Fig. 3.42
Fig. 3.43
Fig. 3.44
Fig. 3.45
Fig. 3.46
Fig. 3.47
Fig. 3.48
Fig. 3.49
Fig. 4. 1
Fig. 4.2
Fig. 4.3
LIST OF FIGURES - continued
Fossil collection localities of Lim (1975) (Ll - LlI)
and Chin Fatt (1965)(CFI - CF8)from the Jurong Area.
Locations (A) to (E) refer to Li m's detailed section.
Photomicrograph of a sandstone of the Rimau
Facies from Kent Ridge showing close packed
subangular quartz grains.
Outcrop of the St. John's Facies showing pale
grey muddy sandstone and mudstone with intra-
formational breccia, St. John's Island.
Schistose sandstone from the Murai Schist.
A large boulder of spilite at Jurong Pier Road .
Grey spilitic body associated with coarse
sandstone and chert on Pulau Salu.
Angular inclusions in a spilite boulder near
Selat Pulau Damar. (G R 352448)
Large crystals of quartz, orthocl ase and acid
plagioclase in rhyolitic crystal tuff, Pulau
Pergam, North-west Singapore.
45X Crossed Nicols
Relict dolerite boulders lying along the strike
of a dyke cutting the Jong Facies, Pulau Senang.
Augite crystals, partly interstitial between
calcic plagioclase, and partl y enclosing some of
the plagioclase, in dolerite, Pulau Senang.
45X Crossed Nicols
Summary logs PUB Test Holes
Old Alluvium showing cross bedded angular sand
with layers of pebbles exposed near sand pit of
Nam Kee Sand Quarry in Tampines Area. (GR 617511).
Clastic dyke in Old Alluvium at Bedok Sand Pit
(G R 592475).
Shallow dipping beds of clay and sandy clay in
the Huat Choe Formation, near Nanyang University
(GR 331494).
Terrace of the Tekong Formation on Pulau Tekong
Kechil. It has a mean heigh t of 4 m above mean
sea-level. Viewed from Pul au Sajahat Besar.
Horizontal layers of peat , muddy sand and mud of
the Alluvial Member exposed in excavation near
Ewart Circus, Bukit Timah . (G R 423486)
Hard, iron-cemented beach rock of the Littoral
Member exposed at low tide on the south-west
coast of Pulau Tekukor.
A dark brown pebble beach of the Littoral Member
at 2 m lying on mudstone and siltstone on Pulau
long.
Intraformational breccia of black mudstone in
sandstone (GR 378499), Central Singaore.
An anticlinal fold seen on Tanj ong Lokos,
St. John's Island.
Oblique shear developed in the Queenstown Facies
exposed in an excavation off Pepys Road.
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1 SUMMARY
A new geological map of Singapore at a scale of I : 25,000 is presented. During the survey for this map
hitherto unknown Pa laeozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks were discovered , and evidence was found for
the large-scale rafting of older rock in the Triassic granite. Considerable structural detail was recorded
from the sedimentary Triassic rocks and lithological mapping allowed for a more detailed subdivision of
these rocks, including the recognition of the Murai Schist as the product of dynamic metamorphism.
Evidence was found showing that the Plio-Pleistocene alluvial deposits were laid down in a tectonic
depression of that age, and that their thickness in Singapore is not purely a function of Pleistocene sea-level
Ouctuations. A small Pleistocene lacustrine deposit of clay suitable for pottery was discovered also, and six
subdivisions in the Holocene sediment were recognised based on the lithology and environmental setting of
the deposi ts .
Three formations have been assigned a Palaeozoic age. The Sajahat Formation is a sedimentary
deposit of quartz sandstone and argillite which is intruded by both basic and acid dykes, and in places
shows evidence of contact metamorphism. It is given a lower Palaeozoic age in this report but it could be
upper Palaeozoic, or even lower Triassic, should the isotopic age of the granite from Pulau Sekudu prove to
be yo unger than Triassic.
The Gombak Norite is separated from the Palaeozoic units geographically, and the time relations
cannot be determined on field evidence. Its age is given o n the assumption that it represents a part of the
ophiolite suite of the lower Palaeozoic geosyncline, but it could also be interpreted as representing the
'basic differentiate' of the Triassic granite association .
The Palaeozoic Volcanics comprise andesitic ash and tuff which are metamorphosed. They are
mapped as overlyi ng the Saj ahat Formation, and a re t hought to be upper Pal aeozoic on correlation with
similar rocks in Malaya. It is possible that the Sajahat Formation and Palaeozoic Volcanics are of the same
age and that they represent two members of the same unit.
The Bukit Timah Granite is assigned to the lower- mid Triassic by isotope dating. There is considerable
hybridization within the formation and there is much evidence of assimilation. Mixing of rock from the
Gombak Norite and the Bukit Timah Granite is evident , and massive rafts or inclusions of basic rocks , and
smaller inclusions of rocks of sedimentary origin can be found within the granite. Two phases of dyke
intrusion are recognised . A phase of acid dyke emplacement took place during the final stages of granite
emplacement, and a second more basic phase foll owed shortly after, but before the deposition of the
overlying Triassic sedimentary rocks .
The upper Triassic Jurong Formation overlies the granite although the contact is never seen. Six
sedi ment a ry facies are recognised within the formati on based on grain size, composition and hardness . The
Mura i Schist, previ o usly thought to represent the oldest rock in the formation , is found to be a product of
dynamic metamorphi sm within the Jurong Formation and to have formed during the deposition of the
formation. Volcanics, as tuff, spilitic lava and dyke rocks are recognised within , and are contemporaneous
with the Jurong Formation.
There is no direct evidence of an y further geological activity until the late Tertiary or early Pleistocene.
At that time a downwarp occurred and the resulting trough was backfilled with a coarse sand-gravel unit
referred to as the Old Alluvium. The base of the unit is below any reasonable base level for erosi on
associated with the Pleist ocene low sea-levels, but the top of the unit is probably associat ed with a high sea-
level stan d of at least 70 m*.
A lacustrine deposit, the Huat Choe Formation, was laid down, possibly at the same time, as a kaolin-
rich clay. It is suggested that the clay was laid down in a fault-angle depression possibly also of earl y
Pleistocene age.
From late Pleistocene through the Holocene, alluvial, littoral and inshore marine sediments have been
laid down . These have been assigned to the Tekong Formation, a coastal terrace deposit associated with a 6
m sea-level, and the Kallang Formation. Five members have been mapped within the Kallang Formation,
the members being differentiated on differences in their present day depositional environment and on
sediment content.
Unless otherwise stated heights are given relati ve to present day sea-level. Positive values refer to height s above present day sea-
level . and negative values to those below present day sea-l evel.
The structures in the Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks indicate a longer, more complex tectonic history
than that affecting the other rocks, but there is insufficient data to establish the full history. The intrusion
and uplift of the granite presumably started in the late Palaeozoic, but there is no strong evidence of the
event until Triassic time. The Triassic sediment was lai d down in a mobile north-west trending trough
bounded on either side by rising granitic hills. The lithology of the coarser clasts in the sediment suggests
that the bulk of the granite was still buried at that time. The rate of uplift of the granite to the south-west ,
the Main Range Granite, appears to have been more rapid, and the trough was tilted to the north-east, and
sliding of the sediment in that direction took place folding it against the uplifted Bukit Timah Granite. The
dynamic metamorphism giving rise to the Murai Schist accompanied this sliding. There is no evidence that
sedimentation persisted after lower Jurassic time, and from the evidence in Malaya, it is assumed that the
Malay Peninsula was raised above the sea from that time.
Tectonic activity in the late Tertiary or early Pleistocene with block faulting and
warping. Depressions were formed into which Old Alluvium and Huat Choe Formations were deposited.
Later in the Pleistocene, after the cessation of warping, river valleys were cut in the Old Alluvium and older
rocks to be backfilled during the last interstadial and Holocene rises in sea-level.
2
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2 INTRODUCTION
LOCATION
The Republic of Singapore, consisting of one larger and several smaller islands, lies at the southern
end of the Malay Peninsula is a roughly diamond shaped area between latitude 1 09' Nand 1 28' Nand
longitude 103 38' E and 104
0
06' E. It is surrounded from north-east to north-west by West Malaysia being
separated from it by the Selat Johor , a stretch of water varying from 0.7 km to 2.5 km in width. To the
south, at a distance of some 12 km to 15 km from the main island of Singapore is the Riau Archipelago of
Indonesia.
Apart from the main island of Singapore, offshore islands lie in four groups, to the north-east, south,
south-west and west. The north-east group includes Pulau Ubin and Tekong, and the smaller associated
islands. The southern group includes Sentosa, Pulau Brani, Tekukor, Subar Darat and Laut and the St.
John ' s Island group. The western group are those surrounding Pulau Ayer Chawan and the south-west
group those between Pulau Bukum and Pulau Satumu.
PHYSIOGRAPHY
Singapore is of moderately low relief. The main isl and covers an area of 540 sq km and the offshore
islands a further 44 sq km. The climate is hot and humid with an annual rainfall ranging from 1,600 mm in
the south-west to 2,500 mm in the central regions. Under these conditions, the rocks are deeply weathered
and the drainage has developed to a stage that the rivers are of low gradient with a mature profile. The
drainage patterns are either consequent or structurally controlled.
Seven discrete physiographic areas can be recognised on the main island of Singapore as a result of five
types defined on the maturity of the landform developed and relief. Fig. 2.1 shows the distribution of these
areas.
Area 1, to the north and west of Nanyang University, and including the pronounced Pasir Laba Ridge
is an area of moderate relief with hills rising to a maximum of 85 m. The hills are aligned accor9ing to the
geological structure, and the slopes are steep but soil covered. Drainage is also a function of the geological
st ructure .
Area 2, to the east and south of area I, is of low relief with rolling hills rising to about 28 m. The area is
crossed by a line of hills trending north-west, and up to 70 m high . Drainage is partly consequent and partly
controlled by structure.
Area 3 is the flat low-l ying Jurong River Valley with virtually no relief and a consequent drainage
pattern modified by man.
Area 4 is the largest area defined for Singapore. It is an area of high relief. Bukit Timah, the highest hill
in Singapore rising to 166 m, lies within this area. Slopes are generally steep and drainage is controlled by
the faults and joints in the granite to give a boxwork drainage pattern, and by folds , cross joints and faults
in the Triassic sedimentary rock in the south. A belt of relatively low relief cuts across the southern end of
this a rea in a north-west direction along the line of the Singapore River and Sungei Ulu Pandan.
Area 5 lies in the central north area and shows simi lar characters to those of area 2. Most of the area
lies below the 20 m contour, but hills rise to 32 m at Punggol and 33 m at Seletar North. Drainage is
consequent and to the north-east.
Area 6 is the low-lying Kallang River Basin area and shows similar characteristics to area 3.
Area 7 lies to the east and south-west of Singapore International Airport. It can be described as a
deeply dissected plateau. The relief is high and slopes steep, and a well developed dendritic drainage pattern
consequent on the old surface has developed . The highest point is found just east of the airport and is 46 m
high .
A more detailed analysis of the physiography of Singapore has been made by Wong (1969) . He
recognised nine discrete morphological units, including ri ver valley floors , based on height, slope, relief and
whether hills or ridges dominate. He mapped some 54 areas, excluding the river valley floors, under the
rema ining eight headings, and for a fuller descriptio n of these areas, the reader is referred to his work.
3
Fig. 2. 1 Map of the Main Island of Singapore showing the boundaries of the seven physiographic units.
Pulau Brani and Sentosa are included in area 4. Pulau Ubin is not classified.
l
..,.
.:t:-.t;.:.tr
''''1
>....
-"""I
SHEET B
SH EET I
SHEET 5
-(
SHEET 2
6
... .
SHEET :3
PULAU UBIN
, I
Km 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Km
SH EET 7
.. , .. - ..
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS
The most comprehensive papers on the general geology of the Republic of Singapore are those of J.B.
Scrivenor (1924) and F.E.S. Alexander (1950). Other contributions have been made by Leow (1962),
Burton (1964), and Hutchison (1964), and theses have been prepared by Ignatius Wong (1960), Chin Fatt
(1965), Tai Say Ann (1972), SeetChin Peng (1974) and Lim Meng Sze Wu (1974) on areas within the
Republic. These latter works are of a detailed nature and concentrate on specific aspects of the geology.
J .B. Scrivenor (1924) also prepared bibliographies of the geology pertaining to Singapore and D.J. Gobbett
(1968) to that pertaining to West Malaysia and Singapore.
Scrivenor (1924) mapped three rock units in Singapore - granite, shale and sandstone, and High
Level Alluvium (Fig. 2.2). According to him the granite lies east of a north-west diagonal crossing the
island as a central granite mass, and appears again on Pulau Ubin and at Changi . The shale and sandstone
unit lies to the west. The High Level Alluvium is fo und to the east of the central granite separating it from
the granite at Changi. Other igneous rocks, including quartz-norite, quartz-norite-gabbro, fine grained
rocks and enstatite-spessartite, were reported from Pulau Ubin .
Molluscs and plant remai ns, both as leaf impressions and fossil wood, were found by Scrivenor in the
sedimentary rocks at different localities in Singapore and were described by Newton (1923) . These fossils
are poorly preserved and Newton suggested, with some reservation, a Rhaetic age for them!Scrivenor
believed that the high inclination of the sedimentary beds near the contact with granite in many places was
an indication that the sedimentary rocks were older tha n the granite,\ He suggested that the sedimentary
rocks were shallow-water deposits and that some were probably estuarine.
Alexander (1950) recognised the same three units plus a Recent Alluvium (Fig. 2.3). She divided the
Triassic sedimentary rocks into three series, two of which she described as an Old Schist which was highl y
contorted and an Argillaceous Series consisting mainly of black or grey shale, and unconformably
overlying the older schists. Some fine and coarse sandstone and volcanic ash beds were reported as
associated with this series. The third group, the Arenaceous Series, was made up of sandstone,
conglomerate and some shale and associated silty beds and, occasionally, thin seams of coal.
Alexander divided the igneous rocks into two groups, the Central Singapore Igenous Rocks and the
Changi -Pulau Ubin Igneous Rocks. The Central Singapore Igneous Rocks consist dominantl y of granite,
with less abundant norite and diorite, whereas the Changi-Pulau Ubin Igneous Rocks are main ly
hornblende-soda gran ite and fine-grained soda granophyre. She postulated two magmas for the Central
Singapore granite, an earlier gabbroic and a later granitic one, and she described a zone of hybrid rocks
between the two intrusions.
The High Level Alluvium described by Scrivenor (1924) was renamed by Alexander as Older
Alluvium. The name change resulted from observations that the High Level Alluvium occurred with its
base lying below present sea-level, and because it was older than the recent a lluvial deposits. She also
recorded her observations on raised beaches and discussed briefly the effects of sea-level fluctuations on
these deposi ts.
Wong (1960) mapped the south-western regi on of Singapore. He reported three distinct conglomerate
- sa ndstone - shale sets of beds each beginning with a basal conglomerate. Leow (1962), as a resul t of
heavy mineral st udi es of the sedimentary rocks, could not accept the division of Argillaceous and
Arenaceous Series postul ated by Alexander (1950). He believed that there were several periods of
deposition during the Triassic, each giving rise to a distinct set of beds beginning with a basal
conglomerate. Later, Chin ( 1965) and Lim (1974) divided the Triassic sedimentary sequence into the Pasi r
Panjang and Jurong. Formations. Lithologically, the Pasir Panjang and Jurong Formations are similar to
the Arenaceous and Argillaceous Series postulated by Alexander in 1950.
Well defined fold axes in the Triassic sedimentary rocks, which strike approximately north-west , were
recognised by Wong (1960). Leow (1962) concluded that the Triassic rocks contain a series of folds forming
part of a major fold syste m which plunged toward the north-west. He postulated a regional movement
fo ll owed by tilting as the reason for such a fold system. "Parasitic" folds due to incompetency between the
strata, and many isoclinal folds, postulated as resulting from igneous intrusion in the area, were observed
by Chin and Lim. Both of them collected species of Myophoria. Pecten and Pt eria. which suggested an
Upper Triassic age for the sedimentary rocks. A detailed stratigraphic column for the Jurong and Pasir
Panjang Formations was given by Lim in his thesi s ( 1974).
Hutchison (1964) believed that the marginal occurrence of a gabbroic body to the granodiorite
batholith in Singapore was related to the Thai-Malay Orogeny and that the gabbroic rocks are pre-
orogenic. Based on field relations as well as the chemical and petrological characters of the gabbro and
granodiorite in this area, Hutchison concluded that the granodiorite intruded the gabbro in the form of
5
6
ROCKS
...++ GRANITE+ALLIED ROCKS
"" HORNBLENDE GRANITE
--- HIGH LEVEL ALLUVIUM
v v v RECENT ALLUVIUIo4
t
o L mil, 5

Fig. 2.2 Simplified Geological map of Singapore after Scrivenor (1924).
!
SEDIIo4ENTARY ROCKS
++ I GNEOU S ROCKS
::.-::.-- OLDER ALLUVIUIo4
RECENT SEDIIo4ENTS
N
t
Fig. 2.3 Simplified Geological map of Singapore after Alexander (1950).
1>....
x-
I
.n
irregular dykes, and, by thermal metamorphism and hybridization, produced a variety of hornblende-rich
rocks along the contact. Granodiorite dykes intruding the gabbro are crowded with gabbro xenoliths which
show different stages of assimilation. Tai (1972) reported medium-grained biotite-hornblende bearing
adamellite intruded by lamprophyre and apl ite dykes . He also observed some steeply dipping
metasedimentary rocks of quartz-mica-feldspar schist and quartzite intruded by granitic dykes on the
eastern portion of Singapore. His full paper was not available at the time of writing and the location of
these features is not known.
Seet (1974) carried out detailed mineralogical , petrographic and chemical studies on the igneous rocks
of Pulau Ubin and deduced a complex geological history for the igneous rocks on the island. He thought
that the granite and granodiorite were emplaced at a high level as indicated by the low triclinicities of the
alkali feldspars. He observed high AI
2
OJ but a low total alkali percentage in the granite compared with the
microgranodiorite. Based on chemical variation of the rocks, he concluded that the granite and
granodiorite were not comagmatic, and were probably derived by anatexis of sialic crustal material and not
by fractional crystallization or differentiation. No correlation of this Pulau Ubin granite with those at
Changi or other parts of Singapore was attempted in his thesis.
Burton (1964) in his report on the Older Alluvium of lahar and Singapore agreed with the
observations of Scrivenor (1924) and particularly Alexander (1950) . He noted a distinct deficiency of
manganese in soil developed on the Old Alluvium, and that the weathered members of the alluvium were
characterized by the development of ferricrete within the staining zone, and tabular layers of pebbles at
depths varying from several cm to 3 m. From the distribution, extension and other evidence observed,
Burton concluded that the Older Alluvium was related to a 75 m sea level of pre-glacial of First Interglacial
(Gunz-Mindel or Aftonian) age, but the formation may have dated back to the late Pliocene.
Tai (1972) reported a definite marine fossil foun d in the Old Alluvium at a locality near the eastern end
of the island.
Three unpublished geological reports were prepared by the Geological Unit of the Public Works
Department, Republic of Singapore (1973 A, 1973 B, 1974). These reports presented detailed geological
maps of Jurong-Tuas, Jurong-Pandan and the Pasir Panjang-Tanglin areas. An appendix of field
photographs and geological maps at scales of I : 25,000 and I : 2,500 were included in each of these reports .
The Jurong-Tuas area was found to consist only of rocks of sedimentary origin. Three units were
recognised . Two of them were described as an older a nd thicker sequence of black shale, grey mudstone
and grey tuff agglomerate, and a thinner and younger sequence of sandstone, conglomerate and siltstone.
The younger sequence was thought to lie disconformably on the older sediment. The third unit was made
up of unconsolidated Holocene sediment. The lurong-Pandan and Pasir Panjang-Tanglin areas, which lie
east and adjacent to the Jurong-Tuas area, were reported to be underlain by sedimentary rock, with some
granite lying in the north-east or northern sector of the areas. Four sedimentary units were recognised and
mapped in these two areas . The oldest unit was a purple to red shale or mudstone, siltstone and fine to
coarse grained sandstone. Overlying this was a unit containing black shale, mudstone, conglomerate and
tuff. On top of this uni t Ia-y a un it made up of conglo merate, sandstone, siltstone with minor red mudstone,
and tuff. T he youngest unit is again an unconsolidated Holocene sediment. The lithological change from
Jurong-Tuas to Jurong-Pandan and Pasir Panjang-Tanglin areas was interpreted as a facies change.
The reports showed that most folds found in these three areas were open and asymmetrical , with their
axes trending north-west. The dips of the beds in the Jurong-Pandan and Pasir Panjang-Tanglin areas were
found to be steep. Major and minor faults in the Jurong-Tuas area strike mainly north-east and north-west.
In the Jurong-Pandan area north-west faults were more common than the north-east trending faults. Small
faults were reported from the Pasir Panjang-Tanglin area.
PRESENT GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Mapping at a scale of I : 10,000 commenced in September 1974 following the initial mapping project
carried out in western Singapore at a scale of I : 2,500 and was completed by May 1975 for the whole of
Singapore except the souht-west islands and an east-west strip some 4 km wide running from Tuas to the
central city area.' These areas had been mapped previously by the Geological Unit at a scale of I : 2,500.
Photogeological studies were used to add detail to this I : 10,000 mapping project. The aerial
photographs available are at an approximate scale of I : 15,000 and are the same as those used to compile
the base map onto which the geology has been plotted. Drilling was carried out to assist in the
interpretation in problematical areas, and use was made of the mass of drillhole data available in Public
Works Department, and drillhole data made available by other government departments. Drillholes put
down for stratigraphic purposes are located on the map sheets.
7
3 STRATIGRAPHY
OUTLINE OF STRATIGRAPHY
In this book, nine separate formations are recognised in Singapore. Three of these - the Sajahat
Formation, a marine sedimentary unit found in the eastern part of Singapore, the Palaeozoic Volcanics,
both of which are partially metamorphosed, and the Gombak Norite date from Palaeozoic times, but the
relationship between them cannot be determined on field evidence. The Bukit Timah Granite was emplaced
next; it has intruded and altered the Gombak Norite and is thought to be responsible for the
metamorphism of the Sajahat Formation. A number of hybrid rocks are recognised within the Bukit Timah
Granite. Granite emplacement is believed to have taken place in early Triassic time. The dykes associated
with this granite can be divided into two groups, an older acid group assumed to be a cooling phase, and a
sli ghtly younger basic set, which can be seen cutting the acid dykes. Both sets of dykes can be found cutting
the Sajahat Formation, Gombak Norite and Bukit Timah Granite.
The Jurong Formation of late Triassic to early Jurassi c age has been deposited on top of the granite
and is divided into six facies, the Queenstown, Jong, Ayer Chawan, Rimau, St. Johns, and Tengah Facies.
The di vision is based on lithology, and rocks mapped in anyone facies do not necessarily form a
con ti nuous body, now or at the time of deposition . Deposition was either terrestrial , transitional or shallow
ma rine. Schist rel ated to fa ulting and volcanic rocks cross-cutting or interbedded with the Jurong
Formation are included wit hin it.
The Old Alluvium is a dominantl y terrestrial deposit of early Pleistocene age and lies unconformabl y
on, or in fault contact with, the older units. No subdivi sion has been made within this unit.
The Huat Choe Formation is a small lacustrine deposit, probably of early Plei stocene age and lies
unconfor mably on the Jurong Formation.
The Tekong Formation is a Holocene marine and littoral deposit fo und with its upper depositional
surface lying at elevations between 3.6 m and 5.5 m above present sea-level.
The Kallang Formation includes both marine and terrestr ial sediment lai d down from late Pleistocene
to the present day. As such its time span incorporates the period of deposition of the Tekong Formation.
Five members are recognised within the Kallang Format ion, and further work may allow the establ ishment
of some of these members as formations . The members mapped are the Marine Member, the Littoral
Member, the Transitional Member, the Alluvial Member and the Reef Member. The Marine and Alluvial
Members span from the late Pleistocene to the present day, the Littoral Member from 5000 BP to the
present day, and the other two are late Holocene deposits.
SAJAHAT FORMATION ( S)
Definition and Distribution
The Sajahat Formation is defined as those vari abl y metamorphosed sediment ary rocks comprising
quartzite, sandstone and argillite, a nd found on Pulau Saj ahat and Sajahat Kechil. Simil ar rocks are found
along the north coast of Pul au Tekong as far east as Tanjong Renggam. Quartzrich sandstone is exposed at
Tanj ong Batu Koyok on the south-west tip ofPulau Tekong, and on the western side of Tanjong Punggol,
and these rocks have also been mapped as part of the Sajahat Formation, but in general these later rocks
show less deformation and a lower degree of lithifi cation than those from the type locality.
A recrys tallized qua rtzite simil ar to the quartzite of Pulau Sajahat was found in Public Utilities Board
Test hole No. I beneath Old Alluvium at a depth of -149 m, and a similar rock is exposed in a single
outcrop near Tanglin (GR 466437). These rocks are also considered as part of the Sajahat Formation.
Content
The rocks are well lithified and vary from quartzite through quartz sandstone to argillite. Five thin
sections have been prepared from rocks assigned to the Sajahat Formation. Two are quartzites and one is a
quartz sandstone (Fig. 3.1), all from type locality, the fourth, also a quartzite is from a sample recovered
from Public Utilities Board Testhole No. I at Bedok, and the fifth is a spotted argillite from Tanjong
Rengga m.
8
-
Quartz makes up more than an estimated 97% in t he quartzites that have been sectioned, with biotite
and a n unidentified amphibole, possibl y tremolite, making up most of the rema inder. Feldspar, usuall y
represented only by a rat her clouded alteration product, is also present. The rock shows good sutured
cont acts between the grains in the purer quartz rock . In the quartz sandstone the grains are well rounded ,
but poorly sorted. The quartz grains show undulose extinction in each section. Grains up to 0.75 mm in
diameter were observed.
The texture of the rocks suggests that they are horn felsic, and this can be explained by their proximity
to gra nite and the presence of dykes cutting the formation.
The sample from the Publi c Utilities Board Testhole No. I at Bedok is more highl y altered than those
from Pul a u Sajahat, and shows signs of shear and granulation (Fig. 3.2) as well as thermal metamorphis m.
Such increase in rank is to be expected from its position close to the granite.
An argillite found at Tanjong Renggam is sheared and shows prominent spotting. In thin section the
rock again shows a distinct foliation, but the porphyroblasts are so strongly altered that their origin as
cordierite can only be speculated from its seconda ry minerals (Fig. 3.3 and 3.4).
The rocks are well bedded, thicknesses of beds ranging from 2 cm in the finer sediments to 4 m to 5 m
in the quartzite. The beds are folded and sheared, with boudinage developing.
A number of dykes were mapped intruding the formation, both on Pulau Sajahat and Sajahat Kechil ,
and-a long the northern coast of Pulau Tekong, but no dykes were seen in contact with the sediment on the
south side, or at Tanj o ng Punggol. In these latter areas the bedding is more uniform and the rock less well
lithified. The rock at Tanglin is well Iithified but agai n no dykes were seen.
Material recorded as tuff was seen in highl y weathered exposures on the north coast of Pulau Tek ong
Kechi! and north of Kampong Salabin , but no tuff was seen in fresh exposures .
Field Relations
The Saj ahat Formation is intruded by acid dykes and basic porphyritic dykes, somet imes carryi ng
inclusions of granite, in the t ype a rea, and is mapped as being in contact with the Palaeozoic Volcanics of
eastern Pul au Tekong. The con tact between the two fo rmati ons was not seen and the presence of the
Palaeozoic Volcanics is postul a ted on the identifi cation of hi ghl y weathered material at the eastern tip of
the island. The bounda ry between the Palaeozoic Volcan ics and Saj a ha t Formation is located by a ch ange
in topographic expression on Pul au Tekong. The area of Palaeozoic Volca ni cs shows a ro unded hill form
with the peaks usuall y below 21 m while the hill s mapped as formed of Sajaha t Formation are steeper and
have sharp ridges often ri sing to 30 m or more. .
It may be argued that the two formations interdigi tate and that the tuff, tentatively recognised in the
Sajaha t Formation, is actuall y an extension of the Palaeozoic Volcanics.
Age and Correlation
There is no direct evidence of the age of the Sajahat Formation. It is correlated in this book with
sedimentary and volca nic rocks described by Grubb (1968) from the Pengerang a rea at the southern ti p of
Malaya . Although they were not identified as such, the rocks of the Sajaha t Formation were mapped as
undifferentiated middl e and upper Triassic by Gobbett (1972) . Chung ( 1973) in the 7th Edition of the
Geological Map of West Malaysia excl uded Singapore but mapped the surrounding areas, those described
by Grubb (op cit) , as Permia n.
Grubb (1968) found no direct evidence for the age of the older rocks he mapped in the Pengerang area.
He mapped a belt of met asediment on the eastern si de of the peninsula as older than the volcanics. The
volca nics he mapped as correlatives of the ' Paha ng Volcanic Series' of Carboniferous to Triassic age.
Hutchison (1973 B), later restricted tbe age of the Pahang Volcanic Series to Carboniferous to Perma n.
In this report the Sajahat Formation is placed as older than the Jurong Forma tion because of its
higher degree of deformation, the presence of dykes within the formation which show petrographi c
si milarities to th<:; dykes intruding the Bukit Timah Granite, and the evidence of contact metamorph is m
which has probably resulted from the emplacement of the Bukit Timah Granite. The granite has been
isotopically dated as having been emplaced about 220 Ma ago.
The deformati on of the rock indicates that it must have been deposited at leas t before the tecton is m
preceding the empl acement of the granite and thus must predate the late Palaeozoic tectonic event.
Hutchison (1973 A), in a reconstruction o f the aro system of Malaya, pl ots a geosynclinal trough as
lying east of Bukit Timah in early Palaeozoi c time and states that the subduction zone on the western side
9
10
~ ~ ~
Fig. 3.1 Poorlv sOl'led qual'lz sandstone f ronl Pulau Sajahar.
45X Crossed Nicols
fig . 3. 2 Recrvstallized quartzite o/the Sajahat FOrJ/wtionfrolll the Public Utilities
Board Test Hole No. I at Bedok .
120X Crossed Nicols
-
-
-
-
Fig. 3.3 Well bedded and shearcd argillilc from Sajahal Formalion cxposed
al Tan/ong Renggam. Plllall Tekong Besar.
-
Fig . 3.4 Spoiled argillile / rolll Tanjong Rcnggalll. Pulau Tekong Besar.
45X Plain Polarized Lighl
I I
had migrated east to Kalimantan and the Anambas Islands by late Carboniferous time. If the deposition of
the Sajahat Formation was in this trough, its deposition must be restricted to the early Palaeozoic.
Deposition may have occurred however in the later miogeosynclinal trough lying between the upper
Palaeozoic Volcanics to the east and the granite intrusion postulated (Hutchison, op cit) as lying to the
west.
Alternatively, if the Sajahat Formation and the Palaeozoic Volcanics interdigitate, the formation is
then the time equivalent of the Paha.ng Volcanic Series.
The age of the Sajahat Formation is thus considered as probably early Palaeozoic but possibly
Carboniferous to Permian.
GOMBAK NORITE (GN)
The term norite is used here in a general sense to include the entire suite of noritic and gabbroic rocks .
An association of noritic and gabbroic rock is found on the western side of the Bukit Timah Granite,
and the unit is named from Bukit Gombak where it is well exposed in a number of quarries. Gabbro and
norite have also been reported from Pulau Ubin. Alexander (1950) reported the presence of a solitary
boulder of norite on the north coast of the island at a locality about one mile east of Tanjong Tajam. The
authors were unable to locate any norite boulders in the area. The presence of a deep red quartz-free clay
soil in the general vicinity suggests a basic parental material for the soil and thus it is suggested that a
number of basic rafts within the granite in this area have weathered to give this soil. Hutchison (1973 C)
menti oned gabbro and norite as occurring near the south coast of Pulau Ubin, but this occurrence was not
relocated .
The area of thegabbroic rocks on Singapore Island is small in comparison to that of the granite. It
occurs adjacent to the granite and forms an alignment of hills of which Bukit Panjang and Bukit Gombak
are the most prominent. The hills form a ridge which measures some 2.5 km in length and attains a
maximum width of 1.0 km. The hills support nine quarries and they are from the north, Bluestone Quarries
Pte Ltd , Lian Hup Quarry Company, Swee Construction & Company Pte Ltd, Yun ann Co Pte Ltd, Gim
Huat Pte Ltd , Chua Chai Seng Co Pte Ltd, Peng Seng Gra nite Quarries, Chia Oh Kang Pte Ltd and Poh
Hua Granite Quarry Company (Ma p Sheet 10).
Chemical analyses of a norite from Gim Huat Quarry, and a hornblende-gabbro from Yun ann
Quarry are given in appendix l.
Content
The noritic body is rat her variable in composition . Its overall composition can be described as ranging
from norite through noritic gabbro to gabbro , the latter being least abundant. Noritic gabbro was found in
all quarries. Norite occurs less frequently and has been sa mpled from the south and south-east faces of Yun
ann and Peng Seng Quarr ies respectively. Gabbro is largely confined to the Bluestone Quarry (Hutchison.
1964).
The noritic and gabbroic rocks are coarse-grained and plagioclase-rich with varying amounts of clino-
and ort hopy roxene minerals appearing as interstitial grains giving an intergranular texture. Ophitic texture,
when present , is feebly developed. Quartz has been identified in some samples of noritic gabbro and norite
obtained from Bluestone and Peng Seng Quarries. A few Oa kes of reddish-brown biotite, probabl y
secondary in origin, accompany the accessory quartz. Serpentinized crystals of olivine associated with
many opaque grains have been identified in noritic gabbro samples from the Yun ann Quarry.
The plagioclase is usually euhedral labradorite with diffuse twinning following the albite law. The
feldsp ar is normally fresh; any significant alteration is believed to be a localized feature as only patches of
the host rock in the Yun ann Quarry were seen showing an alteration of the plagioclase to clinozoisite,
epidote and calcite. Sericitization of the plagiclase appears to be appreciable near basic and acid dykes
only.
The pyroxene minerals are represented by hypersthene and augite. Unlike the irregular crystal outlines
of the augite, the hypersthene often occurs in euhedral elongated prisms, and it is characteristically finely
fibrous. In thin section the hypersthene shows a dark grey birefringent colour. Augite is the typical
clinopyroxene. It frequently shows finely spaced lamell ar structure that has been caused by the exsolution
of less calcic pyroxene. This feature is best observed in norite and noritic gabbro from Peng Seng, Poh Hua
and Chia Oh Ka ng Quarries. Unlike the plagioclase, the pyroxene minerals are always altered.
Serpentinization has affected many of the hypersthene minerals present in the norite and noritic gabbro of
12
--
quarries situated on the southern slopes of Bukit Gombak. Sericitization of the pyroxene minerals is
seldom observed but in Yun Onn Quarry this alteration is seen together with saussuritization of the
accompanying plagioclase. The most noticeable alteration of pyroxene is to amphibole, which forms
conspicuous rims on the pyroxene (Fig. 3.5). The amphibole may be coarse or fibrous, and is usually pale
brown to green. The coarse variety is generally hornblende and is characteristic of the noritic gabbro and
norite of Bluestone, Swee Construction, Yun Onn and Peng Seng Quarries. Fibrous actinolite is more often
associated with hypersthene and forms rims and veins on and through the hypersthene. Although pyroxene
replacement by amphibole is best observed in gabbroic rocks adjacent to the granite, such alteration ,
although less spectacular, is present in all the quarries. This characteristic enrichment of amphibole reflects
a slight retrogressive metamorphism of the gabbro caused by the intrusion of the granite (Hutchison, 1974).
Field Relations
The Gombak Norite lies on the western edge of the Bukit Timah Granite. Further north in lohor
similar gabbroic bodies lie as satellite bodies along the western margin or just within the northern
correlatives of the Bukit Timah Granite. The norite in Singapore has been penetrated by the Bukit Timah
Granite and its related dykes, and zones of mixed rock associated with blocks of gabbro and norite at
various stages of digestion can be seen in the granite (Fig. 3.6). The greatest mixing is seen in the quarries at
the southern end of Bukit Gombak . Acid dykes have been observed in all the quarries. A you nger set of
basic dykes, post dating the Bukit Timah Granite, also penetrates the Gombak Norite.
A zo ne of altered gabbro and norite characterized by hornblende gabbro has been delineated by
Hutchison (1964) . Such a rock is exposed behind some houses on the eastern side of Bukit Gombak (GR
404504). The rock looks deceptively like a coa rse-grained, ferro magnesian-rich granodiorite but it consists
dominantl y of labrador it e and coarse pale green hornblende. A few of the hornblende crystals pass through
to an almost colo urless fine-grained fibrous a mphibole. Minor chlorite and sericite are also present (Fig.
3.7) .
Age and Correlation
The age rela tion ship of the norite and the granite on Singapore Island has been di scussed by
Hutchi son ( 1964). The evidence avai lable suggests that the norite body predates the granite batholith. This
is suggested by the presence of many microgranite dykes cutting the no rite. These dykes often conta in
numerous basic xenoliths. Elsewhere, partially assimilated rocks of basic origin can be found in the granite
quarries. These represent true hybrid rocks a nd not intermediate varieties that have crystallized in-situ
(H utchison , 1964). Hutchison also points to the enrichment of hornblende in the norite which he stated was
ca used by its reaction with a silica rich fluid which invaded the basic body before the intrusion of the
granite magma. This event has caused the replacement of the pyroxene in the norite by hornblende without
al teri ng the texture.
Is o topic ages of the Bukit Timah Gr anite ra nge fro m 210 Ma to 230 Ma . The latter provides a
minimum age for the emplacement of the Gombak Nori te , and Hutchi son ( 1973 C) suggested tha t the
no rite Illay have represented part of the ophiolite suite of the lower Palaeozoic trench situated to the west of
a geosyclinal trough in which the Sajahat Formati on was deposited.
An a lternati ve hypothesis is that the Gombak Norite represents a part of the basic differentiate of the
magma givi ng ri se to the Bukit Timah Grani te and th us the age of the norite is associated with a Permian to
lower Triassic even t.
The Gombak Norite can be correlated with bodies of similar rock found along the western edge of the
granite in the Malay Peninsula. Burton (1973 A) mapped several such bodies in lohor and named them the
Linden Hill Gabbro, and Hutchison (1973 C) listed other occurrences on the Tembeling Ri ver and Rompin
River, Pahang, near Segamat in lohor, and on the Sungei Segamat and Sungei Simat in Negri Sembilan .
PALAEOZOIC VOLCANICS ( PV)
Only three exposures of the Palaeozoic Volcanics were seen, two on reefs to the north-eas t of Pulau
Tekong and one as a hi ghly weathered outcrop at the eastern end of Pulau Tekong (GR 762568) . In each
instance the exposure was small, and each showed a difference in general text ure, so no formal name or
type a rea is proposed for these rocks. The volcanics have been mapped as forming the reefs in the Selat
lohor a nd the eastern 2 km of Pul a u Tekong.
13
Fig. 3.5 Alteration 0/ pyroxene to
fihrous all/phihole in noritic
gahbro Irolll S\\' ee
Construction Quarry.
f20 X Crossed Nicols
Fig. 3.6 Grallire intruding l10rite alld
('onraining xenoliths of
norir e, Peng Scng Quarry.
Fig. 3.7 Large plates 0/ hornblende
\\ ' ith augite cores in
hornblende gabbro lrolll GR
404504. Central Singapore.
45X Crossed Nicols
14
Content
On the unnamed reef in Selat Johor (GR 745588) the Palaeozoic Volcanics occur as a massive volcanic
agglomerate crossed by well developed sets of verti cal joints striking at 12SO and due north . The rock
fragments embedded in the agglomerate are usually small, being less than 5 ern in diameter. On the second
reef, Malang Si Ajar (GR 766576), the volcanics are represented by a tuff. The deep weathering at the third
site on Pulau Tekong was such that the parent lithological texture could not be recognised.
One thin section only has been cut from the Palaeozoic Volcanics, and this is from the volcan ic
agglomerate. It shows a lithic tuff with andesitic fragments set in a ground-mass of irregular feldspar laths,
glass and opaque ore, much of which has limonitic rims. Diaspore is also present in high concentration s,
particularly in the lithic fragments.
Field Relations
The Palaeozoic Volcanics are not seen in contact with any other rock type in Singapore unless tuffs
recognised along the north-west coast of Pulau Tek ong are considered as part of the same formation. Th is
is discussed more fully under the Sajahat Formation . The boundary between the Palaeozoic Volcanics and
the Sajahat Formation is mapped on topographic grounds and is discussed in the section on the Sajahat
Formation .
Age and Correlation
There is no direct evidence for the age of the Palaeozo ic Volcanics in the area mapped . Grubb (1968)
mapped andesite and tuff on the eastern side of Sel at Joho r through to the east coast of Malaya where it IS
intruded by granite. He recognised two types of tuff which he termed 'ashy tuff and 'agglomeratic tuff and
also recognised a metamorphosed zone extending up the eastern side of Selat Johor in which pyrophyl lite
and diaspore occur as alteration products in the tuff. The Palaeozoic Volcanics are thus mapped as an
extension of Grubb' s 'Volcanic rocks' which he assigned to the Pahang Volcanic Series which are gin;n as
Carboniferous to Permian in age in the more restricted sense of Hutchison (1973 B).
If it is assumed that the granite intruding the andesite is the same as that collected from Bukit La nchu
and Bu kit Timah in Johor and Singapore respectivel y and dated as having been emplaced approximateh
220 Ma ago (Hutchison, 1973 C), the age of the andes ite and tuff can be restricted to the PermIJn -
Carboniferous. Grubb (0(1 eil) considered the tuff to be younger than the andesite but made no sugges ll<-,n
of any lime IIlterval between the two, so the age Permi an -Carboniferous cannot be refined further for thc'se
types fo und in eastern Singapore.
From Hutchison's (1973 A, Fig. 5) palaeo-tectoni c synthesis, the Pal aeozoic Volcanics would p r ~ l r
to represent the volcanic arc rocks to the south-west of the subduction zone in the Natuna Islands.
BUKIT TIMAH GRANITE
Definition
The term granite is used here In a general sense fo r the entire suite of acid rocks including grani te.
adamellite and granodiorite, and the acid and intermediate hybrids mainly of granodioritic and dior lt lc
composition, resulting from the assimilation of basic rock within the granite.
The Bukit Timah Granite for the purposes of discussion in the Report is divided informally into tIl 0
groups. The first group, the Central Singapore Granite, lies to the west of a line running from Siglap to
Punggol, and the second group, the Pulau Ubin Granite, lies to the east of it. The Pulau Ubin Granite
appears to be richer in ferromagnesian' minerals and may have reached a more advanced stage of
hybridization. Insufficient data has been collected to date to separate the two groups formally, and they are
not distinguished on the map sheets.
Chemical analyses of rocks of the Bukit Timah Gra nite, and inclusions and dykes within the grani te
are gi ven in Appeqdix I.
CENTRAL SINGAPORE GRANITE (BT, BTh, BThy, BTh)
Distribution
The Central Singapore Granite occupies an area in the centre of Singapore Island extending some 8
km in a northerly direction and 7 km in a westerly direction where it forms hills and valleys of both high
and low relief. Over most of the area the hills are less tha n 60 m high. Near its contact with the Gombak
15
Norite however , the granite forms steeper and more promi nent hills rising to a maximum height of 166 mat
Bukit Tima h Hill. Less extensive areas of the Central Singapore Granite occur in the vicinity of Braddell
Height s Estate, Kampong Woodleigh, a nd a ro und Seletar Airbase near Sungei Punggol.
The Central Singapore Granite is well represented by t he rocks exposed in the nine quarries located on
the slopes of prominent hills to the eas t of the Gombak Norite. The Seng Kee Granite Quarries Ltd, the
Housing Development Board Quarry, the Singapore Granite Quarry ( Mandai) and the Public Works
Department Qua rry ( Ma ndai ) are est ablished in the Mandai Hills. On Bukit Timah Hill , the Public Works
Depa rtment Rura l Depot Qua rry, the Singapore Granite Quarries Ltd ( Bukit Timah), Hindhede agd
Company a nd Sin Seng Granite Company a re foun d . T he Swee Construction Quarry is established on
Bukit Batok. Samples ta ken show that granite in its restricted sense is the most common rock found in all
these qua rries excepting Seng Kee, Housing Development Board, and the Swee Construction Quarries,
where gra nodi orite is predomin ant. Porphyritic micrograni te has been sampled from the Singapore Granite
Qua rry (Manda i), Publi c Works Depa rtment Rural Depot Quarry and the Sin Seng Quarry, Adamellite
has been located only in the Public Works Department Quarry (Mandai) .
Away from the qua rries, outcrops of the Central Singapore Granite a re rare, the presence of granite
being indicated by weathered residua l boulders on the undulating terrain , particularly north of Mandai
Road, a nd by cores of granitic rocks obtained from drill holes. Boulders of granodiorite are discovered
along Marsiling Road in Woodlands (GR 428591 ) and in recent excavation between Sungei Kranji and
Woodl a nds Road (GR 396571) . Boulders of hornblende-biotite granite have been found in a small
abandoned quarry off Mandai Road (GR 461568) and on to p of a cleared hill near Sembawang Circus (G R
48 1531 ). The small qua rry off Manda i Road is assu med to be the quarry described by Scrivenor (1924) as
yielding a gra nit e wi th abunda nt dark mica , with hornblende, which sometimes showed a core of pyroxene,
and feldspar, together with a fai r amount of quartz. Fine-grained and pink-spotted adamellite rock chips
have been recovered from a depth of 6 m from a shallow d rillhole beside Track 24 off Yio Chu Kang (G R
491540), an d about I km wes t of the contact with the Old Alluvium.
Hybrid rocks associa ted wi th the Central Singapore G ranite a re well exposed in the vicinity of the
gabb ro-granite contact. Near this con tact numerous xenolit hs va ryi ng in their stage of hybridizat ion can be
found in microgranite dykes. In Swee Constructi on Quar ry at Bukit Bat ok, hybrid inclusions of quartz
diorite occu r in granodio rite. These inclusions a re spotted with da rk minerals, a nd are finer gra ined tha n
the coarse grained granodiorite host rock .
Alexander (1950) recorded hybrid rock of diori tic composition on 8ukit Panja ng and 8ukit Gombak,
a nd on the site of the municipal flats at Monk' s Hill (GR 495450) . Monk's Hill was removed for
recl a ima ti on, but the other occurrences were confirmed during this sur vey.
Content
Granite, adamell it e, and granodiorite together with va ri ous hybrid rocks are found in the area . Their
boundaries have not been mapped because it is difficult to do so due to the limi ted extent of the outcrops
a nd to gradat ional va riations in the distribution of quartz, alkali-feldspar. sodic pl agiocl ase, and the
ferromagnesian minerals.
Granite
The granite is generally light grey and medium grained, with grain sizes measuring from 3 mm t o 5
mm. The main minerals can be easily by the naked eye. Qua rt z, which often accounts for 30%
of the minerals present, has a glassy grey appearance and a rough surface. It occurs interstitially to the
feldspar c rys ta ls a nd has interl ocki ng bo unda ri es with them. Feldspa r is the most abundant mineral in the
sample and often constitutes 60% to 65% of the rock. It is commonly cream in appearance with the more
weat hered ones being pa le t o brownish yell ow. The pink variety of orthoclase is present in granite of the
Publi c Works Department Quarry (Mandai) and in granite boulders nea r Sembawa ng Circus (GR 481531) .
Biotite and hornblende, which make up the remaining constituents, are easily recognised by their dark
brown co lour a nd by their cl eavage.
Microscopically the granite consists predominantly of quartz, varyi ng amo unts of alkali-feldspar, a nd
acid pl agioclase, with subordinate amount s of biotite and hornblende.
Qua rtz occurs mainly as anhedra l grains interst itial to the feldspar and the ferro magnesian minerals,
a nd less frequently as excellent lobate intergrowths in al kali feldspar. Such texture is well developed in
gra nite and po rphyriti c microgranite sa mpl es from the Hindhede a nd Sin Seng Quarries onl y.
The alkali feldspar is frequently a microperthitic orthoclase. It occurs as anhedral or, rarel y, as
subhedra l grai ns. The exsolution texture of the mineral is best seen in the less altered grains of the granite
16
r
r
from Hindhede and Sin Seng Quarries. In these same rocks the remaining orthoclase is extensively clouded
with very fine-grained opaque dust. In rocks obtained elsewhere the orthoclase is comparatively lightl y
affected.
The plagioclase is somewhat variable in composit ion , ranging from oligoclase to andesine, but is more
frequently oligoclase. Andesine is present in the porphyritic microgranite from the Singapore Granite
Quarry (Mandai) . In Seng Kee Quarry, the plagioclase is albitic in composition (Hutchison, 1964) . Crude
oscillatory zoning of the mineral has been observed in the porphyritic microgranite of Singapore Granite
Quarry (Mandai) and in the pink hornblende-biotite granite from Sembawang Circus (GR 481531). One of
the plagioclase phenocrysts present in the porphyritic microgranite from the former locality contains small
crystals of hornblende. A ring of sericite flakes has formed as a replacement after a zone within the feldspar
phenocryst (Fig. 3.8). It was possibly derived from basic rock during intrusion of the Bukit Timah Granite.
Deuteric alteration of the plagioclase to calcite is infrequent, but sericitization is evident in many of the
rocks. Such alteration of the plagioclase is most widespread in the granite of Hindhede and Sin Seng
Quarries. In the rocks from these quarries, the alteration has produced a very dense concentration of
sericite in the cores of the plagioclase.
The most common ferro magnesian mineral present is reddish-brown biotite with hornblende
occurring in sub-ordinate amounts. Much of the biotite is in part chloritized. The most severely altered
ferro magnesian minerals are to be found in the granite of Hindhede Quarry, and the granite and
porphyritic microgranite of Sin Seng Quarry. In these rocks the biotite has been replaced around the rims
and along the cleavage by a mass of unidentified brown cloudy material, sericite and chlorite. In addition
muscovi te may occur as pseudomorphs after biotite. The presence of secondary muscovite as
pseudomorphs of biotite, and the extensive alteration of microperthitic orthoclase, oligoclase, and biotite
found in the rocks from the Hindhede and Sin Seng Quarries may have been caused by an episode of
minera lisation that has been responsible for the emplacement of veins of quartz, molybdenite and pyrite.
and probable bornite. seen in these two quarries.
The usual accessory minerals in the granite are apati te and zircon. A few grains of epidote are fou nd
associated \\ith calcite in oligoclase in the porphyritic microgranite of Singapore Granite Quarry (Mandai) .
Epidote in biotite has also been identified in the granite near Sembawang Circus (G R 481531).
Ada/lle/fire
In the field adamellite is indistinguisable from grani te and thus cannot be mapped separately. It has
been recognised in thin-section and so warrants a separate description. It is distinguished from granite If
between one third and two thirds of its feldspar is alka li.
The adamellite from the Public Works Department Quarry (Mandai) is characterized by blobs of
quart z in crudely developed myrmekitic intergrowths. The rock chips of adamellite from a drillhole off Yio
Ch u Kang Road consist predominantly of quartz and sericitized oligoclase, with lesser amounts of clouded
alkali feldspar and green chloritized biotite. The latter is associated with some black opaque grains
Granodiorire and Diorit e
There are gradational changes from granodiorite to diorite. Rock with an alkali feldspar content of
less than one third of its total feldspar content is called a granodiorite.
It is believed that the granodiorite is a product o f hybridization of granite and basic rock . This
statement is supported by field evidence in many quarries where basic rock can be seen in different stages of
assimilation within the granite (Fig. 3.9).
In the granodiorite from Seng Kee and the Housing Development Board Quarries much of the bioti te
is in part chloritized. Similar rock from Marsiling Road consists of anhedral quartz, clouded microperthitic
orthoclase, sericitized plagioclase of oligoclase to andesine composition, some of which exhibit zoning. and
subordinate amounts of well developed brown biotite flakes which are often chloritized in part.
Granodiorite from the Kranji area (GR 396571) contains quartz and plagioclase of oligoclase to
andesine composition. The crystals are often crudel y anhedral in shape, and the feldspar has been slightly
sericitized. Orthoclase is present in subordinate amounts and appears interstitially. Green hornblende
dominates over partially chloritized brown biotite.
In hand specimen, the granodiorite from Marsiling Road and Kranji appears darker than that from
the Seng Kee and Housing Development Board Quarries, and is seen in thin-section to contain more
ferromagnesian minerals.
T he rock from Monk's Hill was described by Alexander (1950) as a diorite consisting of xenomorphic
quart z grains containing inclusions of oligoclase, biotite and amphibole, and minute needles which were
17
18
Fig . 3. 8 Zoning in andesine. S ericit e al ter a ::one within the plagioclase in
porph\"fitic /IIi crogranite. Singapore Granite Quarry ( Mandai ).
45 X Crossed S icols
Fig. 3.9 Rounded. well assi/llilated hasic inclusions In ada/llellite. Public Works
Depart/llent Quarry ( Mandai ).
......
T
thought to be apatite. She stated that the larger quar tz grains did not carry large inclusions, but that the se
grains were usually rimmed with indistinct bands of small feldspar, biotite and amphibole crystals.
The granodiorite rock In Swee Construction Quarry, Bukit Batok, consists of sericitized andesine,
ljuart z, subordinate orthoclase, red-brown biotite, which is usually in clusters, and pale green, local ly
fibrous, amphibole. Hutchison ( 1964) noted that this gra nodiorite was foliated . He delineated a zone of
foliation adjacent to and east of the altered zone o f gabbro and norite.
Field Relations
The contact at its western edge between the Central Singapore Granite and the Gombak Norite is not
exposed. However, there is sufficient evidence within qua rries in the noritic body to establish the fact th at
the granite is younger. This has been discussed under Gombak Norite.
The contact between the granite and the Triassi c sediments is also hidden. Alexander (1950) described
a core boulder of granite some 60 cm from the granite boundary which she interpreted as a residual from an
intrusive dyke. The Geological Unit suggests that th e relict boulders observed by Alexander was not in Silll
in a dyke but was deposited in weathered granitic material at the base of the Triassic sedimentary pi le.
INCLUSIONS IN THE CENTRAL SINGAPORE GRANITE
Definition and Distrihution
Inclusion s are basic xenoliths with distinguishable boundaries that can be seen floating in the granit ic
rock.
Numerous ovoid shaped inclusions which appear darker than the granitic host rock, have been
observed in the Public Works Departmen t (Mandai) an d Sin Seng Quarries (Fig. 3.9) , and in residu al
boulders remote from the granite-gabbro contact at Kra nji (GR 396571) and Woodlands (GR 42859 1)
Composition
l ncllhions of hyb rId rock from the Swee Co nstruct ion Quarry (Bukit Batok) contain euhedr al
plagi oc la se In a groundmass o f anhedral ljuart z, heav il y se ricitized in places. a nd numerous reddish bro\\ n
b iotite l ~ l k e s T he biotite tends to be co nside rabl y coarser grained than the feld spar and ljuartz, and IS
widel y altered to chlorite and associated opaque grains .
The fain t o\oid inclusions found in the Publi c Works Department (Mandai), and Sin Sens Quarri es
have been referred to as quart z monzonite by van Bemmelen (1940) and Hutchison (1964) .
DYKE ROCKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CENTRAL SINGAPORE GRANITE
Classification and Distrihution
Dykes associated with the Central Singapore Granite are divided into two groups, one with acid and
the other With basic affinities.
There are four varieties of acid dyke: microgr anite, granite porphyry, granophyre, and trachyte. The
microgranite forms the most conspicuous dykes and is common in the norite of Chia Oh Kang, Peng Se ng
and Lian Hup Quarries . Far less conspicuous than the microgranite are the granophyre dykes cutting th e
norit e bodv in Peng Seng, C hia Oh Kang. and Yun O nn Quarries, and the granodiorite at the Swee
Construction Quarry. The granophyre is only slightly lighter in colour than the dolerite and may therefo re
be mistaken for dolerite in the field. Granite porphy ry dykes have been found in the Hindhede and the
Singapore Granite (Bukit Timah) Quarries only cutt ing t he Central Singapore Granite. Trachyte has been
recogni sed cutting granodiorite in the Swee Construction Quarry, Bukit Batok. Like the granophyre, thi S
rock is also deceptively like dolerite in hand specimen .
Basic dyke s, mainly dolerite, have been observed cutting the Gombak Norite in Bluestone, Poh Hua.
Chia Oh Kang, Chua Chai Seng, and Lian Hup Qua rries and the Central Singapore Granite in the
Singapore Granite' ( Mandai) , Swee Construction (Bukit Batok), and Public Works Department Mandai
Quarries . One dyke in the Public Works Department Quarry at Mandai has been identified as a spessartite .
Further north . a set of deeply weathered dykes is exposed in an excavation between Sembawang and
Woodlands (G R 450611). The dykes are weahtered to a deep red clay in contrast to the pale browni sh
ye llo w coarse sandy clay soil derived from their granite host (Fig. 3. 10). Two other deeply weathered dyk es
have been mapped along the eastern edge of the granite, one in the Whampoa Valley and the other just
no rth of the Uppe r Ka!lang Valley.
19
A spessart it e intrusive into quartz mica diorite was recorded from Seletar by Scrivenor (1931). He a lso
recorded boulders of dolerite and quartz porphyry associa ted with andesitic ash nea r the junction of
Orchard and Grange Road. None of these rocks could be rel oca ted.
Composition
Dykes of acid aflinill ( Da. Dp. Dg. Dt )
In hand specimen, the microgranite is distinguished by its fine-grained, Iightcoloured appearance, and
in the case of the gra nite porphyry, by the quartz phenocrysts which can be di sti nguished as crystals up to 2
mm in size.
The main minerals in the microgranite dykes (Oa) are quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase of albite to
oligoclase composition, and biotite. No hornblende has been identified. The orthoclase is heavily clouded,
and the acid plagioclase is often crowded with individual sericite flakes. Ma ny of the biotite minerals are
chloritized, and epidote or sphene occurs occasionally.
The granite porphyry dykes (Op), found intruding the granite at the Hindhede and Singapore Granite
Quarries in Bukit Timah, have a distinctive porphyriti c appearance in the field . Phenocrysts of quartz and
acid pl agioclase up t o 2 mm long are set in a fine-grained ground mass consisting of clouded orthoclase and
feldspar, quartz, and subordinate muscovite (Fig. 3. 11). At its contact the dyke rock shows excellent
microgra phi c intergrowths between feldspar and quartz. The dyke in the Singapore Granite Quarry is more
severely a lte red than that in the Hindhede Quarry. It conta ins more phenocrysts of sericitized acid
plagioclase, and numerous tiny flakes of muscovite in a finer-grai ned ground mass.
The granophyre ( Og) is often feebly porphyritic. Un der the microscope it can be seen to contain
euhedral acid plagioclase which is often heavily sericitized a nd replaced by calcite. It s groundmass
inva ri ably consist s of radiating structures of slender feldspa r and qua rt z (Fig. 3. 12). Small irregularly
shaped ch loritized green hornblende is present elsewhere in the ground mass.
The trachyte (Ot) in Swee Construction Quarry in Bukit Batok looks deceptively like a dolerite in the
field. Microscopically, this rock is composed of narrow elongate prisms of clouded acid pl agioclase and a
few patc hes of quart z. A few of the tabular feldsp a r phenocryst s are heavi ly dusted with fine-grained
a lterati on products. and there is widespread fine-g rained chl or ite with mino r epidote a nd a few sericite
patches in the rock (Fi g. 3. 13).
Dikes of basic affi nity ( Db. Dd. Dsp )
The dolerite is da rk green and possesses a fine-grained ground mass . It is generally porphyritic:
plagioclase and augite occ ur as the phenocrysts. The plagioclase ra nges in composition from labraqorite t o
andesine. and is freq uentl y altered t o sericite . The ground mass is made up of al tered small pl agioclase laths
a nd numerous small crys tals of colourless augite and ab unda nt calcite (Fig. 3.14). Ilmenite, sphene.
magneti te, epiodote, a nd sericite a re common secondary minerals.
The augite phenocrysts a nd plagioclase phenocrysts occur in dykes found in Singapore Granite
(Mandai) and Bluestone Quarries, a nd in the former , olivine is also present in the groundmass.
In the more severely altered dolerite present in the Poh Hua, Lian Hup. Swee Construction (Bukit
Batok). and Chua Chai Seng Quarries, most of the augite has been repl a ced by pale green actinolitic
ampnibole.
The spessartite ( Osp) from the Publi c Works Depa rtment Qua rry (Mandai) possesses a
panidiomorphic texture typical of lamprophyres. It contains numerous well-formed small crystals of augite
and sma ll nakes of red-brown bi otite set in a base of larger irregular crysta ls of sericitized andesine. There
are numerous irregul a r patches of calcite and numerous tiny needles of apatite (Fig. 3. 15) .
Field Relations
Relations between the mi crogranite, granophyre and dolerite dykes were see n in Chi a Oh Kang and
Peng Seng Quarries. A 25 m wide microgranite dyke intrusive into norite could be followed from Chia Oh
Ka ng Quarry through to Peng Seng Quarry. In Peng Seng Quarry, a granophyre cuts this microgranite as a
si nuous dyke some 2 m wi de, and in Chia Oh Ka ng Quarry, a dolerite dyke cuts the microgranite (Fig .
3.16).
In Chua Chai Seng Quarry a set of dolerite dykes appear to be mapped as termina ting against a
granite dyke. This feature is apparent. The granite dyke has been undercut from the north and the dolerite
is exposed at a lower level than the granite on the south side. A fault along the northern side of the granite,
shearing the granite, has removed the dolerite from the north.
No observati ons were made within the Central Singapore Granite on the relative ages of the trachyte
and granite porphyry.
20
3.10 Wearhered basic dy ke in granire soil, Admiralt\ , Road (GR 45061 I ),
Norrh Central Singapore.
' It/:.;
Fig . J.tl Phenocrysts of rounded quartz and sericitized acid plagioclase in granite
porphyry. Hindhede Quarn.
45X Crossed Nicols
.j
21
Fig. 3. 12 Radiaring sr ru c rure oj
slender feldspar and quarrz
in g ranophl/re, Yun Onn
Quarry.
120X Crossed Nicols
Fi g. 3.13 Suhl}(J rallel alignmenr O!
acid plagioclase la rhs in
rmehl rf. S\I 'ee Consrl'llerioll
Quarry ( Bukir Bawk ).
';5 .\ Cro.l sfd Sim/.1
Fig. 3. 14 Alrued calcic plagioclase,
smaller augire crysrals, and
occasional quarrz in alrered
dol e r ir e f ro m S \I ' e e
Consrf/lcrion Quarry ( Bukir
Bawk ). Th e habir 0/ augite
is in mark ed conrrQst lVi rh
rheH of rh e younger doleri{(!
c urrin g rh e Jur o n g
Forl/wrion ar Pulau S f nang .
45 X Plain Polari ::f d
Lighr
22
Fig.3.1 5
45X Plaill Polari:: ed Lighl
Fig. 3.16 Doleril e cUlling 25 III Ivide lIIicrogranile drke in noril e, Chia Oh Kang
Quarn'. Th e rellolVish-brOlVn coloralion is a slain on Ih e acid dd , e alld Ih E'
noril e.
PULAU UBIN GRANITE (BT, BTh, BTh, BThy)
Distribution
The second group of the Bukit Timah Granite occurs to the east of the line running from Siglap to
Punggol.
On the Main Island the granite was found outcropping along the beach from Fairy Point to Changi
Jetty (Fig. 3.17). A deep drill hole through the Old Alluvium just north of Tampines Road (GR 634516)
penetrated the Bukit Timah Granite at -54 m. Other outcrops occur on Pulau Sekudu and Pulau Ubin,
from which the group is named.
Adamellite was found in the drillhole already mentioned (GR 634516) at -76 m, and a hybrid
granodiorite was found in the Lian Moh, Lip Seng and Gim Huat Quarries. These quarries are on Pulau
Ubin. Further granodiorite has been sampled from a low hill to the north-west of Sungei Jelutong, and an
outcrop at the headwater of Sungei Pulau Ubin.
Content
Granite
The Pulau Ubin Granite shows some distinctive differences when compared with the Central
Singapore Granite.
The rocks are generally richer in green hornblende and brown biotite than those from the Central
Singapore Granite. These minerals occur in clusters .
The impression one gets from hand specimen is confi rmed under the microscope. Hornblende and
biotite are the dominant ferromagnesian minerals, and occur as rather small irregular crystals spotted with
opaque grains which are probably magnetite. Microperthitic texture of the orthoclase and heavy
sericitization of the plagioclase are prominant , but chlori tization of the biotite are comparatively rare
within the Pulau Ubin Granite. The occurrence of allani te. pyroxene grains. and abundant magnetite
granules as accessory minerals in the Pulau Ubin Granite is yet another distinctive feature .
The granite on Pulau Sekudu is distinguished from the others by its strongly porphyritic texture with
pink euhedral orthoclase crystals up to 4 cm in length set in a coarse grained groundmass. As in the other
granites. this rock also contains clusters of ferromagnesia n minerals.
Adallie/li te
The adamellite consists predominantly of quartz and clouded orthoclase in graphic intergrowth .
Oligoclase occurs as euhedral phenocrysts up to 4 mm in length and also subhedral to anhedral forms in the
ground mass . The feldspar has been slightly sericitized on ly.
The only mafic mineral present is some irregularly shaped green hornblende. Much of the hornblende
has been chloritized. and epidote is often associated with the altered hornblende.
Hl'brid rocks
A granodioritic rock from the Lian Moh Quarry area appears in hand specimen very much like the
coarse-grained granite by containing numerous clusters of ferromagnesian minerals. In thin section the
rocks all show a consistant mineralogy and texture. The light coloured minerals are andesine, in places
strongly zoned, interstitial quartz, and orthoclase which occasionally form large irregular plates enclosing
plagioclase grains. Some of the orthoclase crystals have irregular margins and may have been corroded.
Other minerals are large Oakes of brown biotite and numerous crystals of hornblende, and the two are
often associated in clusters. Many of th.e hornblende crystals have irregular cores of pyroxene, while a few
grade into pale amphibole (Fig. 3.18). Accessory minerals are magnetite and apatite, and rare sphene.
The rock obtained from the low hill at Kampong Jelutong is more aptly called a quartz diorite and it is
probably gradational to granodiorite. Under the microscope, anhedral oligoclase and quartz occurring as
phenocrysts are seen. Clouded orthoclase, ragged green hornblende, and brown biotite are present in the
ground mass. Biotite occurs as dense irregular clusters of s maller crystals, and it is in places accompanied by
abundant tiny opaque grains. Magnetite, sphene, and apatite are common accessories.
Precise comparison of this rock with the hybrid granodiorite obtained from Lian Moh and Lip Seng
Quarries is uncertain, but it appears to be similar in co mposition and shows the same tendency for the
ferromagnesian minerals to occur in clusters, but pyroxen e has not been recorded in the quartz diorite.
24
(
L
Fig. 3.17 Olilcrop oj' granile aI Changi. Pegillalil e veins
(nol visihle in pholOgraph ) are fOllnd in Ihis
Olilcrop. (GR 653540 )
Fig.3.18 Large plales of hornblende conlaining pyroxene in hrbrid granodiorilejrolil
Lian Moh Quarr\' , Pulau Ubin .
25
The pa rtiall y mixed hybrid rocks found in the Housi ng Development Board Quarry a nd Lee Hung
Cheng Quarry can be compared to that from Northolt Road, Changi. There the granodiorite contains
irregular agg regates of tin y flakes a nd prisms of biotite and ho rnblende associated with numerous opaque
granules (Fig. 3. 19). They a re possibl y remnants of original basic rocks now dispersed through the pa rtl y
hybridi zed granodiorite. Other minerals present are albite, quartz, and orthoclase.
Field Relations
The Pul a u Ubin Gra nite is not seen in contact with the Sajahat Formation. It is believed however that
the gran ite belongs to the sa me intrusive suite as the Central Singapore Gr a nite. A number of discrete
bodies o f older rocks were seen however incorpo rated within the Pulau Ubin Granite and their
rel a tionships are di scussed in the next section.
Alexander (1950) noted that the granite from Pulau Sekudu is not metamorphosed whereas she
considered that on Pulau Ubin to be metamorphosed, and she suggested that the porphyritic granite of
Pulau Sekudu is therefore younger and may be responsible for the metamorphism she recognised in the
igneous rocks of Pulau Ubin.
INCLUSIONS IN THE PULAU UBIN GRANITE
Inclusions have been found throughout the granitic and granodioritic host rocks on Pul a u Ubin and at
C hangi . They va ry greatl y in size, ranging from less than I cm in diameter to tens of metres across . The
large inclusions have rendered geological interpretation particularl y diffi cult in the past as rectangul ar
shaped slabs of foreig n rock a re o ften exposed without a b reak in their contin uity on a quarry face, and
have thus been mistaken for dykes o r even as the host rock . An incl usion can ass ume such a dimension th at
it cannot be appreciated readily, and hence may be dismissed erroneously as the host rock .
Some inclusions and dyke like bodies exposed in diffe rent faces of the Housi ng Development Board
Quarry show identi ca l texture and mineralogy, a nd they undoubtedly o r iginated fro m the sa me parent
mater ial. These dyke-like masses are often ve ry steepl y dip ping, a nd although this or ientation is t ypica l of
dykes , t hey can be recogni sed as inclusions beca use adjacent bodies of these masses ca n be seen to fi t
together if the inter vening g ra ni te we re removed (Fig. 3.20).
Composition
T he variations in the minera logy and texture found in the inclusions ha ve given rise to the diversity of
rock na mes proposed by the previous investigators. Thi s is perhaps inevitable since the inclusions represent
va ri ous stages of modifica ti on of country rock by an acidic magma.
For the purpose of di sc ussion, the inclusion s have here been classified int o two gro ups according to the
presence or absence of pyroxene minerals in them. Two text ura l di visions are recogni sed within each group ,
those showing a gra nobl ast ic texture a nd those without.
The gra nobl ast ic texture of the rocks described is consi dered to be caused by high temperature contact
meta morphism.
Most of the inclusio ns seen wit hin the granite on Pulau Ubin and at Changi represent bodies of basic
roc k. Ass imil a t io n has in some inst a nces continued un til a granitic hybrid magma carrying s ma ll clusters of
fe rromagnesia n minera ls (Fig. 3.2 1) as the only inclusions came into existence. The incorporation of
Pal aeozoic sediment is inferred from the appearance of garnet and the absence of pyroxene in so me of the
inclusions. From the presence of biotite and quartz, and from the assemblage of plagioclase-hornblende-
diopside, often associa ted with magnetite, apatite, and sphene as minor constituents, it is taken that some
inclusions are dervied from a ndesi te.
Inclusions of rocks containing prroxene
The mineralogy o f these rocks is characterised by the presence of augite, with or without enstatitie or
hype rst hene, and pl agiocl ase of oligoclase to andesine co mposition, orthoclase, quartz, hornblende and
bi o tite in varying amounts. Phenocrysts of plagiocl ase are fairly common, but a ugite phenocrysts are
rela tively rare. Numerous green hornblende and br own biotite are present, generally as well-developed
crysta ls, but in those rocks that show a granoblasti c texture, the hornblende and pyroxene frequentl y
ap pea rs as small pri smati c crystals or as needles, the biotite occurs as small flakes or in clusters (Fig. 3.22) .
Quartz and o rthocl ase a re ab undan t only in the hornfelsic varieties. The common accessory minerals are
magnetite, apat ite a nd sphene.
26
i

- ' t;:':'
Fi g. 3. 19 Dense clust ers of biotite, hornblende, and opaque grains of magnetit e in
granodiorit e, Changi.
!20X Plain Polariz ed Light
Fi g. 3.20 Dl'ke-/ike inclusions in the Housing Develop-
II/ent Board QuarrJ' , Pulau Ubin.
27
28
."
..:.. (f \ t. '\ ;:'
... , .

.;. . ..
...--.. -'?"Jf: ..J'. :..'
V:
.:... 9:, r . ' <" ::' .. ' " "
' , f;. '- 0& '" '* - w, <.
'..,: ....'"1<1; , '; '/ i -" A,: . ..:', , ." "" ..j " ._ ..,:..,
Fig. 3.21 Clusters of hornblende and biotite associated with accessor\' allanite in
biotite-hornblende granite frOIll Kampong Mamam. Pulall Ubin,
45X Crossed Nicols
Numerous stubbl' prisms of prroxene grains and dense clust er of brown
biotite in hrpersthene hornfels. Kalllpong Jelutong. Pulall Ubin,
Inclusions 0/ rock s without pvroxene
Inclusion s th at do not contain pyroxene minerals a re simil a r in ha nd specimen to those that do. They
generall y con sist of a fine mosaic of quart z a nd fel dspa r as anhedral gra in s, varying amounts of sma ll
prisms of green hornblende and, frequently, tattered brown biotite nakes. The ferromagnesian minerals
occur as individual crystals or associated in clusters. The occasional phenocrysts are usually of quartz a nd
feldspar with irregular crystal outlines. Common accessories are magnetite, apatite, and sphene. Garnet
occurs in some inclusions of this group (Fig. 3.23).
Field Relations
The presence of numerous dark inclusions or la rge masses of different hues , shapes, dimensions, a nd
min era logy in the granitic host rocks has presented an aura of complexit y on the geology of Pulau Ubin .
The dyke-like masses are often very steeply dipping, and although thi s orientation is typical of dykes ,
thei r mode of occurrence on Pulau Ubin may be explained by the incorporation of slabs of basic rock in a
relatively immobile acid magma. This setting is suggested by the linear arrangement of disjointed slabs seen
frequently on Pulau Ubin. The opposite edge of adjacent inclusions can be seen to fit if the intervening
granite were removed (Fig. 3.24). Such a fractured slab could easily be misinterpreted as a dyke if it
appeared without fractures in the confines of the exposure.
DYKE ROCKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PULAU UBIN GRANITE
Distribution
Dykes can be seen cutting the Sajahat Formati o n in the t ype area for this formati o n a nd along the
no rth-east and east coast of Pul a u Tekong Kechi!. Two parallel dykes are a lso exposed, now surrounded by
recent beach sand, on the south coast of Pulau Tekong. On Pulau Ubin itsel f. dykes have been seen cutting
gra nite on a po int 0.5 km to the north-east of Tanj ong Taj a m a nd in Aik Hwa Quarry No I.
Composition
Dy kes 0/ acid a ff inity ( Da )
Sc ri veno r ( 193 1) described acid dykes of apli te, acid gra nite, granophyre and hornblende-gra nite-
a pl ite on Pul au U bin. He mentioned that they represen t the yo ungest ph ase o f igneous acti vity. The dykes
were observed by him to cut older dykes o f enstat ite-spessa rt it e, ho rn blende po rphyry and ho rnblende
granophyre in the a rea . Veins o f pyroxene mi crogran ite have a lso been reco rded by Scri venor ( 1931 ) to
occur a t Lian Moh Quarry and at Tanjong Jelut ong.
An acid dyke has been mapped by the Geological Unit as intrusi ve int o Palaeozoic sediment on Pulau
Sajahat Kechil where it has been cut by a basic dyke. No thin section o f this acid dyke was prepared .
Dy k es o/ basic alfinit)' ( Db )
The basic dykes are genera ll y dolerites and la mprophyres. Dolerite dykes are observed on Pul a u
Sajaha t Besar and Sajahat Kechi!.
Most of the doleri te is porphyritic, with phenocrysts of severel y altered plagiocl ase. The ground mass is
ma de up of less a ltered small pl agioclase la ths, and numero us sma ll c rys ta ls of colourless augite a nd
occasional quartz a re found interstitially to the plagioclase. The compositi on of the plagioclase ranges fr o m
a ndesine to labradorite. In the more severel y a ltered dolerite, most of the a ugite is replaced by pale green
actino litic amphibole. Such amphibole is abundant in the dolerite dyke exposed in the south of Pul a u
Saj a hat Besar. Ilmenite, sphene, magnetite, epidote, calcite and sericite are very common seconda ry
minerals found in the dolerite.
The north-trending dyke on the west coast of Pulau Sajahat Besar is a porphyritic microdiorite . It
contains phenocrysts of plagioclase and a few corroded quartz crystals set in a fine-grained feldspathic
ground mass. There are no ferromagnesian phenocrysts but the biotite and hornblende are widespread ,
both as isolated small crystals or in irregular clusters . Apatite and magnetite are the common accesso ry
minerals. Inclusions of granite up to 20 cm in diameter were seen in the dyke on Pulau Sajahat Besa r.
Scrivenor (1931) described a quartz norite in what is now the Housing Development Board Quarry on
Pulau Ubin . These rocks have not been sampled but the Geological Unit is of the opinion that they
represent rafted basic bodies.
The occurrence of lamprophyre dykes on Pulau Ubin and Changi have also been described by
Scrivenor (1931). He described dykes of enstatite-spessartite cutting the granite at Tanjong Balai, in what is
now the Housing Development Board Quarry on Pulau Ubin, and at Changi . According to Scriven or,
vogesites intrusive into granite were also present in Ta njong Balai and Changi . These dykes however have
not been recognised by the authors.
29
30
Fig. 3.23
Fig. 3.24
120X Plain Polarized Ligh l
Field Relations
Although the numerous acid dykes and veins described by Scrivenor (1931) on Pulau Ubin and Changi
have not been seen by the authors, the presence of such dykes intruded after the emplacement of the main
granite, can be expected. A later intrusive phase of basic dykes, already observed in the Central Singapore
Granite, is also recognised here. Such a temporal relationship is suggested by the association of the acid
and basic dykes in Pulau Sajahat Besar and Sajahat Kechi!.
Age and Correlation
Hutchison (1973 A) placed the Bukit Timah Granite in with the East Coast Granites of Malaya and
discussed the granitic associations of the Malay Peninsula and their correlations in that paper and in the
"Geology of the Malay Peninsula" (Hutchison 1973 C). No further discussion on correlation is given in
this text.
The age of the Bukit Timah Granite has been obtained by isotope dating techniques. Biotite from
granite sampled at the Public Works Department Rural Depot Quarry and Sin Seng Quarry have K-Ar
ages averaging 200 9 Ma. Granite samples from the Rural Depot Quarry yield Rb-Sr ages that range
from 210 Ma to 221 Ma. (Bignell, 1972). An early to early-middle Triassic age is hence suggested for the
Bukit Timah Granite. Unfortunately, no isotopic age has yet been obtained from the Pulau Ubin Granite
to confirm a parallel age but a sample has been collected for processing. It has already been mentioned that
the granite batholith postdates the gabbro (Gombak Norite, Gn) and a consequence of this is in the
formation of hybrid rocks that have been recognised on Singapore Island and Pulau Ubin.
The porphyritic granite from Pulau Sekudu is included in The Bukit Timah Granite, but it has a
similar appearance to the late Cretaceous to early Terti a ry granite bodies situated at several points along
the western margins of the Main Range Granite in the Malay Peninsul a (Professor N.J. Snelling, pers.
comm.). An isotopic age determination on this granite will be made in the near future. The authors are
grate ful to Professo r .J . Snelling for thi s.
MINERALIZATION
Evidence of minerali za tion has been found in the granitic rocks at Bukit Timah , Bukit Mandai , and
Bukit Panjang.
At Bukit Tima h, a minerali zed contact zone between the host gra nite rock and a dyke of granite
porphyry in the Hindhede Quarry contains numerous na kes of sil very mol ybdenite crystals up to 4 cm long
and patches of other sulphide minerals in qua rtz .
On the second bench in the eastern face of Sin Seng Quarry there are thin but conspicuous veins
consisting of quartz, pyrite, and some bornite. These minerals are restricted to the middle of the veins .
Alexander ( 1950) described the occurrence o f numerous small veins cont aining quart z, calcite.
to urmaline sometimes as radiating needles, pyrite, mol ybdenite, and some cassiterite in the Public Work s
Department Qua rr y ( Mandai).
According to Scri venor ( 1910) tin ore was found in quantities sufficient for working at Bukit Manda i.
He also recorded the presence of a pocket of cassiterite, molybdenite, chlorite, and calcite in granite at
Bukit Panjang.
No minerali za tion has been o bserved on Pulau Ubin.
JURONG FORMATION
Introduction
Scrivenor (1924) recorded in the southern and western parts of Singapore quartzite and shale with
interbedded limestone, which he described under the heading of 'Shale and Sandstone' ; and Alexander
(1950) remapped these rocks as the 'Older Sedimentary Rocks', describing three rock types - an Older
Schist , an Argillaceous Series, and an Arenaceous Series - but not mapping their distribution .
Wong (1960) mapped the south-west coastal area and carried out petrological and sedimentological
studies on the sediments. He recognised three sub-divisions - A, B, and C in ascending stratigraphic order.
The A series consisted of quartz conglomerate, sandstone and shale. Series B he described as a bluish
conglomerate, together with sandstone and clay; and Series C is a sandstone-quartzite sequence overlying a
conglomerate. He mapped a continuous anticline-syncline couplet extending north-west from Tanjong
Berlayar to Sungei Pandan.
3\
Leow (1962) extended the structural mapping over the whole of the western side of the island. He
could find no support , on heavy minera l ana lysi s, fo r Alexander' s division into an Arenaceous and an
Argill aceo us unit.
Chi n (1965) mapped the Pasir Panjang-Jurong a rea and proposed two formations, a Jurong
Formation and the Pasir Panjang Formation, the latter being younger. His Pasir Panjang Formation was
described as a rhythmic conglomerate-sandstone-mudstone sequence with a dominant reddish colour. The
Juro ng Formati o n wa s described as ma inl y a n interbedded mudstone-sandstone sequence of grey to black
colour.
Burto n (1973 A) , working in southern Johor used the term Jurong Forma t ion informally for the whole
of the Triassic sediment a ry sequence there, but stated that further work on the unit was necessary before a
formal no menclature could be established. He chose 'Jurong' as he considered that area to furnish the best
da ta for the establishment of a formal unit , possibl y of group status. He recognised two members in the
so uthern Joho r a rea within hi s informa l unit and these he na med the Gunong Pulai Member and the Bukit
Resa m Clas tic Me mber. In the " Geology of the Mal ay Peninsula", Burton (1973 B) discussed brieOy
Chin's subdivision but considered that there was insufficient evidence at present to separate the two
formati ons a nd al so pointed to their both being of the same age. He recast them as members of the Jurong
Fo rmation and incorporated Chin's Jurong Formation in his Bukit Resam Member.
Lim ( 19 74) however adhered to Chin's subdi visi on status but postulated an upper Triassic age for the
Jurong Formation and a lower-mid Jurassic age for the Pasir Panjang Formation .
The Geological Unit agrees with Burton that Chin's nomenclature should be abandoned, and prefers
to recogni se six facies types within the Jurong Format ion ( used informall y in Burton' s sense). It is probable
t hat closely simi la r en vi ro nme nta l sett ings occ urred periodi ca lly througho ut the time o f deposition of the
J uro ng Forma t ion. so tha t simil a r sediment s could have been deposited a t d ifferent times and as discrete
bod ies . It is no t uncommon t o find evidence o f the supe rpos ition of one facies o n another at one locality .
~ n th e rever se somewhere el se. Further difficul ti es were encountered in establi shing sa tisfactory
pa ra meters for ma pping each me mber . and as much of t he ma pping was done before the facies membe r
concept was adop ted. and by differen t geologist s using different pa ra meters. it has not a lways been possible
to establi sh \\ ith ce rt ain ty which fac ies member a pa rt ic ul a r observation should be ass igned to.
The effe ct of weathering has been t o reduce most of t he facies member s to a simil ar end product. Thi s
too ha s ha mpered accura te ma pping.
It is proposed th at six facies be establi shed to ill ustra te the va riati o ns see n in the Juro ng Fo rma t ion .
T hese wi ll be refer red to as the Queenstown Facies. Jong Facies , Ayer Cha\\ an Facies. Rima u Facies, St.
John Facies. a nd Tenga h Facies. Altough a general spa t ia l and temporal rel atio nship ca n be recognised for
each facies member, no one facies ca n be assumed to form a continuous unit.
Tectonic ac ti vit y has been responsible for the dyna mic metamo rph is m of parts of the Jurong
Formation. T he grade of met a mo rphi sm is low and it is still possible to det er mine the fa cies tha t has bee n
a ffec ted. The meta mo rphosed a rea s have thus been ma pped over the fac ie s. a nd the rocks within those
a reas ca n be refe rred to info rma ll y as Mura i Schi st, na me originall y introd uced by Alexander (1950) .
Foss il collections have been made from the Jurong Fo rmation in Singapore by Scrivenor, Alexander.
Chin. Lim a nd o thers (Appendi x 3) . No systematic collecting was ca rried out during this survey however.
Mos t of t he fossils a re ma rine molluses and are fo un d in t he Ayer Chawa n fac ies or interbeds within it. The
age uf the fuss il s is ge nera ll y accepted a s upper T riassic.
QUEENSTOWN FACIES (Jq )
A 'Mudstone Unit ' was established in the Singapore Public Works Department, Geological Report
N o. 3 (1974) , and this unit and its type area is adopted here, with minor restrictions, as the Queenstown
Facies. It is a distinctive purple-red cl ay, clayey sand, silt or fine sand with minor tuff, and was best exposed
in excavations for the Queenstown housing project extensions in the headwaters of Sungei Ulu Pandan
(G R 443448). The black shale and yellow sandstone included in the Mudstone Unit are excluded from the
Queenstown Facies.
The member can be found running from Peak Island north-west to Selat Johor close to the granite or
Old Alluvium bounda ry, and as interbeds down the west coast and in the Jurong area . It is also found as
thin beds in the south-west and western islands . Its greatest development is in the Queenstown-Bukit
Merah area ( Fig. 3.25). Sand is more common to the north-west, and silt and then clay to the south-east.
32
-
Fig. 3.25 Exposure of the Queenstown Facies showing the massive character oj
purplish red lI1udstones, lalan Bukit Merah, South Central Singapore.
Fig. 3.26 Photomicrograph 0/ a fine red sandstone in the Queenstown Facies
showing very angular quart z det rital grains in a limonitic clayey matrix,
Kay Siang Road. South Central Singapore. (GR 467434 )
33
Content
The unit was described as consisting predominantly of thinly bedded red and purple mudstone with
some red to purple shale. The mudstone often has a white coating on the joint surfaces. Vugs, possibly
initially con taining pyrite, are common, and these are now seen as holes up to 5 mm in diameter. Greenish
stains are often found on the fracture planes. Massive red to purple mudstone is also common, and this is
closely joi nted or sheared so that on drying the rock disaggregates to a mass of lenticular fragmen ts about 1
cm long. In the more sandy portions sharply angular quartz dominates and the quartz is coated with
haemati te and goethite to give the red-purple colour (Fig. 3.26). A thin section of this rock con tains, quartz,
subordinate clouded feldspar, and a few flakes of muscovite and pale brown biotite. Tuffaceous material
could be identified in hand specimen in some of the coarser-grained rocks in this member, particularly
towards the north-west and west, and this volcanic material may have contributed to the red colouration
a lso.
Field Relations
The Queenstown Facies lies directly on the granite in places, or is separated from it by yellow clayey
sand or tuff beds of the Tengah or Ayer Chawan Facies. It appears to interdigitate with the Tengah Facies
to the north-west, and appears to pass up into the main outcrops of Ayer Chawan Facies in the Jurong
Area, and is interbedded with it there and elsewhere (Fig. 3.27) . To the south-east the Queenstown Facies
passes into t he St. John Facies. The Queenstown Facies appears to lie both above and below beds of the
Rimau Facies and is normally separated from it by a tuffaceous bed. A sub-member of the Queenstown
Facies can be recognised lying within the Rimau Facies west of Henderson Road Extension.
The member shows marked similari ty with the Chilean red beds (Dr. H. R. Katz, pers. comm.) and it is
suggested tha tit is a sub-aerial terrestri a l deposi t and the product of terrestri al weathering. The sand bodies
are interpreted as representing ephemeral lacustrine or alluvial deposits. The existence of volcanic material
within the facies, particularly in the coarse-grained horizons has added further colouration to the rock.
The other facies associated with the Queenstown Facies are all interpreted as subaqueous, and
domin a ntly sha llow marine, so it is presumed that the a rea of land at that time was of limited extent.
JONG FACIES (Jj )
The Jong Facies contains a lternating beds of roundstone conglomerate and sandstone and. less
frequently . beds of mudstone. The type loca lity is Pul au Jong, from which the facies takes its name. Both
conglo merate a nd sa ndstone are seen on this island, but mudstone is minor.
RlKks of this facies a re found mai nly on the south-west islands, occurring on Pulau Jong, Buk o m
Sebarok. Semakau, Salu, Pawai, Sena ng, Bi ola and Satumu . It is also mapped in one locality in Jurong and
on Pul a u Suba r La ut and Darat , and at Tanjong Pangkong on Pulau Ayer Chawan. It has been mapped.
a lthough no outcrop was seen, on Pulau Bukom Kechil , and a 2 m bed of conglomerate similar to that of
the Jo ng Facies was seen on Mt. Faber (GR 477397) but the extend of the exposure is too small to be
reco rded on the map (Fig. 3.28).
Content
Co nglomerate with subrounded to rounded clasts, usua lly about 6 cm to 10 em in diameter, but
frequently up to 30 cm, occurs in beds from 50 cm to 6 m thick and possibly thicker. These beds grade up
into a muddy fine to coa rse sandstone to make up the bulk of the facies. Beds of hard muddy sand grit.
ranging from 20 cm to 2 m thick, form most of the remainder. Mudstone beds, often dark grey to bl ack.
and seldom more than I m thick, are less frequent. The sand in the unit is qua rtz rich, with lithic-volcanic,
tuffaceous, and pumiceous fragments also present.
The clasts in the conglomerate are dominantly siliceous as fine sandstone or siltstone, or as quart z
porphyry. Dark grey mudstone clasts are also common (Fig. 3.29). Fragments of vein quartz, as seen in the
Rimau Facies, are conspicuously absent. Chert fragments are common within the facies, and chert
replace ment of the original sediment can be seen in some beds.
Occasional lensoid spilitic bodies have been observed within the member; one on Pulau Salu was some
25 cm thick a nd 2 m long. Heavy veining by quartz was also common within the facies (Fig. 3.30).
34
_._ , I
Y"'
<J ;;'
V
Z O
,

I Z
2- 2- 2- :i
..
0"':
2-
.,...J
Z
. Vl

Z
1--
(5
Vl
Z

I
I
I
I-
0
::>
u
if)
l.?
,

l.?
Z
Z
n:
w
w ,..:
2
w
z W
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if) n:
0 ::>
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,
0
35
36
Fig. 3.28 A 2 m thick conglomerat e bed containing clasts of sandstone. silts(one.
quart z porphl'ry and schist ..\1t. Faber.
Fig. 3.29 Conglomerate of the long Facies contammg sandstone, siltstone, grey
mudstone, and quartz porphyry clasts at Pulau long.
- l '
Field Relations
The Jong Facies is seen to lie below the Ayer Chawa n Facies on both Pulau Salu and Pulau Senang,
but a bove it on Pulau Bukom. At Jurong it is interbedded within the Ayer Chawan Facies, and beds of
Tengah Facies also interdigitate with the Ayer Chawan Facies in the same section. At Jurong, and on Pulau
Senang, the Ayer Chawan Facies is represented by sediment, but on Pulau Salu it is represented by massive
lithic tuff which overlies the Jong Facies, each bed being I m to 2 m thick, and the Jong Facies is
represented by a well cemented slightly tuffaceous muddy coarse sandstone or grit, but without any
conglomerate beds .
AYER CHAWAN FACIES (Jac)
The Ayer Chawan Facies is dominated by tuffaceous debris and the presence of black sand and
mudstone beds and minor black to red conglomerate. Spilitic lava is present in this facies also.
The type section is defined as the west coast of Pulau Sakra in the Ayer Chawan Group of islands, not
because it is the best section available, but because it is the one least likely to be obliterated by civic
development.
The member is found in the Jurong area (see frontispiece), particularly towards the south-west, in the
Ayer Chawan group of islands, and as a single bed overlying the Rimau Facies running from Sungei Ulu
Pan dan to the southern end of Sentosa Island and again as a conglomeratic bed underlying the Rimau
Facies on Sentosa Island. Sub-members are also found towards the base of the Queenstown and Tengah
Facies close to the granite contact.
Content
The Ayer Chawan Facies is generally a well bedded tuffaceous muddy sandstone facies. Bed thickness
vary between I mm and 1 m. Graded beds are co mmon but few other sedimentary structures are seen;
minor scour channels in the top of mud beds, and fill ed with sandy foreset beds , are the most common.
Quartz grit beds, silt and clay beds, tuff and tuffaceo us conglomerate, often red in colour, are common
within the member. There is considerable evidence of reworking of the sediment by the biota at the time of
deposi tion (Fig. 3.31).
Chin (1965) recorded the presence of a volca nic breccia on Pulau Samulun, and Lim (1974) noted
boulders of spilite some 400 m north of Sel at Pulau Damar both of which are here included in the Ayer
Chawan Facies . Further boulders were found during this survey in the Jurong area and their 10cations are
given in the section on the volcanic rocks within the Jurong Formation. Alexander (1950) recorded lavas at
Tanjong Kling, Tanjong Gul and Pulau Sakra, on each occasion associated with chert, and a coarse tuff,
again associated with chert, on Pulau Pergam. Spilite flows occur as beds, I m to 2 m thick on Pulau Salu
and a spilitic dyke cuts the facies on Pulau Senang.
Li m (1974) produced detailed sections of sediments he put in Chin's Jurong Formation, and discussed
the petrology of the various lithologies he recognised. His sections A, B, C, D and E come from areas
mapped in this report as Ayer Chawan Facies with interbeds of the Tengah Facies, and the following
descriptions are based on his work.
The sandstone usually comprises a fine to medium grained sand made up of quart z, with a significant
amount of polycrystalline quartz grains, tuffaceous clasts and secondary chalcedony and chert. Biotite
mica is also present and zi rcon, tourmaline and opaque ore, sometimes rimmed with haematite occur. Up
to ~ o clay can be found in the rock.
The finer sediments are more characteristically black or grey and contain a few angular grains of sand
size quartz in a clay silt matrix of silica minerals, sericite, opaque ore and heavy minerals. No detailed work
was done on the mudstone, but both Lim (1974) and Chin (1965) commented on the presence of
carbonaceous matter. Chin (op cit) reported 6.5% carbonaceous matter determined by loss of weight on
ignition of a dry sample heated for a period of 2 to 3 days. It is suggested that part of the weight loss may
have resulted from a driving out of water from the clay lattices under such severe treatment, and that this
figure may be overestimated. It is also thought unlikely that 6.5% carbonaceous matter would impart the
degree of colouration observed in the Ayer Chawan Facies. Alexander (1950) suggested that the colour
resulted from the presence of finely divided iron sulphide and the authors support this view. Lim (1974)
observed pyrite in one bed on Bukit Susop and sulphur efflorescence was observed by the writers as being
common on the black sediments.
With the exception of the Mt. Guthrie and Alexa ndra Brickworks collections, it appears that all fossil
collections from the Mesozoic rocks in the Republi c of Singapore come from the black sediment of the
37
38
Fig. 3.31 A pale grey bed of mudstone exposed at Jurong (GR 327462) showing
features indicating reworking by biota.
-- 1.......
Ayer Chawan Facies or from sandstone, presumabl y of the Tengah Facies, intimately associated with it.
Most of the collections came from a restricted area in Jurong (Fig. 3.32), but collections have also been
made from Pul a u Ayer Chawan and from a black sediment near Mt. Faber (Br Lawrence pers. comm.) .
The first well documented collection of fossils fro m rocks assumed to belong to the Ayer Chawan
Facies was made by Alexander. In her report (1950) she described them as lamellibranchs, gastropods,
probably crustacea, and the brachiopod Lingula. At that stage they still awaited identification and
Alexander did not give their location. Burton (1973 B) quoted a written communication from Cox listing a
number of species from near Huat Choe Village (see Appendix 3) and ESlheria mangalensis from Pulau
Ayer Chawan, which represent Alexander's collections.
Chin (1965) collected from the Jurong area . The specimens found were casts, as have been all
subsequent finds. His localities CF 3 to 6 were in interbeded mudstone-sandstone, while the other four were
in black mudstone (Fig. 3.32).
Li m (1974) collected from eleven localities, designated Ll-II in Fig. 3.32, his localities Ll and L9 being
equivalent to Chin's localities CFI, CF2 and CF8 respectively, and L5 probably being similar to
Alexander's Huat Choe collection. Lim recognised two different faunal groups, one in the black mudstone,
and the other in the sandstone, thus supporting Chin's inference that these groups indicate at least two sets
o f depositional environments. Both had recognised Conodon and Posidonia from the sand beds while
Myophoria dominated in the black mudstone. Chin also recorded a fragment of an ammonite from one of
the sand beds.
An effort was made t o relocate the site of the Morse Road collection of Scrivenor (Newton 1923), and
as a consequence a single broken cast was found in place at the head of the va lley above Morse Road . The
cast was in a grey and pink tuffaceous and carbonaceous muddy fine sandstone sequence in excess of 25 m
thick, and it is assumed that this is the horizon from which Scrivenor made his collection. The bed is
mapped as belonging to the Ayer Chawan Facies on lithology. It is capped by a 2 m bed of roundstone
conglomerate similar to th at of the Jong Facies, and the mudstone-congl omerate beds lie between beds of
angular quartz conglomerate of the Rimau Facies (co mplete faunal lists are given in Appendix 3).
The collection from black sediment near Mt. Faber was a private collection made by Br Lawrence and
ha s not been described . It cannot now be traced .
The age of the fossils coll ected is discussed in the section on age and correlation.
Field Relations
The Ayer Chawan Facies appears to interdigitate with the upper portion of the Tengah Facies and also
the Queenstown Facies, and a limb of the facies is also found to overlie the Rimau Facies. In the Jurong
area the Ayer Chawan and Tengah Facies interdigitate extensively, but much of the material identified as
Tengah Facies may in fact be leached Ayer Chawan Facies.
Lim ( 1974) reco rded six stratigraphic columns from this facies with his section A passing up int o his
Pasir Panjang Formation. The present a utho rs map Tenga h Facies in this area overlying the Ayer Chawan
Facies bu t t here is insu fficient evidence to sta te ca tegorica ll y that this con tact represen ts the top of the Ayer
Chawan Facies. Nor is there sufficient evidence to place column 'A' relative to the other given sections.
Remapping however confirms Lim's general sequence but places columns ' B' and 'C' at the same
stratigraphic level.
The sediments of the Ayer Chawan Facies are dominantly fine grained with lamella bedding and only
minor current features. These features, together with the occurrence of finely disseminated carbonaceous
matt er suggest a low energy environment. The characteristic black colouration, due, it is believed, to the
presence of finely divided pyrite, points to a reducing environment. It is thought that these anaerobi c
conditions occurred after phases of volcanic activity and were responsible for the elimination of the biota
presen t.
Dr. I.G. Speden (pers. comm.) recognised six mode-of-life element s in the Myophoria assemblage
(Table I). Of these, group T requires a firm to moderately firm substrate containing organic material for
food , and reasonably oxygenated sediments, altho ugh its members can tolerate lower oxygen
concentrations than most infaunal bivalves. The other five groups require moderately firm to firm,
relatively stable substrates which can provide suitable holdfasts (shells, pebbles, wood or grain fragments,
and marine plants), in a low to moderate energy environment with adequate oxygen and food. The species
would not tolerate anaerobic or high energy scouring environmental conditions, nor excessive turbidity .
Most species in group '5' can rebury themselves if exhumed by currents or buried to a moderate depth , but
would not tolerate frequent displacement. Dominance, both numerically and in diversity, of the assemblage
of suspension feeders, indicates low turbidity.
39
+>-
o
Fi g. 3.32 Fossil collection localiries of Lilli ( /974) ( Ll - Ll/ ) and Chin Fall (/965) ( CFl - CF8)
j i'Ol li the Jurong area. Locations (A ) t o ( E) refer to Lims detailed sect ions.
r 11 \\ I jI.l, 7000 m N I I I II
p u
'>
./...OCAT/ ON MAP
1 : 1,000, 000
L2
BuRGH
CF3
L3
JALAN CF4
eF7
I BRAHI J L4
IN lE RNATI ONAL r ROAD
L6(C)
DODDI
SHIPYAR D
A,REA / N t)/CA 7'D A,80 V
L5CA)
I II I IFPt II 1,5
! 35" > I I L t.
I 1\ 'I' I I I II \ I I :..... 1\ I 1
I }I 1/ I r
I .sCAI- ; I : .2S. 000 I I' '"3 000m. N
3 2 33 3l
o
o
o W
.........
All groups frequently occur together in the stratigraphic record and are characteristic of shallow shelf
to enclosed ma rine bay habit ats of normal sa linity, turbidity, oxygenation, and low to moderate energy
condit ions.
The evidence of bioturbati o n a nd frequent incursion of sand often carrying the Gonodon-Posidonia
fauna a lso argues against an anaerobic deep barred basin type setting but rat her a shallow water, sheltered,
low energy setting, possibly similar to the brackish coastal areas found in tropical areas at the present time,
but with a volcanic province nea rby to supply the tuffaceous material. The Gonodon bearing sand beds
possibl y arose thro ugh longshore drift during the longer periods of volcanic quiescence. Lim noted that the
Gonodon a nd Posidonia shells were all orientated and convex upwards suggesting transport and reworking
before burial.
TABLE I
Mode of life elements for species listed by Lim (1974) as having been fo und in sediment mapped as
Ayer C hawa n Facies in this report.
I . Infaunal mobile deposit feeders: Pa/aeonei/o sp ., Pa/aeonucu/a sp .
2. Endobyssate and epibyssate suspension feeders: Cassiane//a sp . Pt eria pahangensis. Posidonia sp .,
Ha/obia sp., Buchia sp.*, Pa/aeo/ima sp., A vicu/ima sp., Lima spp. (2), Pa/aeopharus sp.
3. Epifaunal free-swimming suspension feeder s: Amusiw/1 sp., Sync)'c/onema* (? = EnlO/ium) sp., and
possibl y the Pecten spp'* ('J4).
4. Epifaunal ce mented suspension feeders: P/icalU/a sp., Spondy /us dubiosus ( Bittner).
5. Shallo\v b u r rowin g siphona te and non-siphonate suspen sion feeders: Tri gonodus sp.,
AllodolllOphora spp. ('In Costatoria spp'* ('76), Gruemva/dia sp ., Ml 'ophoria sp., Neoschizodus sp ..
Gonodon sp., Cardium scrirenori.
6. Other: Gastropod sp .
RIM Al) FACIES (Jr )
The Rimau Facies is na med from Sarang Rimau at the north-west tip of Sentosa Isl and where the
faci es is well exposed . The type secti o n is defined as those beds lying above (to the south-west of) the red
mudsto ne exposed beneath the Siloso Jetty (GR 46 1393). A north-west trending fold axis lies 100 m south-
west of the jett y a nd the section is re peated to the south-west 160 m of sed iment being exposed.
The Rimau Facies is found on Mt. Faber and Kent Ridge as far north-wes t as Sungei Ul u Pandan , on
the north side of Pul au Brani, and forms t he south- west coastline of Sentosa Isla nd and the bulk of Pul au
Tekuk o r, and the St. Johns Island group. It is also found on the sout h-eastern side of the mai n granite mass
on Singapore Island.
Content
The Rimau Facies is typified by quartzite and conglomer ate. Both r ock types are welllithified and as
such fo rm the backbone of the prominent north-west trending ridges of Mt. Faber, Kent Ridge, and the
southern islands.
In these areas the conglomerate contains sub-angular to rounded fragment s, usuall y less than 5 em in
diameter, but so metimes of cobble grade, of quartz, tu ff, quartz sandstone, chert, rhyolite, basic igneous
pebbles, and pebbles of red sandstone presumed to be derived from the Queenstown Facies and schist
presumably deri ved from the Mura i Schist. Quartz, probably a vein quartz, is by far the dominant lithology
of the clasts however. The ryJatrix is usually a coa rse sub-angular quartz sand, but feldspar has been
recogni sed, usually having weathered to clay. Tourmaline, fluorite and zircon occur as heavy minerals and
haematite and magnetite were recorded by Chin (1965) as the only observable opaque minerals. Wong
(1960) also recorded limonite and leucoxene.
Dr . I. G. Speden (per s. comm.) stated that Pecten and Costatoria may be conspecific and that SI'ncyclonema may be Ento/ium sp. He
a lso said that Buchia sp. is only known fr om late Jurassic to early Cretaceous and must therefore be a misidentification in these
collections.
41
Thin sections of the sandstone show a typical arrangement of close packed sub-angular well-sorted
grains (Fig. 3.33). Quartz may form up to 98% of the rock, with biotite, t o urmaline and traces of iron oxide,
usually as a coating on the quartz grains, also being present. Quartz sandstone fragements can also be seen
in the rock. In other thin sections, chlorite, illite and do ubtful kaolinite were recognised as alterations of
feldspar.
The quartz conglomerate beds of the Pasir Panjang coast and southern islands are usually a grey white
colour, but the associated quartz sandstone is often st ained pink, and hence shows similarities to the
coarser horizons in the Queenstown Facies. On the southern islands the pink colouration is also seen in the
conglo mera teo
Beds of the Rimau Facies are usually 0.5 m to 1.5 m thick and coarse cross beddings and scour features
are common. Beds between I cm and 10 cm thick of silt and fine sand grade may be seen between the
thicker beds, and these may show a greater variety of sedimentary current features .
Field Relations
Although the Rimau Facies is a distinctive member in the field, its field relationships are not always
clear. It can be seen to lie conformably on a volcanic conglomerate of the Ayer Chawan Facies on Sentosa
Island and on the St. Johns Facies on Lazarus Island and is intimately associated with the Queenstown
Facies and Ayer Chawan Facies along Kent Ridge. To the north-west it appears to wedge out and pass
laterall y into Queenstown Facies and Ayer Chawan Facies. Identical rocks have been described by Priem
(1975) from the Bintan Formation from the Riau Archipelago.
The general coa rse nature of the facies and the presence of cross-bedding and current-bedding features
suggest a shallow water, near-shore, probably deltaic en vi ronment close to a rising land mass that has been
deeply leached. The clay residual has been removed , possibly to be incorporated in the Queenstown and
Tengah Facies prior to the deposition of the Rima u Facies.
The juxtaposition of the Rimau Facies to the domina ntly terrestrial Queenstown Facies and marine St.
John Facies support s the argument for a near-shore envi ronment.
ST. JOHN FACIES (Jsj)
The SI. John Facies is a pale grey mudstone and muddy sandstone found in the Southern Island group
and pOSSibly MI. Guthrie, and the type area is defin ed as the south-west coast of Lazarus Island, and
including tho se beds below the lowest quartz pebb le bed exposed at the south-west tip of the island.
Content
The rock is a pale grey muddy sandstone with well defined ripple marked beds, current bedding,
graded bedding and minor intraformational breccia (Fig. 3.34). Lenses of coal, less than 2 mm thick, are
also characteri stic of thi s facies , and were not recorded in any other facies . No petrographic or
sedimentological studi es were carried out on this facies. Because of the presence of coal and a marine fauna ,
the MI. Guthrie rocks, although now removed, are ma pped as part of the St. John Facies .
Newton (quoted by Burton 1973 B) suggested t hat the Mt. Guthrie collection was taken from an
estuarine or lagoonal deposit, and the nysch-like cha racter of the rest of the other facies suggests a shallo\\
but un stable marine basin.
Field Relations
The SI. John Facies appears to pass laterally into the Queenstown Facies to the north-west and is
interbedded with it on Sentosa Island and also with tuffaceous beds mapped as Ayer Chawan Facies . It is
found mainl y below the Rimau Facies but it is also fo und within the Rimau Facies at Mt. Chermin.
TENGAH FACIES (Jt)
This member includes all those rocks of the Jurong Formation found in Singapore that have not been
included within the other five facies. No formal type area or definition is therefore proposed. They are
recognised however as being typically a muddy fine to medium grained poorly lithified sandstone, and as
they show this specific unifying characteristic, are not mapped as undifferentiated Jurong Formation. For
the same reason they are not mapped as a continuation of the Bukit Resam Member of Burton (1973 A) .
42
Fig.
Facies f rom Kent Ridge
45 .'(
Plain Polarized Light
' -r_ ,
.. " ':-\.' "
" ..t-"
\
\
\,
'-

\

- .. ...
..' ..

't" .
. ,;1 -, -'. -,
_ ."-"-: '
. ... :
,
t
:1 __
.-...... ..a.. -, .-..,. ... 4._
'C.. ,, _ - :.... . . r---1'oi ., ,.-
,
Fig, 3.34 Outcrop of the St. John 's Facies showing pale grey I/luddy sandstone and
mudstone with intraformational breccia, St. John's Island.
..,
43
The facies is found extensively in the area from Tengah west towards the coast and south to lurong. It
is also found lying between the Rimau and Queenstown Facies betwee n Sungei Ulu Pandan and Keppel
Harbour and is assumed to be present in contact with the Rimau Facies to the east of the granite.
Content
o detailed work has been done on the sedimentology or petrology of this facies, but the poor sorting
of the sa ndstone and conglomerate, and the rapid change in grain size from mudstone to grit suggests a
fl ysch-like deposition. The sediment is a muddy quartz-rich fine to medium sandstone, usually only poorl y
indurated, so that as a result of weathering there a re few natural outcrops. The member is usually well
bedded with beds being 2 em to 30 em thick, but moderately welliithified beds up to I m thick can be seen .
Such beds are well exposed in a n excavation I km north of the Jurong Road (GR 387498) . The weillithified
beds are generall y quartz-rich and appear to have been cemented by silica.
Occasional yellow-brown roundstone conglomerate and grit beds are found, particularly to the north-
west of Nanyang University, along the Pasir Laba Ridge, and along the ridge north ofSungei Murai. Many
o f the pebbles, some of which are up to 10 cm in di a meter, appear to be derived by the contemporaneous
erosion of the Jurong Formation.
Lim (1974) collected his Gonodon fauna from sediments assumed to be part of the Tengah Facies.
These have been discussed together with his Myoph oria collections under the Ayer Chawan Facies.
Field Relations
The Tengah Facies is seen to be interbedded with all the other facies with the exception of the St. Johns
and Jong Facies. It appea rs to be the la teral equivalent of t he Queenstown and Rima u Facies and passes up
int o the main body of the Ayer Chawan Facies .
The presence of Gonodon an d Posidonia in rock s supposed to belong to this facies suggests a marine
environment and the general bedding characteristics support this. Both species are bottom surface dwelling
or shallo\", borrowing marine types preferring moderate to firm substrates. They could be exhumed and
redeposited by low energy currents ( Dr . l.G. Speden, per comm.). The orientation of Gonodon shells as
disc ussed by C hi n ( 1965) points to the periodic influx of s teady directional ocean currents for this purpose.
MURAl SCHIST
It is not proposed that the Murai Schist be recognised as a formal geological unit but rather a zone of
well developed cleavage in rocks otherwise recognised so fa r as sediments of the Queenstown, Jong and
Tengah Facies.
The Schist Zone forms a belt up to 0.5 km wide trending north-east from Tanjong Skopek to include
the a rea ori gi nal ly described by Alexander ( 1950). A smaller schist zone was found o n the north arm of the
Pasi r Laba Ridge (G R 295494) and another , not recorded on the map, in the Jo ng Facies in Jurong (G R
332452).
Content
The unifying characteri stic of the Murai Schist is the well developed cleavage in the pelitic sedimen t
and a coarser fracture or folia tion in the arenaceous sediment, in both cases subparallel to the bedding (Fig .
3.35) . While the cleavage pl anes a re planar, the foliation planes in the coarser sediment are knotted, and
elongation, with lenticular nodules lying along the foliat ion planes, is obvious. The harder tuffaceous
material within the schist zone has resisted shear.
I t is not clear in thin section if any metamorphic minerals have formed, white mica being the onl y
probability. An apparent spotting, formed by the presence of a few small areas rich in fine-grained white
mica , was recognised in one thin section of slate. In the slate, quartz is the main recognisable mineral.
Slately cleavage is well shown by the parallel orientation of small mica flakes and lines of iron oxide
granules. There are a few small irregular areas rich in fi ne-grained white mica. The coarse arenite can be
seen in thin section to form a poorly schistose rock formed from a quartz rich sandstone. There appears to
have been an overall reduction in average grain size by pronounced shearing. Many of the quartz grains
show undulose extinction while others have been reduced to a mosaic of tiny interlocking grains. A few
large grains have conspicuous lamella structures, probably resulting from crushing. In addition to the
quartz, there is also occasional fragments of very fine-grained chert, usually grey or dark grey in colour,
44
because of the finely divided opaque inclusions. There are scattered aggregates and streaks of mica , many
of which are clouded by fine-grained alteration, while the borders bet ween many of the quartz and other
grains are outlined by opaque material, probably iron oxide.
Field Relations
The rocks of the schist zone are in fault contact with the Tengah Facies to the north-west and there is a
marked angular unconformity across this fault. To the south-east however, the schist is seen to pass up int o
non-sheared Queenstown and Tengah Facies rocks, and bedding is concordant.
VOLCA IC ROCKS WITHI N THE JURONG FORMATIO
Introduction
Volcanic activity comtemporaneous with the sedimentary deposition of the lurong Formation has
given rise to spilite, tuff, chert a nd dolerite within the formation.
Spilite
The spilite is defined as those soda rich basalts found as lavas and relict boulders in or associated with
rocks of the Ayer Chawan and long Facies.
Alexander ( 1950) recorded lavas at Tanjong Kling, Tanjong Gul and on Pulau Sakra , on each
occasion associated with chert . Chin ( 1965) recorded the presence of a volca nic breccia on Pul a u Samulun
and Lim (1974) noted boulders of spilite some 400 m no rth of Selat Pul au Damar.
The present authors can confirm the find of Lim north of Selat Pul au Damar (GR 352448). Spili te
boulders have also been found during this sur vey in the Jurong area at GR 350452 and GR 363466 (Fig
3.36). On each occasion the boulders have been left after excavation activities within the Ayer ChawJIl
Facies , an d the relationship with the host rock cannot be seen. The on ly spilite found interbedded wi th the
Jurong Formation lies in sandstone of the Jong Facies on the northern shore of Pulau S;l lu. There the roc
forms an elongated pillow approximately 2 m long and 25 em thick (Fig. 3.37).
Composition
The spilite is described by Lim (1974) as being a dark green amygdaloidal rock containing phenocrysts
of albite and epidote in a matrix o f small albite laths showing a trachytic texture in a matt of chlorite. He
identi fi ed six groups of amygdales; those filled with ca lcite, calcite and quartz, quartz, chlorite and
plagioclase, quart z a nd plagioclase, and plagi oclase. Large angular inclusions were obser ved by the authors
in boulders near Sel at Pulau Da mar (Fig. 3.38), but they were not mentioned by Lim and have not been
studied by the a utho rs.
Tuff
Lithified tuff only, found within the lurong Formation, is included under this heading. It appears as a
crystal tuff and is made up mainly of crystals in a chloritized matrix. The poorly lithified ashy tuff cannot
realistica lly be separated from the sediment and hence is not discussed under this heading.
Alexander (1950) recorded a coarse tuff associated with chert on Pulau Pergam. This occurrence was
confirmed during the present investigation. Tuff interbedded with sandstone and also associated with chert
was also found on Pulau Salu. The beds are approximately I to 2 m thick and are well exposed on the
western shore of the island.
Composition
In hand specimen the tuff appears as a hard, dense, green rock, containing phenocrysts up to 2 mm,
which consist of feldspar and quartz. The tuff on Pulau Pergam is coarse grained, showing crystals up to I
cm in length.
The rock from Pulau Pergam has been described by Dr . W .A. Watters (pers. comm.) as a rhyolitic
crystal tuff containing numerous crystals of acid plagioclase, orthoclase, and quartz set in a fine-gr ained
matr ix with abundant pale green chlorite. A few irregular elongate aggregates made up of chlorite and
45
46
Fig. 3.35 S chistose sandst one f rom the Murai S chist .
45 .\ Plain Polari:: ed Light
!JIl
Fig. 3.36 A large boulder of spilite at Jurong Pier Road.
! .
- - - _.-
." " ---. ...
.; ; - - ~ . :"
" 40 ',
- - 1"-
Fi g. 3.37 Grey spilitic body associat ed
\I'ith coarse sandstone and
chert on Pulau Salu.
.. \
, ''i;,.

, "
Fi t!. ) . ) 8 Ang ular inclusi ons ill s!Ji//!('
houlder ne(l r S ela! PlI !a u
/Jallla r, ( GR
Fi g. 3. 39 Large crystals of quart z .
o rth o cla se and a c id
plagioclase in rhy olithi c
crystal tulI Pulau Pergam.
Nort h- west Singapore.
45X Crossed Nicols
.+7
sericite may represent original fragments of pumica . There are also a few small areas of calcite and tiny
aggregates of granular sphene (Fig. 3.39) .
The tuff from Pulau Salu is also a rhyolitic cryst al tuff. It shows a fine-grained groundmass consisting
mainly of plagioclase and quartz with subordinate orthoclase. All the minerals appear to be fresh (Fig.
3.39) .
Chert
The chert is a cryptocryst alline form of silica which occurs as bands or layers in the sedimentary rocks
o f the Jurong Formation . The chert is interstratified with spilitic lava, and it is therefore assumed that the
silica owes its origin to the volcanism associated with the spilitic lavas.
Chert was found abundantly on Pulau Salu where it forms bands, layers , small lenses, and redeposited
fragments within the long Facies immediately below the spilite.
No thin sections were made of the chert, so no comment can be made of their contents.
Dolerite
The dolerite is a medium grained basic hypabyssal igneous rock , mineralogica ll y and chemicall y
equ ivalent to gabbro or basalt .
Scri venor ( 1924) repo rted the occurrence of do leri te bo ulders at the site of the Ta n Tock Seng Hospita l
res ting o n the Jurong Fo rmati on. At the Hospit al site sedimentary rock o f the Rima u Facies is seen to
out crop. but no igneous bo ulders have been loca ted du ring this survey despite det ailed work and drilling in
t he a rea. We suspect that the boulders reported by Scriveno r were not resi dua l bo ulders weathered out
fro m dykes cutting the Tri ass ic sedimentary rock, but tha t they were derived fr o m dykes in the gran ite
whi ch lies about 40 m to the west.
There is evidence o f o nl y one dolerite dyke cutt ing the Jurong Forma tion. On the western shore o f
Pul a u Sen a ng, an ali gnment o f boulders. each abo ut 60 cm in diameter, indi cates the presence of the dyke
whose stri ke is readil y inferred ( Fig. 3.40).
Composition
The dark grey medium-grained rock from Pulau Senang is an olivine bearing undersaturated dolerite .
The rock is holocrystalline and is made up of long slender laths of calcic plagioclase whose intergranula r
spaces are filled with anhedral augite crystals. Occasi onal phenocrysts of strongly serpentinized olivine
were found.
The abundance o f a ugite a nd the rel ativel y un a ltered state of the feldspar and pyroxene of this basic
dyke on Pul a u Sen ang a re in ma rked contrast with the dolerite dykes associ ated with the Bukit Timah
Gr a nit e ( Fig. 3.41 ).
Field Relations
The field relati o ns of each of the volcanic rocks listed above have been discussed in the sections dealing
wit h the respecti ve host fa cies.
Age and Correlation
Scrivenor (1924) specified two fossil collections, one from "a cutting near the top of the road that leads
to the Mt. Faber Ridge by way of Morse and Pender Roads" and the other from Mt. Guthrie. Newton
(1923) reported on both collections and assigned them to the Upper Triassic (Rhaetic) and ? Middle
Jurassic respectively. Scrivenor considered however tha t the sediment predated the granite because the
sedimentary beds dipped away from the granite, and there was no evidence of the folding, common in the
sediment, continuing into the granite.
Alexander (1950) accepted the same time sequence as Scrivenor and described a core boulder of
granite which she interpreted as a residual of an intrusive dyke penetrating 60 cm into the sediment. She
extended the time range of the lurong Formation t o span from? Carboniferous to ? Jurassic. Her fossil
collections had not been studied at the time she wrote her report but were later reported by Cox (Burton
1973 B) as being upper Triassic. Later collections by Chin (1965) and Li m (1974) confirm this upper
Triassic age.
48
. _1
l
Fig. 3.40
Fig. 3.4\ Augite crvstals, partly interstitial between calcic plagioclase, and partly
enclosing some of the plagioclase, in dolerite, Pulau Senang.
45X Crossed Nicols
49
The age of the Mt. G uth rie collecti on was reassessed by Kobayash i and Tamura ( 1968), who suggested
a lower Jurassic age for this assemblage. With the stratigra phic detail now a vailable, the Mt. Guthrie site
a ppea rs to lie so me 200 m above the Morse Road site (Section E map 9) but still at least 400 m below the
top o f the Jurong Formation. Their relationship to the collections in the Jurong area cannot be established.
No evidence of contact metamorphism of the Jurong Formation was found during this survey, and no
evidence o f intrusi o n was seen. The example of intrusion cited by Alexander (1950) could not be relocated:
she described a s ingle residual boulder in deeply weathered material close to the granite pluton as
representing a d yke . In view of the more recent datings obta ined for the two formations it is thought that
she mi sin terpreted this outcrop. In this report the Jurong Formation is interpreted as being younger than
the granite. The palaeontologica l evidence suggests an upper Triassic age for the Jurong Formation
wherea s the isotopic age for the Bukit Timah Granite is approximately 220 Ma (early to mid Triassic) or
even older depending on the decay factor used in the isotopic age determinations.
The age of the Jurong Formation is thus deduced to be mid-Triassic to early Jurassic. Fig. 3.27
.illustra tes diagrammatically the relationship of the various facies.
The Jurong Formation is correlated with the Bukit Resam Member (Burton 1973 A) in Johor. No
equivalent of the Gunong Pulai of Burton (op. Cil) is recognised in Singapore. The spilite noted by Lim
( 1974) a nd by the authors, and the lavas reported by Alexa nder (1950) are mapped in the Ayer Chawan
Faci es a nd a re thus too high in the stratigraphic sequence t o be correlated with the Gunong Pulai Member.
The Jurong Formation is also correlated with the Bintan Formation described by Priem (el at) (1975)
from the Riau Archipelago, and Proffeso r H.N.A. Priem ( pers. comm.) stated that sediment of the Rimau
Facies sho ws a ma rked similarity to th ose sediment s of t he Bintan Formation. Burton (1973 B) has also
co rrelat ed th e J uro ng Form ati o n with the Kerda u and Jel ai Formati o ns of ax ial Ma laya , and the top of the
Juro ng Fo rmati o n with the Mura u Conglomerate a nd t he base of the Tembeling Formation .
The period of faultin g of the Jurong sediment whi ch gave rise to the M urai Schist is discussed in the
cha pt e r o n structu re .
OLD ALLLVI UM ( OA)
The term ' O lder Allu vium' was introduced by Alexa nder (1950) t o repl ace the term 'High Level
,-'\lluvium' fi rst used by Scri venor (1924) to describe the allu vial sa nd forming the hill s traversed 'by the
Ta mpines, Changi and East Coast Roads. Walker (in Stauffer, 1973) introduced the term ' Old Alluvium'
together with ' Yo ung Alluvium' for the deposits in the Kint a Valley in West Malaysia and the term 'Old
Allu viu m' has bee n adopted by Stauffer (1973 ) for th e Joho r-Singapore a rea.
l\i o fo rmal de finiti on o f the Old Alluvium has been prese nted and it is therefo re proposed that those
sediments exposed in t he Bedo k Sand Quarry, (G R 595475) a nd recorded in Public Utilities Board Test
hol e No . I at G R 598465, Bedok, be t a ken as the type ' Old Alluvium' for the Singapore-Johor area. A
summ3n log for Public Utilities Board Test hole N o. I is given in Fig. 3.42.
The Old Allu vium is fo und lying to the north and no rth-east of the Kallang River Basin between the
centra l gra nite a nd t he g ra nite at Cha ngi . Simil a r sed iments , a lso assigned t o the 'Old Alluvium' , a re found
in the no rth-west pa rt of the island in the Buloh Besar area where they lie against the Jurong Formation .
In Public Utilities Board Test hole No. I the Older Alluvium was found to lie at a depth of -149 m
directl y o n a quart z sandstone of the Sajahat Formation that has been contact metamorphosed, and the
nearby hill s rise to 35 m giving a thickness of a t least 184 m, and to 45 m 3 km to the north-west giving a
possible aggrega te thickness of 195 m. To the north between ee Soon and Seletar North the granite
base men t is thought to lie at a depth of -20 m to -40 m as a solid substrate which has been encountered but
not penetrated by drilling in that area. To the north-east a granite basement was encountered in Public
Utilities Board Test hole No.4 at a depth of -53 m. The Older Alluvium cuts out against the older
sedimentary rock at Punggol, and the Bukit Timah Granite at Se\etar North. As Pulau Ubin is also an
igneous mass, there is little room to carry the Older Alluvium through to its correlatives in Johor at or
below present sea level. On the western side of the island however, the Older Alluvium can be mapped as
continuing through in a north-west direction into Johor.
Content
Det ai ls of the content of the Old Alluvium have been documented by Alexander , (1950) , Burton (1964,
1973 A ), and Stauffer (1973).
50
5 6
2 3 4
20M
+ +
+
SEA + ....F;,, :-"'I." t-----
L VEL +
+ +
CW
+ +
+
+ +
20M + + +
+
MW
+
+ +
40M
bOM
8 0 M
100M
120M
140M
160M
180M
LEGEND
GRAVEL
SAND
SILT
CLAY
OLD ALLUVIUM
+ +
IGNEOUS ROCK + BUK IT TIMAH GRANITE
+ +
-200M
SANDSTONE SAJAHAT FORMATION
CW COMPLETELY WEATHERED
FIG.3.42 SUMMARY LOGS P.U.B TEST HOLES
MW MODERATELY WEATHERED
SW SLIGHTLY WEATHERED
51
.-\: :C-. ::: : : :-:le of mapping, the Old Alluvium was well exposed in excavations a t Bedok, and in the ma ny
send :- .:- : :- : he north, as well as in coasta l exposures between Bedok and C ha ngi, a nd on the north-west
coas: _- -:-: :: <::: Pulau Sarimbun. In all exposures the forma tion is seen t o be a clayey coarse ang ular sa nd
wit h of subrounded pebbles up to 4 cm in diameter (Fig. 3.43). The beds are often cross-bedded
with .:: .: ,,::: :'-::.::knesses up to 1.5 m. Cut and fill structures are a lso common and rare cl as tic dykes can be
seen I : -H l.
beds are also present, usually as small lent icul a r bodies . Alexa nder (1950) mentioned one
foun e \1.::Pherson Road about 30 cm thick and 14 m in length . Several fine-grained horizons were
reco r-= ::- :: :- : 'l :: Pub li c Utilities Boa rd Test holes, usually as fine sand and silt beds, and one clay layer at -36
m t o "3., recorded in Publi c Utilities Boa rd Test ho le No. I.
TC-:::: ;-,:: :--bles within the Old Alluvium are dominantly quart z, but , with rhyolite, chert, and argillite
pebb l::-- .=. :-::- 31 , 0 found. The quartz pebbles are generall y more angular, the others subrounded to rounded .
No g:-.:..:-: !::: t'ebbles have yet been found in Singapore but Burton (1973 A) recorded them in the Old
Allu\ ' -.::-:- Johor. The sand is qua rtzo-feldspathic with the feldspar weathering to clay to varying depths,
::-. excess of 8 m. Alexander (1950) found that 75% of the heavy mineral suite from a sample
colle.:::::- c ::::-3. r Ka mpo ng Mata Ikan (GR 640477) was made up o f magnetite and ilmenite, a nd that zircon,
cassit c ' :e. 3n d a few grains of monazite made up the rest. Scrivenor (1924) also found staurolite. Burton
(196..h :;-, di scussi ng the Old Alluvium in both Singapore and lohor listed in addition topaz, tourmaline,
pyrit e . 3.T12t3 Se. a nd sphalerite. No plant matter has been fo und in Singapore but again Burton (1973 A)
,u.::h fin ds in l ohor. Tai (1972) co llected a single ma rine fossil from the Old Alluvium in Singapore
and .-\ j::-\3.T1der ( 1950) recorded the presence of a water-wo rn gastropod preserved in black silica at
KanE" ,::g E unos Earth Quarry, but from her descripti on it is ass umed to be a derived specimen with a
c
y
' seconda ry sil ica minera l.
T:-.::- is usuall y uncemented but quit e dense an d with a low permea bility . Pfeiffer (1972) gives
c'I l eV to 10- i" m/ s for the permeability in the weathered zone of th e Old Alluvium. Zones of
cemeri : ., : ic'n :, re found but the cemented rock often disin tegrates after a few days exposure. Alexander
( 195 S I :, ug"e;;ted t hat the rock was li ghtl y cemented with sil ica o r possibl y a lumina . She then proceeded t o
sho\\ : h:: : .: Il'ss in weight o n exposu re to the Singapore climate ca n be recorded for water clear qua rt z
crys u ls. .: nd t hus suggested that the silica cement dissolved on expos ure di saggrega ting the rock. Her
experiment showed an average loss of 0.005% by weight over 6 weeks, but it is considered by
the aut hc'r , be LOO slow to explain the breaking down of la rge blocks within days of expos ure. A colloidal
sili ca .:e me nt is t ho ught mo re li kely to respond to wea thering wit hin thi s interval of time. Further study of
the ce men t hC1\\e\er. could usefully be ca rri ed out.
Sl'me :ife:lS of ce mented Old Alluvium have been exposed for several yea rs and yet have rema ined
cement ed. these a reas are plotted o n the map. N o study of the cement in these areas has been made .
Field Relations
The Cl)nt:lc t between the Old Allu viu m and older for mations is at present buried or obscured by deep
weather ing \\exander ( 1950) observed tongues of Old Alluvium lying on c lay that she identified as
weathered granite at Changi. The Old Alluvium is co nsidered to li e on sandstone in Publi c Ut ilities Board
Test hc)!e :" LI. I and gra nite in Publi c Utilities Boa rd Test hole NO.4 at depths of -149 m and -53 m
respecti \ely. Baseme nt had not been reached when Publi c Utiliti es Boa rd Test hole No.3 (GR 604501) was
terminated at -122 m.
T o the north near Punggo l, the Older Alluvium has been la id down against the Pal aeozoic sediments
and in the Buloh Besa r area against the lurong Formation . In neither case is the co ntact seen. It is possibl e
that part o f' the contact in the Buloh Besar a rea is faulted.
The ge neral texture of the Old Alluvium as exposed in Singa pore is consistent with that of an alluvi al
fan or piedmont plain type deposit. No evidence of' marine incursion could be see n, but the presence of9 m
of clay in Public Uti lities Boa rd Test hole No. I , other fine-grai ned layers in that and other deep boreholes,
may indicate marine deposition . No firm correlations coul d be made however from one hole to another.
Yerstappen ( 1975) discussed the changes in climate that can be expected inthe South-East Asian area
during the Pleistocene, and described conditions that would a llow the development of such piedmont
pl a ins.
Age and Correlation
There is no direct evidence for the age of the Old All uvium in Singapore. Scrivenor (1924) originall y
assumed it to be o f Quaternary age and Alexander (1950) listed it as? Pleistocene. Burton (1964) stated that
its deposition may extend back at the most to la te Pliocene.
52
Fig. 3.43
~ l ~
. ~ ; . ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ f
Fig. 3.44 Clastic dl'k e in Old AlluviulII at Bedok Sand
Pit (GR 592475 ).
53
Sta uffe r ( 1973) li sted finds of a mid Plei stocene elephant tooth ( Palaeoloxodon nallladicus) from the
Kint a Va ll ey , M alaya a nd remain s of a rhinoceros, suid deer , turtle shells, a nd ca tfi sh spines, whi ch are
regarded as probably o f Pl eistocene age.
Three radi o metric ages were li sted by Stauffer (op cit), fro m Sungei Besi , Malaya . Two samples gave
C I4 ages of> 41,200 and > 41,500 respectively and a re t hus beyond the limit of the method, and the third
yielded a n age o f 36,420 (+ 1255-1085) BP from wood ap pa rentl y in the positi on o f growth . Radioca rbo n
determi na ti ons on wood and peat fro m the Kint a Va ll ey proved to be beyond the ra nge of the method. The
ge ne ral cha racter o f the fo rmati on however suggest s a grea ter age th an 36, 000 yea rs a nd the authors
consider t hat thi s date should be accepted with cauti on. It wo uld require less tha n 1% contaminati on by
presen t day orga ni c materia l to produce a fi gure o f this order.
Apart fr o m the cha racteristi cs of deep weatheri ng, the common occurrence of slumping due t o the
soluti on of t he underl ying bedrock, and the degree of dissection, listed by Stauffer (1973) , the occurrence of
O ld All uvi um in deep troughs must also be consi dered in a di scussi on of its age. The Old Alluvium is fo und
t o a dep th of -149 m in Singa po re. Aleva (1 973) plotted, by use of an aco usti c continuous profiler, cha nnel s
cut t o a depth of -1 00 m and filled with an ' Allu vial Complex' , between the Singkep a nd Bangka Islands,
and aga in a ro und t he Ka rimata Islands, a n area about 3 o f la titude to the south and south-eas t of
Singapo re. These cha nnels li e benea th a ' Younger Sediment ary Cover' and below an extensive 'Marine
Abr as ion Surface' now a t a depth of -20 m t o -30 m, It would appea r rea sona ble to correl a te Aleva's
All uvial Comp lex with the Old Alluvium and hi s ' Younger Sedimentary Series' with members o f t he
Kallang Forma tion .
He described the Alluvi a l Compl ex a s lying on an ' Ol der Sediment a ry Cover' and fillin g deep trough s
within thi s Older Sedimenta ry Cover. He recogni sed evi dence for repea ted ve rtica l movement s o f t he
eros ional base level , and sma ll sca le block fa ult ing during the deposit ion of hi s Older Sediment ary Cover.
Pa lyno logical dete rmin ation s on t he Older Sedi mentary Cove r indi cate a Mi ocene-Pliocene age, but gi ve
no clear di st inction between the Older Sediment a ry Cove r a nd the Alluvia l Complex. The two unit s also
s howed similar li thologies in drill cores . A leva suggested that an upper Tertiary to Plei stocene age wo uld be
reaso nable for t he depos it ion of both the Older Sedimenta ry Cove r and the overl ying Alluvial Complex.
Fro m t he e\idence cited above it appea rs that the Old Alluviu m o f Singapo re must da te fr om a peri od
dur ing which tectonic movements were sti ll tak ing place. It ca nno t reaso nab ly be argued that erosio n has
cut a channel In Singa po re to a de pth of 149 m below sea -l evel so far from the post ul a ted edge of the
Ple is tocene Sunda la nd with out it being a modifi ca t ion of a downfaulted or downwa rped zo ne . It is possibl e
ho\\ever that the buried va ll ey is pa rtl y fill ed wit h the equ ivalent of Aleva's Older Sediment a ry C-ove r, but
thi s ha s not been recogn ised in d rill ho le or geophys ica l exp lo ra ti on.
Terti a ry \\arping has been recognised in the semi-crat on of the Asian lith os pheric pl a te. Folding o f
Terti a ry sediment accompa nying fa ult ing has been recogni sed along the Kua la Lumpur- Enda u fault
zone in Ma lays ia (Gobbett a nd Tj ia 1973) and Renwick a nd Ri shwo rth ( 1966) repo rt ed la te Terti a ry
sedi me nt s dipping at up to 25" to a level o f at least 144 m bel ow sea-level fr o m ka mpo ng Bukit Kepo ng in
Jo hor. The areas o f block fa ult ing cited above a nd those recogni sed by Aleva ( 1973) a lso li e withi n the
Asian lithosphe ri c plate.
As wa rping or fa ulting ap pea rs to continue through at least t o late Terti a ry time , a nd deposition of the
Old All uvium appea rs to be tied to this fa ul ting, deposition must have co mmenced by the end of the
Tert ia ry.
The re is in suffic ient d a ta to reconstruct the o riginal agg ra da tiona l surface o f the Old Alluvium. The
top of t he unit in Singa po re li es at 46 m but in Jo hor is reco rded up to 70 m with ma rine beds occurring at
thi s height and do ubtfull y t o 138 m. As the Old Allu viu m is do mina ntl y a terrestri a l deposit , thi s deposit ion
must be tied in to a base level which wa s at times as high as 70 m. Aleva (1973) mapped his Allu vial
Complex as preda ting hi s upper pla na ti on surface which he correl a ted with the Ri ss-Wurm Interglaci a l.
Verstappen ( 1975) showed that a clima tic change with lower precipita t ion, ra infa ll , a nd temperature would
a llow for the deposition of a coa rse poorly weathered sediment similar to that o f the Old Alluvium, and
thus depositi on ca n be associ a ted with climatic changes accompanying the Pleistocene glaci a tions . It would
fo ll ow tha t d ur ing the wa rm interglacial s, a more deepl y weathered finer-grained sediment would be
deposited . Such sedimentation has not been recognised within the Old Alluvium, but erosion of the Old
Alluvium during the Wurm Glaci ation is recognised and fine sediment is deposited in the eroded channel s.
T he upper limit o f the Old Alluvium is thus t aken to coincide with the climat ic wa rming following, a t
the la test , the Riss Glaci a ti on, but beca use o f the absence o f ' normal' sedimenta tion within the Old
Alluvium, it is proba bl y ea rlier.
54
Variations in the term Old Alluvium and it s predecessors have been used in Singapore and West
Malaysia since Scrivenor first recognised the unit in Si ngapore, and the correlatives in this area have been
discussed by Stauffer (1973) . The Alluvial Complex of Aleva et af. ( 1973) is also correlated with the Old
AIluvium a nd deposits underlying the Palembang peneplain and described by Verstappen (1975) also
appear to be correlatives.
HUAT CHOE FORMATION (HC)
The formation is defined as those mostly fine-g rai ned, ponded, terrestrial sediments exposed in clay
pits 1.5 km north of Huat Choe Village and I km north-east of Nanyang University (Fig. 3.45) . Such
deposits do not appear to have been recorded in Singapore before.
The formation has been recognised in one area only and is of limited extent. It covers an area of
approximately 400 by 200 m and from the lowest exposure to the upper eroded surface it is not more than 6
m thick. It has been separated out from the other Quaternary deposits because of its different depositiona l
setting, its supposed age, and its economic use.
Content
The formation is made up of a poorly bedded white kaolin-rich clay with minor amounts of quartz
gravel. The clay is similar to that in the low-lying areas of deeply leached Jurong Formation rocks nearby,
and it is probable that the clay was derived from these rocks . Plant remains , mainly sedges, and the shells of
an unidentified land snail were found within the deposits, but no systematic work has been done on these
remains . Although the sedges were in situ, it needs to be established that the land snails, whose shells shO\\
littl e sign of leaching, have not been introduced accidently into the clay pit s during extraction of the clay.
Field Relations
Exposures show the formation as lying uncon forma bly on an eroded, moderately weathered surface of
moderate relief cut in the Jurong Formation. It li esjust to the east of a fault bounding, and thus within the
down thrown Jurong area, and it is suggested that it was laid down as a lacustrine sediment within this area
during the period of faulting. It is probable that other , as yet unrecognised deposits occur close to the faul t.
Age
There is little evidence as to the age o f the Huat C hoe Formation. There is no evidence of Lithificat io n
or obvious in-situ weathering, unless it was leached in pl ace, suggesting any great age. Its position does not
relat e to the present-day drainage pattern, but more to the position of the fault mentioned a bove. There is
no evidence to date the las t faul t movement. Burt on ( 1973 A) observed tight folding and minor faulting in
the Old Alluvium in Joho r and thus movement s in the ea rly Pleistocene, or even younger can be postulated .
It is suggested that th e Huat Choe Formation is take n as lower mid-Plei stocene or younger.
TEKONG FORMATION (T)
The sediments forming the wide terraces standing between 3.6 m and 5.5 m, usually a round 4.0 m,
above sea-level on Pulau Tekong Kechil and Pulau Tekong are assigned to the Tekong Formation (Fig.
3.46). Sediments beneath surfaces within the same height range on Pulau Ubin and at Changi, a nd
remnants of terraces along the north-east and south-west coasts of Singapore are also correlated with the
Tekong Formation, as also are terrace deposits found at a similar height in the tidal reaches of Sungei
Serangoon, Sungei Seletar, Sungei Kranji and Sungei Pandan, and above base level in the Bedok Valley .
Bore holes in the type area on Pulau Tekong Kechil pass through some 5 m of sand before
encountering a yellow clay containing quart z pebbles. As drilling did not continue into this clay it is not
know if this represents the base of the formation . Quartz pebble beds were not recognised in the underlying
Palaeozoic rocks although quartz veins were seen . Quartz pebbles were recognised within the Tekong
Formation at the type locality.
Content
The borehole records describe the formation as being a loose fine to very fine light brown sand with
peat and wood fragments, and occasional quartz pebbles. An exposure by the river at Changi (G R 659538)
reveals a well sorted light brown slightly iron-stained fi ne to medium quartz sand. The drilling records also
report the presence of fragmented shells within the cuttings.
55
_ . _.J
56
Fig. 3.46 Terrace of the Tekong Formation on Pulau Tekong Kechil. It has a mean
average height of 4 111 above mean sea-level. Viewed from Pulau Sajahat
Besar.
Field Relations
The base of the unit has not been recognised with certainty, but the formation is seen to overlie each of
the pre-Tertiary formations, and it is assumed that it lies unconformably on these formations . Young
terraces have been cut into the Tekong Formation, particularly along the Pasir Panjang coast.
Apart from being finer grained, the unit shows similar characteristics to the present day sand banks
south of Pulau Tekong, and it is suggested that the formation represents beach and off-shore sand bank
deposits tied to a previous higher sea-level stand at about 6 m. The presence of shell fragments in the Pulau
Tekong Formation supports this suggestion.
Age and Correlation
The Tekong Formation is assumed to have been deposited at a period when sea-level stood at about 6
m, and its deposition could thus be tied to the 'Daly Levels' variously quoted as 5 m or 6 m and dated as
having occurred between 6,000 and 7,000 BP (Tjia, 1970, Tjia, et al. 1972, and Fairbridge, 1961).
It ha s been argued by Nossin (1964) that beach ridges are at present being constructed to heights of 6
m along the east coast of Malaya, but surfaces recognised in Singapore all lie in sheltered zones, on islands
within the Johor River mouth area, and within the sheltered tidal reaches of rivers flowing north into the
Selat Johor, and hence such aggradation is not to be expected. Even around the more exposed southern and
south-western islands, wave energy is low. Swan (1971 ) stated that waves of I m height were exceptional ,
and these were observed to the south-west at Raffles Lighthouse on Pulau Satumu.
The subsequent cutting of terraces in the Tekong Formation on the south-west coast lends support to
the hypot hesis that these terraces are not present-day features.
Deposits of a similar elevat ion have been reported fro m Indonesia and Malaysia, and are correlated
with the Tekong Formation, and Tji a (1970) listed terraces at 6 m to 8 m on Bangka and Billiton, and
referred to the presence of further terraces of similar heights in the Indonesian Archipelago.
KALLANG FORMATION
This formation includes the sedi mentary deposit s discussed by Alexander (1950) under the heading of
' Recent Alluvium a nd related deposits' and the recent deposits referred to by Scriveno r (1924) . The
formation is na med from the Kallang River Basin where it is most extensive, but no type area is proposed
as the formation is poorl y exposed. Most of the evidence for the existence and subdivision of this formati on
comes from boreholes. and the physiographic setting of the deposit. The formation is found along the
coast line a nd extending into the hea dwa ters of the rivers draining Singapore, its most extensive
development being around Sungei Kallang, Sungei Jurong, Sungei Kranki. Sungei Serangoon and Sungei
Selet ar. Extensive deposit s are also found on Pul au U bin and the south-west and southern islands , and as
reef deposits exposed to the south and south-west of Singapore at low tides.
The deposits are generall y low lying, and are seldom recognised more than 4 m above sea-level except
In the more inland a reas .
Five members are recognised within the formation , an d these are referred to informally as the Marine
Member, Alluvial Member, Littoral Member, Transitional Member, and Reef Member. Two di visions can
be recogni sed in the Marine Member in certain dril l holes.
MARINE MEMBER (Km)
Two divisions can be recognised within the member in boreholes, but the member is not recognised
anywhere a t the surface. The two divisions, referred to as the Upper Marine Member and the Lower
Marine Member, are best known in the Kallang River Basin area where they can be found within one metre
of the surface.
Undifferentiated Marine Member sediments are fo und in Sungei Jurong, Sungei Pandan, Sungei
Kranji, Sungei Seletar, Sungei Bedok and Sungei Punggol and also at Changi. The member has been
recognised in boreholes as extending inland at least as far as Stevens Road in the Bukit Timah Valley (G R
479461), Thomson Road in the Whampoa Valley (GR 499459), and Braddell Road in the Kallang Valley
(GR 514485). The maximum thickness recorded to date is some 35 m close to the Rochore Canal (G R
518553) and again one kilometre to the west at GR 511435 where the upper surface may lie between 1.0 m
and 1.8 m above sea-level.
57
Content
The base of the member is us ually c haracter ized by a peaty clay sa nd , seldom more tha n 3 m thi ck, and
thi s passes up into a soft blue g rey mud, or sa ndy mud . Tan ( 1972) stated that the mud contained on an
average a 5 ~ ~ clay fraction . Thin san d and pea t layers may occur within the sequence.
If the two d ivisions occur, the boundary is recognised at the to p of a stiff reddish brown si lty clay, or
sometimes a loose sa nd , which li es on top of the lower of the two sepa rate, but otherwise indistingui sha ble,
blue grey muds. This boundary usuall y lies at -10 m to -20 m but ca n be found down to -28 m. Peat deposit s
may also be assoc ia ted with this ho rizon . It is assumed tha t the stiff silty clay represent s a zone of
desicat ion, a llu vial o r mari ne reworki ng, a nd co lonization b y plants during a peri od of low sea- level.
Shell fragments are found frequentl y in the Marine Member a nd these have been identified by Dr. Lim
Chuan Fong (pers. comm.) as bel o nging to a shallow muddy marine environment. Similar fa una l
assemblages are found in si mil ar settings o ff the coast of Singapore at the present time.
Fi eld Relations
The Marine Member is th e oldest unit in the Kalla ng Formation and it lies unconformabl y within
va ll eys cut in the Buki t Timah Granite, Juro ng Formation and Old Alluvium. The basal contact has been
recognised in drill ho les on ly a nd t he rocks beneath a re usua lly only modera tel y weathered .
These drill hol es which show the inland exte nt of the Marine Member a lso indicate that the Marine
Me mber interdigitats wit h the Alluvia l Member.
Age and Correlation
The Ma ri ne Member fili s va ll eys cut to at least 35 m below sea-leve l at a ti me of low sea-l evel and has
been deposited in two phases to attain a maximum height of 1. 8 m. It is thus sugges ted that deposition
started during a period of marine transgression. foll owi ng a low sea-level stand. Deposition was inter-
rupted by a seco nd lowering of sea-level to a depth of at least -28 m after whi ch sea- level rose again to 1.8 m.
Biswas ( 1973), working off the no rth-east coast of Mal aya, recogni sed the last Quaternary fa ll in sea-
level as corres ponding with the Holocene-Pleistocene bou nda ry, a nd has dated plant matter from a buried
mangrove swamp now at + 65 m below sea- level as having been deposited 11 , 170 150 BP. As there is no
evidence of any s ubs equent lower ing of sea-level of the order required to erode cha nnel s ir. Si ngapore to a
dept h of -28 m. and as there is no evidence to suggest a ny major ea rth movements in Singapore during the
Holocene. it is suggested that the Upper Ma r ine Member was depos ited during t he transgressi o n .foll o\\ ing
the 11 .000 BP low sea-level. Deposition pres umabl y continued until t he fall in sea-l evel from 1.8 m t o
present sea-l eve l some 5.000 BP (Tjia, 1970) . It follows that the Lower Mar ine Member was depos ited
du r ing the penultimate Wurm st a di a l.
ALLUVIAL i\!l EM BER ( Ka )
The A llu vial Member is found as val ley fill throughout the Republi c and as a thin veneer on the floor
of the Ka ll ang and Juro ng Ri ver Basi ns. It is of limited exten t in the off-s hore islands. It has been mapped
fr o m it s physiog raphic set ting a nd from drill ho le data.
Content
T he A llu via l Member deposit s vary from pebble bed s through sand, muddy sa nd, a nd clay, to peat
(Fig. 3.47). N o stud y has been made of these va r iations. Ex tensive peaty sand a nd mud is found in the
Ka ll a ng an d Juro ng River Basi ns .
Fi eld Relations
T he Alluvial Member overlies the older formations and is seen in drill ho le evidence to interdigitate
with the Marine Member, and can be assumed to interdigitate with the other me mbers of the Ka llang
Formation .
Age and Correlation
Interbedding of the Alluvial Member with the M a rine Member can be recognised in drill ho les at least
to the base of the U pper Marine Member. The age of the Alluvi a l Member is thus given by correlation as
spa nning the Holocene.
58
LITTORAL MEMBER (KI )
The Littoral Member includes those sediments deposited in active coastal regions as beach deposits,
immediate offshore deposits, and as tidal sand banks.
It is found along the southern and eastern coast of Singapore, and on the offshore islands. It also
occurs as shoals south of Pulau Tekong and east of Pulau Ubin and Pulau Seletar, and as small isolated
strips along the northern coast. The member is recognised in drill holes between Kallang and Bedok to
-10 m, but it is normally less than 5 m deep. It is found building beach ridges and as terraces up to a height
of 2.8 m on Singapore and the islands to the north-east, and up to 3 m on the more exposed islands to the
south-west. Beach rock found on the southwest facing coast of Pulau Tekulor and St. John Island is also
included within this member.
Content
Clean sand and pebbly sand is the most common lithology within the member. The sand is dominantly
of quart z, but lateritic, shell , and lithic fragments also occur. Swan (1971) stated that the sand may contain
up to 60
0
calcareous matter. He also repor ted feldspar as being present in the sa nd at Kampong Bahru on
Pulau Ubin and on Pulau Sekudu, and heavy minerals derived from the igneo us rocks may also be found
on Pulau Ubin.
The beach rock is an iron-cemented quartz sand or lithic conglomerate and dips seawards at the same
slope as the present beach (Fig. 3.48). It lies at a height of I m or less above the present beach and extends
beneath present low tide level. Alexander (1950) reponed the presence of primitive stone tool s in the beach
deposits.
Field Relations
The Littoral Member is seen to lie conformably on the Marine Member in drill holes, and
unconformably on the older formations. It is assumed to interdigitate with the Transitional , Alluvial. and
Reef Members and can also be expected to interdi gita te with the Marine Member.
Age a nd Correlation
The Littoral Member is essentially a present-day deposit , but terraced deposits associated with it are
found up to a height of 2. 8 m and are associated with the 'Daly' periods of higher sea-level whicli ha ve been
da ted at 5.000 BP and 3,500 BP (Tj ia 1970) (Fig. 3.49). The extension of beach sa nd t o -10m ma y ind icate
deposition during the lat er stages of the post Wurm transgression, but it is considered more likely to
represent more recent off-shore deposits laid down below sea -l evel.
The presence of beach rock belo\\' present 10\\ tide level suggests deposition when the sea stood I 111 to
2 m below the present level. Tjia (1970) has recognised a -2 m sea-level as common on the Sunda Shelf and
gives an age range (Tjia Of! Ci l , Table II) of 1,500 BP to 3,000 BP for thi s.
It is therefore suggested that the Litt ora l Member ranges in age from 5,000 BP to the present day.
TRANSITIO:\ AL MEMBER (Kt)
The Transitional Member is found in the ri ve r mouths and tidal swamps surrounding Singapore,
particularly those at the western end of the island , and is typified by the presence of mangrove swa mps.
Ex ten sive areas of Transitional Member may be found on Pulau Ubin, Pulau Ketam, and Pulau Seletar.
The member however is not now recognised in the Kallang Basin, but mangrove swamps were plotted on
the early maps of Singapore. These areas are now buried under recl amation.
Content
The Transitional Member is deposited in a low energy environment. It is an unconsolidated black to
blue-grey mud, muddy sand or sand with a high organic content. The high organic content and general low
energy conditions, together with the slow rate of deposition, give rise to a general reducing environ ment.
The sand is mainly of quartz derived from the nearby rocks, and mica is found with the finer-grained
sediments.
59
Fig. 3.47 Horizontal lavers 0/ peat,
mudd\' sand and mud 0/ the
Alluvial Member exposed in
excavation near Ewart
Circus. Bukit Timah (GR
423486)
Fig. 3.49 A dark broli'n pebble beach
a/the Littoral Member at 2
m lying on mudstone and
sill-slone on Pulau long.
60
Fig. 3.48 Hard. iron-cemented beach
rock o/the Littoral Member
exposed at 10\\' tide on the
.loll1h-west coasl 0/ Pulall
Tckllkor.
Field Relations
This member is found from borehole evidence to overlie the Marine Member and also the Littoral
Member. It is a lso seen to li e on the cut surface of the older formations on Pulau Ubin and the southwest
islands. It was seen in excavations at Sungei Kranji (GR 378573) to interdigitate with the Marine Member .
Age
This member has been mapped on its physiographic setting in the present day environment and hence
by definition is a recent deposit and postdates the las t sea-level Ouctuation.
REEF MEMBER (Kr)
This member is recognised around the southern, western, and south-western islands only. The reefs are
exposed during periods of low tide as broad platforms surrounding the islands, or as disconnected Oat
topped shoals associated with former islands.
The coral sand making up this member is quite thin in the central portion of a number of the reefs , and
may wedge out exposing the underlying Jurong Formation. The thickness of the fore reef deposits however
is unknown .
Content
The reefs are made up of cora l and its detrital frag ments . These fragment s grade down to sand-size
parti cles. Swan (1971) stated that 99.9
0
0
of the sand on the coral reefs is calcareous but that quartz and
heavy seco ndary ferr uginous grains are also found. On the reefs attached to present day islands a hi gher
pe rcentage of quartz and seconda ry minerals can be found.
Field Relations
The Reef Member lies unconformably on a ma rine cut surface in the Jurong Formation but mav
interdigitate with the Littoral and Alluvial Members.
Age
The coral on the reefs is still actively growing a nd the top surface is thus related to presen.t sea-level.
The underlying Jur ong Formation rocks have been pl a nned off to a level corresponding to present low tide
level. or to a level associated with a sea-level I m t o 2 m below that of the present day; thus the base of the
member is also related to these sea- levels .
The age of the Reef Member is thus about 3,000 BP to the present.
61
4 STRUCTURE
Singa pore lies at the southern tip of the Mal ay Peninsula and is structurally an integral part of it. The
rl)cb ,)f the Republi c show the same north-west trend as that running through from Kulau Lumpur to
Jol1l'r Ra hru in West Ma lays ia and on south through the islands of the Ri a u Archipelago, Banka and
Billit l)n . The st ru ct ures th at have affected the Tri ass ic sediment are thought, in the Singapore area, to have
resul ted frl)1l1 tectonic activity which started prior to their deposition in lower Triassic time and continued
thr,)ugh as a rela ti vely mild process until as least earl y Jurassic time. The tectonism appears to have been
less \il)!en t than tha t recognised in Malaya and also to have lagged slightl y behind it in time.
I're-t\lesozoic rocks recogni sed in Singapore include the gabbro-norite described by Hutchison (1964)
from Rukit Gomba k a nd the Palaeozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Sajahat Formation.
:\ secl)nd peri od of faulting, dominantly a block faulting, occurred, probably in Pliocene time, and is
evidenced by the topographic expression in the Triassic sediment and granite, and by the depth to basement
heneath the Old Alluvium.
PRE-MESOZOIC STRUCTURE
T he sedi ment of the Palaeozoic Sajahat Formation is both folded and stretched as well as faulted, but
the c\idence for a pre-Mesozoic age is not positive. The style of folding in the fine sandstone of the Sajahat
Fnrm;\til1l1 is different from that in the younger rocks and hence it is considered that the diastrophism
atlel'ti ng them is o lder. The minor folds are angu lar rat her than rounded, the cleavage is better developed
than in the Triassic rocks, and bou dinage is mo re common . The rocks are not s ufficiently well exposed to
alll"l the co llecti on of data for st ru ctural analysis, but those observations ma de show the t wo dominant
st rike directions to be clustered a ro und 030, dip 45W and 155, dip 25E. No major folds were recognised
and Ill) data was co llected o n the minor folds, joints, or fault s. Jo int s in the Pa laeozoic Volcanics, quoted
earlier as being verti ca l and trending due north or at 125, were seen in one locality onl y. Grubb (1968)
a west -north-west ( 11 2.5) a nd north-east (45) t rend in joints throughout the Pengera ng area.
Snuth-Llst Johor. a clockwise rotati on of 20 to 40 from those observed in t he Singapore a rea.
MESOZOIC STRUCTURE
II 1It chison ( 1973 B) postulated t ha t the gra nit e in Malaya was forced up during the uplift o f the axial
LO ne ;lnd spread out to fo rm the Ma in Range and East Coast Bat holith systems. The gra nit e of Singapore
lies ill the East Coast Batholith sys tem ( Hutchison 1973 A) .
.\ s u[li lft co ntinued. a north-west t rend ing downwa rp paralleled the axi s o f uplift. The trough so
fnrtllcd is t he back a rc sedimentary basi n of Hut chison ( 1973 A. Fig. 7). That thi s trough was mobil e
t he Triassic is evidenced by the presence of intrafor mati o nal brecc ia (Fig. 4.1). and by the rapi d
vari ;ll1(ln In fa cies and alternation s of biofacies within it.
Sedimentation in th is trough continued thr ough t o at least the lowe r Jurassic when the St. John Facies
conLlllling the Mt. Gut hrie fos sil fauna was deposited . The locus of uplift pr es umably mi grated south so
that the sedimentati on was termin ated by a later phase of the same event respo nsible for the uplift of the
MalaY;ln Peninsula in Triassic time.
Folding
II is suggested that the folding of the Tri assic sedi ment a ry pile started before the cessation of
sedimentation in lower Jurassic time by a sliding of the rock mass to the no rtheast against the buttress of
granite. The folds vary in style from open through vert ical isoclinal to isoclinal over-folds but a re normall y
open folds (Frontispiece & Fig. 4.2) . Parasitic folds can be fo und on the limbs of larger folds and these are
responsible for the rapid variation in the strike and dip that may be observed. Most beds strike north-west
butthe dip may vary over a short distance from \00to vertical, and field studies show that overturned beds
dipping between 70 and 90 are co mmon; shallower dips in overturned beds were not found . Few fold axes
can be followed for mo re than I km, a nd although in general the fold axes are seen to be sub-horizontal,
folds may plunge steepl y at either end.
62
The fine-grained sediment, particularly that of the Queenstown Facies, is sheared obliquely to the
bedding (Fig. 4.3), and it is suggested that these beds frequently failed incompetently during folding while
the more rigid sandstone beds and conglomerate beds, particularly those of the Rimau Facies, were folded
or tilted, possibly as discontinuous bodies.
Isoclinal overfolds are recognised both in the city area and at Jurongjust south of Nanyang University
(Cross-section B), and these show translation t o the northeast. It is from these data, together with the
existence of a low angle thrust striking south-south-east from Nanyang University, that the north-easterly
direction of stumping is postulated.
Faulting
Very few faults are exposed, and those that have been observed are usually small-scale features . Most
of the faults plotted have been recognised on the alignment of erosional features, abrupt changes in
topography. or detailed field evidence of lithological discontinuities. There is little evidence for the age of
the faults. The only faults that can be assigned positively to the Mesozoic period are the three thrust faults
and associated tear faults which are named as the Murai, Nanyang, and Pasir Laba faults (Map Sheets I
and 5). The Murai Fault trends north-east for 3.2 km and then swings around to the south-east for a further
0.6 km. Movement on this fault has been sufficiently intense to be responsible for the dynmaic
metamorphism of the Triassic sediment on the southern overthrust side. It is suggested that the principal
horizontal stress was from the south-west with the main thrust front now being represented by the
comparati\'ely small south-east trending arm, and that the south-west trending arm is a tear fault with a
reverse component. The whole mass has over-ridden the normally, north-west trending Triassic sediments.
Schist I S found associated with the Pasir Laba fault, but not with the Nanyang fault. Schist is also
fo und within the Jong Facies in Jurong but no associ ated fault was recognised. The sediment associated
with the ]\;anyang fault is a muddy and tuffaceous sand, compared with the dense mudstone or sandstone
found met a morphosed at the other two faults , and hence a more plastic type failure is proposed.
Schist pebbles have been found in the Triassic conglometrate in Singapore and these are identical to
the Mura i Schist. and thus it must be argued that the thrusting described above occurred be fo re the
cessation of Mesozoic sedimentation in the Singapore area. The apparent association of an isoclinal
overfold. assumed in the previous section to have been developed in Mesozoic time, with the Nanyang fa ult
(c ross-section B). also suggests that faulting took place in Mesozoic time.
Most o f the fault affecting the Jurong Formation strike between north-north-east and north-east, with
a smaller percentage striking between north and north-east. In the granite the faults strike between north-
east and east-north-east or around west-north-west.
The north-east trending faults affecting the Jurong Formation are also considered to be tear fault s
between rafts of sediment sliding to the north-east. The Henderson Road fault (Map Sheet 6) is well defined
by the offset of conglomerate at Tanjong Berl ayar and the discordance of bedding on either side of
Henderson Road (GR 475408), and the Tanjong Lokos fault (Map Sheet 8) and Pepys Road fault (Ma p
Sheet 6) by the juxta-position of anticlinal and synclinal axes across the faults. In no case is the fault plan e
exposed, but on the position of the nearby outcrops, they must be high-angle faults .
The north-west trending faults are less common a nd possibly are thrust or bedding faults ca used by the
north-east translation of the Jurong Formation . These faults were seldom seen in exposure. One, howe\ er.
at Pearl Hill was seen to be near vertical and two at Kent Ridge were also near vertical. It is also suggested
t hat Selat Jo hor on the western and northern side of Singapore west of Sembawang has formed by erosi on
along north-east and north-west trending fault s.
It has not been possible to determine whether the lineations seen in the plastonic rocks are faults or
major joints. The lineations have been mapped mainly from topography with the aid of aerial stereo-
photographs. No offset features were recognised, but step downs in topography were recognised associated
with the Nee Soon Fault (Map Sheet 2) and the western end of the Seletar Fault.
As these lineations are confined to the granite their age of formation is taken as being associated with
the tectonic uplift of the granite in early Triassic or during the period of block faulting in early Pleistocene
time.
CENOZOIC STRUCTURE
A series of blocks can be recognised, both in the Jurong Formation and Bukit Timah Granite.
standing at different elevations, and the existence of a down faulted block has been suggested earlier as
occurring beneath the Old Alluvium. This form of topographic relief suggests a period of block faulting,
63
Fig. 4.1 Intra(o rmational breccia of
black mudstone in sandstone
f CR 378499 ) , Central
Singapore.
Fig. 4.2 .-1/1 anticlinal fo ld seen 0/1
Tan;ong Lokos, 51. Johns
Island.
Fig. 4.3 Oblique shear developed in
the Qu eens t own .Facies
exposed in an excavation off
PepI 's Road.
64
1"

I
I
possibl y accompanied by warping, at a period prior to or during the early phases of deposition of the Old
Alluvium, but sufficiently recent to control the present-day topography. It has been suggested in the
di scussion of the age of the Old Alluvium that such fa ulting occurred in late Tertiary time.
It is not possible on the evidence available to separate those faults showing Mesozoic movement from
those showing Cenozoic movement. It is probable that some of the older fault planes were reactivated
during the Cenozoic, particularly those to the west of Sungei Jurong and east of and including the Nee
Soon Fault. The Ama Keng fault (Map Sheet I) in particular bounded a down thrown granitic block and
allowed Old Alluvium to be deposited in the north-west of Singapore against the Jurong Formation.
It appears that tectonic activity was minimal after the deposition of the Old Alluvium. Burton (1973 A)
recognised tight folds and a fault with a throw of about 6 m in Old Alluvium in Johor. Small faults have
been observed in the sand quarry at Bedok. A clastic dyke was seen associated with one of these faults but
the faulting and dyke were interpreted as compaction feature rather than of tectonic significance (Fig.
3.44 ).
Recent seismic activity in Singapore has been reported by early writers, but their papers were not
available to the authors. It is suggested that the epicentres lay close to the subduction zone west of Sumatra
and that these seismic waves do not necessarily reflect any activity in Singapore itself.
65
5 GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
The earl iest geological reco rds in Singapore are gi ven by the Gombak Norite, Palaeozoic Volcanics
and Sajahat Forma ti o n sediments. Hutchison ( 1973 A) has rel a ted the Gombak Norite to th e Lower
Pa laeozoic Malaya n Geosyncline. He drew the boundary o f the subducting plate as passing through
Singapore, and suggested that the norit e represented a portion of the ophiolite suite emplaced immediatel y
to the west o f the subducti on zo ne . The Sajahat Formation sediments lie t o the east along the s it e of the
associated Malayan Geosyncline a nd could thus be interpreted as representing Lower Palaeozoic
geosyncl inal sediment.
As th e geosynclinal axis mi g rat ed to the north-east , the sediment of the Saja hat Formation was folded
aga in st the sta ble shelf to the southwest and a general nort h-west structural trend imposed o n it.
It would follow that the Palaeozoic Volcani cs represen t rock from the volcanic arc which followed
behind the subdu ction zone as it mi g rated to the north-east, and Hutchi son has pl o tt ed the volca nics in
such a position in his palaeotectonic reconstruct io n (Hutchison 1973 A, Fig. 5).
An alterna ti ve interp retation is to consider the Gombak Nori te as represe nting the primary stage of
the Triassi c granite associati on and the Sajahat Formati on as being co nt act metamorphosed by a younger '?
Cretaceous gra nit e, possibl y represented by the roc ks of Pulau Sekudu. If thi s interpretation is co rrect , the
Sajahat Fo rmat ion cou ld be metamorphosed Jurong For mation, a nd the dykes cutting it would be
associated with the Cretaceous pl ut onic intrusion. The presence of the Pa laeozoic Volcanics, whi ch Grub b
( 1968) believed wre metamorphosed by Triassic granite, and the occurrence of sedimentary intrusions in
the Bukit Timah Granite, which were presumably deri ved fro m the Sajahat Formation make this theory
un a tt ractive.
Granite emplacemen t in cent ral and eastern Singapore may have co mmenced in la te Permi an time but
was most pro nounced in early Triass ic time. The granit e was considered by Hutchi son (1973 C) to be
mesozonal , but Seet ( 1974) concluded fro m the st udy of the triclinicities of the feldspar that th e rocks of
Pulau Ubin \\ere emplaced at a hi gh level.
There is evidence in the Bukit Timah Granite of assimilation, and the producti on of several pha.ses of
hybrid rock, and a mix ing of th e hybr id rock types can be observed . Large rafts of co untry rock and
numer ous smaller inclusions at various stages of digestion ca n be seen. As th e larger rafts bear little sign of
metamorphism, and they li e usuall y in a nea r vertical position , it is suggest ed th at they have been
incorpo rated at a relatively sha ll ow depth , probably in a fa irly visco us magma. The evi dence of grea ter
ass imilati on of the s ma ller inclusions, and prod uct ion of comp letely Iluid hybrid magmas, suggests
considerabl e assimilation at depth as well.
The evidence of rafting, ass imil ation, mi xing and re- mixing s uggests that there could ha ve been
cons iderable tectonic acti vity accompanyi ng the empl aceme nt and crystallisa tion of the acid magma.
' The inclusions indicate a va riet y of host rocks, norite, rhyolite, andesite, argillite a nd qua rt zit e, and
a lth o ug h most of t hese rock types ca n be fo und in the Gombak Nori te, Sajahat Formation a nd Palaeozoic
Volcanics, on ly the norite ca n now be seen in cont act with the g rani te. At the con tact, th e norite is
metasomatized and the granite penetrates through the metasomatic zone into the relativel y un altered rock.
Late cooling phases of the acid intrusion have been injected int o th e granit e pluton and o lder
formation s to form a set of dykes of va ryi ng composition. This has been followed quit e closel y by a second
phase of dyke empl ace ment , this time of a basic nature. This event probably accompanied the further uplift
of the batholith.
Dur ing cooling and uplift of the grani te and associated no rite, joints have developed and fa ulting
occurred. 0 det ai led study was carried out during the survey on the joint patterns.
The pluton continued to ri se, initi all y at a fairly slow pace to a llow for the deep weathering of the
covering strata. As the pluton continued to rise, deposition of the Jurong Formation took place in the back
a re sedimentary basin . This basin was highly mobile throughout sedimentation as evidenced by the rapid
variation in facies with ch anges from marine to terrestrial sedimentation a nd vice-versa. Towa rds the
middle of the sedimen tary cycle, quit e coa rse-gra ined facies become prominent , suggesting a more rapid
uplift of the surrounding land. With the exception of the norite at Bukit Go mbak, the quartzite fro m Publi c
Uti lities Boa rd Test hole No. I at Bedok, the Palaeozoic rock at Punggol a nd near Tanglin, the rock
66
1
T
I
enclosing the original batholith has either been removed from the main island of Singapore or is now
buried beneath younger rock.
Uplift of the back arc basin continued with the uplift of the Main Range Granite* to the south-west
outpacing that of the east coast granite so that the basin tilted to the north-east and the Jurong Formation
slid to the north-east. The failure within the Jurong Formation can be looked on as a semi-incompetent
failure with slabs of coarse-grained sandstone tilted and folded in a more plastic fine-grained matrix. Tear
faults in the direction of translation, and thrust and bedding plane faults normal to the direction of
translation occurred, and in some places the rocks were sufficiently rigid, and the energy applied during
failure sufficiently intense, for local dynamic metamorphism to occur.
Both marine and terrestrial deposition, accompanied by volcanic activity giving spilite, dolerite and
tuff, continued during this faulting, but by mid-Jurassic time Singapore was above sea-level and
sedimentation ceased. Faulting and folding may have continued however for a short period.
There is no evidence of any further events affecting Singapore from early Jurassic until late Tertiary
time. The Old Alluvium was then deposited as a thick pile of alluvial to deltaic coarse sand with occasional
incursions of marine sediment. Sedimentation continued through into the Pleistocene. The nature of the
sediment suggests the existence of a well exposed qua rtz- rich, probably granitic terrain, and a far lower rate
of chemical weathering than is experienced today. Verstappen (1975) suggested that such conditions would
be expected during glacial periods.
Faulting activity appears to have recommenced in late Tertiary time giving rise to a trough which now
p l u n ~ to the south beneath the Old Alluvium on the eastern side of Singapore. A second down-thrown
block formed in the Buloh Besar area in north-west Singapore, and Old Alluvium was deposited in this
baSin too. It IS probable that a number of faults in the Jurong area were also reactivated, despite their being
surface tear faults only, during this time. The main movement was apparently vertical as the evidence of
reju ve nation is based largely on the existence of blocks of different height, but this topographic expression
may also result from the juxtaposition of elements with different weathering characteristics by lateral
movement. Some adjustment also took place on faults cutting the granite.
The Old Alluvium was deposited as a delta-like body which extends back into Johor along the course
of Sungei Skudai, and was probably fed by the ancestral Sungei Johor as well. In Singapore the deposit is
over 195 m thick and extends down to at least -149 m. In Johor it is found up to 70 m above sea-level but
basement is unknown. There is a threshold of grani te and Palaeozoic rock across the north of Singapore
from Sembawang through Seletar North, Punggol, and Pulau Ubin to Changi and, unless the granite was
upli fled after the deposi tion of the Old All uvi um, the sedi men t must ha ve been carried across th is th reshold
above present sea-levels to be deposited in the trough plunging down to Bedok. This implies th at the
deposition of the Old Alluvium must have been tied to a base level above present sea-level, or was graded to
a more di stant coastline. An approximation of the gradi ent of the depositional surface of the Old Allu vi um
measured from the maximum of 47 m above sea-level recorded from the Old Alluvium immediately north
of Johor Bahru. and the maximum of 43 m above sea-level measured just east of Singapore International
Airport, gives a gradient of I : 750 and would place the coast some 350 km distant. a very unlikely
proposition.
A second depression must have formed in the nort h-west of Singapore and across into South Johor.
There is little evidence to suggest that there was much fa ulting during the main period of deposition of the
Old Alluvium, so It is assumed that trough formati on terminated before the cessation of deposition of the
Old Alluvium. Alluvial sedimentation must have kept pace with depression in the area as there is no
evidence of any major marine incursion. Burton (1973 A) stated that marine incursions can be found in
Johor up to 70 m. or possibly higher, and thus It can be assumed that the sea stood at that height or higher
during the deposition of the Old Alluvium.
Because of the requirement of a cool dry climate to provide the necessary detritus, and the observation
of a maximum sea-level of 70 m, it appears that the Old Alluvium must have been deposited rapidly in an
initiall y subsiding trough during a transition from glacial to interglacial conditions.
Efforts to recognise distinct erosion levels subsequent to the deposition of the Old Alluvium as a result
of Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations were unrewarding. Alexander (1950) recorded beaches between 21 III
and 27 m near Punggol and Kampong Woodleigh and at 17 m near Seletar, and beach sand was found at 12
m by the authors adjacent to Changi Aerodrome and is mapped as Tekong Formation.
Ho, in Burton's paper (1964) drew attention to the common breaks in slope of the Old Alluvium
erosional surface between 15 m and 23m and Burton (op Cif) related these to a temporary Pleistocene high
sea-level stand.
* It follows that the Main Range Granite lay to the south-west of Singapore in late Triassic - early Jurassic time , not across
Singapore as shown by Hutchi so n (1973 A, Fig. 7).
67
A hypsometric study was carried out by the Geological Unit over the area of Old Alluvium in
Singapore using 10 ft contour maps prepared at a sca le o f I : 2,500. Three possible surfaces were indicated
at 30 m, 24 m and 17 m on either side of an east-west ridge east of Singapore In ternationa l Airport. Field
studies however suggested that these surfaces, identified fro m the plotting of spot heights, a re nothing more
than the ge ntly sloping spurs of the deepl y dissected Old All uvium. The existence of the 17 m surface on the
ri ght bank o f Sungei Seletar may be mo re realistic. In genera l however, the Old Alluvium is too sensitive to
erosion and weathering for the preservation of ancient erosional surfaces.
A hypsometric study of the whole of Singapo re ( Pun 1975) showed a dominance of height s between
15 m and 33 m and hence revealed no additional informat ion .
During the period of early Pleistocene faulting, ponded areas isolated from the zone of deposition of
the Old Alluvium were also formed, and a deposit in one such area in Western Singapore is recognised as
the Huat Choe Formation.
Reworking and redepositi on of the Old Alluvium is also recognised at two places, both at a height of
36 m just east of Singapore I nternational Airport and at either end of the runway. The material is
lith ologi ca ll y similar to the Old Alluvium but the bedding is better defined and mo re continuous. The depth
of weathering howeve r is such that the environment of deposition cannot be determined.
The next event of which there is record is that of the low sea- levels associated with the interstadials of
the last Wurm Glaciation. Erosion was vigorous throughout Singapore and rivers downcut their va lleys to
at least -35 111. T hese val leys were back filled with both the Alluvial and Marine Members of the Kall ang
Formation as the sea rose, but during the regression o f the sea accompanying the next stadia l cooli ng, th e
rivers re-excavated their beds, this time to a depth of a bout -28 m. The older deposits of the Kallang
Formation \\"ere exposed to the atmosphere at thi s t ime and were both dessicated and weathered to form
the stiff red brown clay fo und within the Marine Member. At the end of the Pl eistocene cold period, sea-
level again rose to abou t 6 m above present sea-level a bout 6,000 BP to 7,000 BP. (Tjia 1970) to allow for
the deposition of the Tekong Format ion, and a lso the renewed deposition of the Alluvial and Marine
Members in the dro\\ned ri ver valleys. Minor nuctuati o ns of sea- level continued through to the present.
Tj Ia recogni sed two hi gh level s, o ne at 1.5 m t o 2 m (5,000 BP) and one at 0.5 m t o I m (3,500 BP) in th e
general Sunda Shelf area , and beach ridges associated wi th these levels can be seen around Singapore .
Subsequent to these times, sea-l evel is assumed to have been lower than at present. Beach rock on Pulau
Tekukor \\as formed at a lower sea-l evel than that of t oda y, a nd rock of the Jurong Forma tion forming a
base for the Reef Member cora ls must have been planned off at a time when the sea was at its present level
o r o nl y I m to 2 m bel ow present day le vel.
68
REFERENCES
ALEXA NDER, F.E.S. (1950) : The geology of Singapore and the surrounding islands. Appendix I in
Repon on the availabilitl' of granite on Singapore and the Surrounding islands. Singapore Government
Press. pp 24.
ALEVA, GJJ.; BON, E.H.; BaSSIN, U.; SLUITER, WJ . (1973): A contribution to the geology of the
part of Indonesian tin belt: the sea areas between Singkep and Banka Islands and around the Karimata
Islands . Bulletin No.6 Geological Societ) , of Mala)'sia. pp 257-72.
BI GN ELL, J. D. (1972) : The Geochronolog)' of the M ala)'an Granite. Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy
thesis. University of Oxford .
BISWAS B. (1973) : Quaternary changes in sea-level in the South China Sea. Bulletin 6. Geological Societ)'
0/ Malalsia. pp 229-56.
BURTON, C.K. (1964): The Older Alluvium of Johore and Singapore. 10urnal o/Tropical Geograph)'. 18 .
pp 30-42.
---- (1973 A) : Geology and mineral resources. Johore Bahru-Kulai area, South Johore . Map Bulletin
No 2 Geological Survey of Mala)'sia. pp 72.
----(1973 B) : Mesozoic. Chapter 5 in Geolog)' o/the Mala)' Peninsula: West Mala)'sia and Singapore.
Eds DJ. Gobbet! and e.S. Hutchison. John Wiley-Interscience, New York. pp 97-142.
C HI N, F. ( 1965) : The Upper Triassic sedilllents of Pasi r Panjang-lurong area 0/ Singapore. Unpublished
Honours thesis. Department of Geology. University of Malaya.
C H UNG. S.K. (1973) : Geological Map of West Malarsia. Geological Sur vey of Malaysia .
FAI RB RI DGE, R. W. (1961) : Eustatic changes in sea-level. In Ph)'sics and Chell/istr)' o/the Eanh. Ed L. H.
Ahrens el at. Pergamon Press. London . pp 99-1 85.
GOBBETT, DJ . (1968): Bibliography and Index of the Geology of West Malaysia and Singapore, Bullelin
2. Geological Societl' of Malal'sia.
---- (1972) : Geological Map 0/ the Malal' Peninsula. Geological Society of Malaysia.
---- and TJIA, H.D. (1973): Tectonic History. Chapter 10, in Geolog\ of the Mala)' Peninsula: Wesl
Malalsia and Singapore: Eds DJ. Gobbett and e.S. Hutchison. John Wiley-Interscience, New York .
pp 305-330.
GRUBB, R.L.e. (1968) : Geologl' and Bauxite deposits o/the Pengerang area , Southeast 10ho;e. District
Memoir 14. Geological Survey of West Malaysia.
HUTCHISON, C.S. (1964): A gabbro-granodiorite association in Singapore Island. Quarterl) ' Journal 0/
Ihe Geological Societv. London. 120 pp 283-97.
- --- (1973 A) : Tectoni c evolution of Sundaland : a phanerozoic synthesis. Bulletin 6 Geolog)' S ocien
of Malalsia pp 61-81.
---- (1973 B) : VolcanIC Activity . Chapter 7 in Geologl' o/the Malal' Peninsula : Wes[ Malal 'sia and
Singapo re. Eds D.J. Gobbett and e.S. Hutchi son . John Wiley-Interscience, New York. pp 117-214 .
- --- (1973 C): Plutonic Activity. Chapter 8 in Geologl' o/the Malal' Peninsula: Wesl Mala\sia and
Singapore. Eds D.J . Gobbett and C.S. Hutchison. John Wiley-Interscience, New York . pp 215-52.
LEOW, J .H. (1962): A glimpse of the sedimentary structure of Singapore. Malal'Gn Nature Journal. 16. pp
54-60.
LIM , M.S.W. (1974) : Biostratigraphl ' 0/ [he lurong area, Singapore. Unpublished Honours thesis,
Department of Geology, University of Malaya .
NEWTON, R. B. (1923) On marine Triassic shells from Singapo re. Annals and Magazine oj Natural
Hislorl (ser 9) 12. pp 300-21.
PFEIFFER, D. (1972) : Investigations for groundwater, Singapore Islands, eastern end . No.2 (Final
Report). U.N. E.C.A.F.E. Natural Resources Division, Mineral Resources Seclion. Sala Santitham.
Bangkok 2. Thailand.
PUN, V.T. (1975) : Report on the geolog)' of Singapore. Unpublished Report. Singapore Public Works
Department Geological Unit.
PRIEM, H.N.A.; BOELRIJK, N.A.I.M.; BON, E.H.; HEBEDA, E. H.; VERDURMEN, E.A.Th.; and
VERSC HURE, R. H. (1975) : Isotope geochronology in the I ndonesian tin belt. Geologie en Mljnbouw.
54 pp 61-70.
69
Appendix I
ANALYSES OF ROCKS
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1O II
Si02 76.55 75.60 69.98 68.98 59.83 51.52 49 .95 69.92 69.39 69.69 72.80
AI
2
O, 12.78 13.03 14.58 14.80 16.21 13.29 21.03 14.30 14.33 14.82 13.90
Fe 20 .1
0.38 0. 11 0.84 0.48 1.33 0.30 Nil n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d.
FeO 0.37 1.44 2.35 3.44 5.64 9.91 7.76 n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d .
Total Iron as FeO 3.78 3.87 3.82 3.06
MgO 0.12 0.21 0.98 1.56 2.43 12.31 5.95 0.81 0.89 0.81 0.44
CaO 1.46 0.84 3.19 4.32 4.57 8.77 10.56 2.88 2.48 2.28 1.66
Na
2
0 2.56 3.58 3.38 2.06 3.90 1.01 2.27 3.67 4.40 3.77 3.95
K, O 5.04 4. 17 3.60 3.26 2.63 0.39 0.19 3.32 3.36 3.29 3.29
H
2
O+
0.33 0.57 1.13 0.Q7 2. 02 1.54 1.39 n.d. n.d . n.d . n.d.
H, O- 0.22 0. 13 0.28 Nil 0.42 Nil n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d .
Ti0
2
tr. 0. 16 0.47 0.49 0.84 0.58 0.58 0.27 0.24 0.24 0.14
P
2
05 tr. 0.06 tr. 0.08 tr. 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.07 0.11 0.08
MnO tr. Nil 0.04 0.02 0. 10 0.29 0.24 0.08 0.05 0.05 0.01
CO
2
n.d. Nil n.d. 0.03 n.d. Nil Nil n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d.
Total 99.8 1 99.90 100.52 100.22 99.92 99.97 99.98 99.08 99.08 99.28 99.33
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Si02
70.00 71.69 68.33 71 .6 1 64.58 66.75 52.4 1 48. 12 64.50 72 . 19
AI
2
0 1
18. 13 17.26 19. 11 17.71 14.5 1 14. 79 15.57 22.51 15.96 13.25
Fe a ;
n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d .
FeO
n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d.
Total Iron as FeO
2.52 2.47 2.80 1.30 6.99 6.73 9.52 10. 01 5.08 3.23
MgO
0.23 0.28 0.30 0.29 0.69 0.69 6.67 7.40 1.58 0.29
CaO
2.02 2.63 2.\3 I. 1J 3.78 3.48 8. 16 7.5 1 4. 52 2.38
Na2a
2.93 3. 16 2.98 3.69 5.09 3.20 2.25 1. 60 2.81 3.37
K
2
0
3.44 2.0 1 3.34 3.11 1.25 2.92 2.92 0.66 4.10 2.95
H2O+
n.d . n.d. n.d . n.d . n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d . n.d.
H
2
O-
n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d .
T i0 2
0.21 0.23 0.23 0. 16 0.68 0.73 1.1 6 0.98 0.64 0. 17
P20 5
0.10 0.1 3 0.09 0.07 0.25 0.21 0.05 0. 80 0.19 0.65
MnO 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.01 0.08 0.0 1 0. 16 0.24 0.13 0.05
CO
2
n.d . n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d . n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d .
Total 99.66 99.92 99.30 99.06 97.90 99.61 98.69 99.83 99.51 98.89
tr. = trace n.d. = not determined
(1) Ap1itic granite, Public Works Department Quarry (M andai)
(2) Adamellite, Singapore Granite Quarry (Bukit Timah)
(3) Biotite-granite, Public Works Department Quarry (Mandai)
(4) Biotite-hornblende-granodiorite, Swee Construction Quarry (Bukit Timah)
(5) Quartz-monzonite xenolith, Public Works Department Quarry (Mandai)
(6) Hornblende-gabbro, Yun ann Quarry
(7) Norite, Gim Huat Quarry
71
72
ANALYSES OF ROCKS - continued
(8) Hornblende microgranite, Gim Huat Quarry
(9) Hornblende microgranite, Gim Huat Quarry
(10) Hornblende microgranite, Aik Hwa Quarry No. I
(II) Porphyritic biotite granophyre, Lee Hung Cheng Quarry
(12) Hornblende granite, Public Works Department Quarry (Pulau Ubin)
(13) Hornblende granite, Housing Devel opment Board (Pulau Ubin)
(14) Hornblende granite, Tanjong Chek Jawa (Pulau Ubin)
(15) Hornblende granite, Aik Hwa Quarry No. 2
(16) Actinolite hornfels, Aik Hwa Hung Cheng Quarry
(17) Actinolite hornfels, Lee Hung Cheng Quarry
(18) Amphibolitized dyke rock, Lee Hung Cheng Quarry
(19) Amphibolitized dyke rocks, Housing Development Board Quarry
(20) Granodiorite, South Coast of Pulau Ubin
(21) Granodiorite, East Side of Pulau Ubin
Analyses Nos . I - 7 from Hutchison (1 964)
Anal yses Nos . 8 - 21 from Seet (1974)
Appendix 2
ANALYSES OF HOT SPRING WATER
I 2
PH value 8.1 7.0
Total dissolved solids 914.0 10170.0
Loss on ignition of solids 191.0 298.0
Silica (as Si02) 16.0 22.0
Ferric Oxide Nil 0.02
Calci um Oxide 29.1 1032.0
Magnesium Oxide 3.2 96.5
Chlorine Nil Nil
Sulphate (as S03) 45.0 190.0
Carbonate (as CO 3) 18.0 Nil
Colour(Hazen Unit) 5 5
Result s of analyses in milligra ms per litre except for pH and colour values.
(1) Hot springs in Kuala Simpang Kiri, South of Chong Pang Village, Sembawang. (G R 475586) .
(2) Hot spring iss uing through swamp, 300 m west of Sungei Belang, North Pul a u Tekong. (G R
740591 ).
Analyses from the Depa rtment of Chemistry, Outram Road, Singapore.
73
Appendix 3
PLATE OF FOSSILS
Myophoria sp ? '
Low- Upper T .. .
GR n asslc
. 316468
X4
~ l e o n u u l sp.,.?
nasslc-Jurassic
GR. 333463
X2
RY coURT ESY OF MR. I.I M .\1 ENG SZ ' . . E\\U(1974)
74
--l - r
LIST OF FOSSILS: JURONG FORMATION
--.I
VI
FOSSIL LOCATION I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I I 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Allllllonite (Fragment s) N
AlIIusiw/l sp. L L L L
Anodontaphora A sp. (Kobayashi &
Tamaru) K L L L
Anodontaphora 8 sp. (Kobayashi &
Tamaru) K L L
Area sp. N Co
Astart e guthriensis (Newton) N
Astarte scrivenori (Newton) N
A viculinia sp. L
Buchia sp. L
CardiulII scri venori (Kobayashi &
Tamaru) L
CardiulII scrivenori, Nov. K L
Carpolithes sp. N
Cassianella cf. tenuistriata
(Munster) N K
Cassianella cf. verbeeki (Kobayashi &
Tamaru) K
Cassianella sp. Co L L L
Chlamys cf. voloniensis (Deferance -
Leymerie) N
Cos tatoria aff. goldfussi K
Costatoria cf. myophoria (Boettiger,
1880) K L L
Cos tat oria chegarperahensis (Kobayashi) L L L L
Cos tat oria lIIalayensis (Newton , 1900) L
Costatoria pahangensis (Ko bayash i) L L
Costatoria singapurensis (Kobayashi) K L L L L L
--.l
0\
FOSSIL LOCATION I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 \7 18 19
Costatoria (7) sp. ex. gr. go ldfu ssi
(Zieten) L L L
Cuculaea scrivenori (Newton) N
Cucullaea (7) sp. N
Cuspidaria sp. C
Estheria mangalensis Co
Gastropod sp. L L L L
Gen. et. sp. indet (Kobayashi & Tamura) K
Gervillia hanitschi (Newton) N
Gervillia scrivenori (Newton) (Nov.) N
Gervillia sp. Co
Goniomya scrivenori (Newton) N
Goniomya singapurensis (Newton) N
Gonodon sp. (Schafhautl, 1863) C C
Gonodon sp. (Schafhaut l, 1950) L L
Gruenewaldia sp. L
Halobia n. sp. (Kobayashi & Tamura) K
Halobia sp. L
Halobia sp. ex. gr. H. verbeek i K
Halobia (7) sp. indet. K
Lima (Plagiostoma 7) sp. K
Lima sp.
Lima sp. A
Co
L
Lima sp. B L
Lima sp. Bruguie, 1797 C C
Lopha of Montis-caprilis (Klipstein) N
Lucina (7) sp. N Co
~ I -
I
~
--.J
--.J
FOSSIL LOCATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I I 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Modi%psis gonoides ( Healey) N
M odio/us cf. nachamensis Co
M.I'oconcha sp. Co
Myophoria A & 8 sp. indet. N
Myophoria billneri Newt on (Nov.) N
Myophoria cf. goldfuss i Co
Myophoria cf. goldfuss i Alberti N
Mvophoria cf. harpa? C C
Myophoria inaequicos tata Co
Myophoria ornata (Wissman) N
Mvophoria sp. C L
Mrophoria sp. A, (Brown 1834) C
Mvophoria sp. 8 C
Myophoriopsis cf. carina ta Co
M vophoriopsis sp. Co
Neo.l'hizodus (Leviconcha cf. Ovatus L
Nuc/oid gen. et. sp. indet. N
Nucu/ana (?) sp. N
Nunda sp. A. C C C
Nun da sp. B. C C C
Opis cf. heoninghausi (Klipstein) N
Pachvcardia ? sp. Co
Pa/aeocardi ta cf. crena ta (Goldfuss) N
Pa/aeonei/o A. sp. (Kobayash i &
Tamura) K L L
Palaeoneilo 8 sp. (Kobayashi &
Tamura) K L L L L
-..l
00
FOSSIL LOCATION I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Pa/aeonucu/a sp.
L
Pa/aeopharus sp.
L
Pa/eo/ima sp.
L
Pa/eopharus sp.
L L L
Paralle/odon Meek, / 866
C C C
Pecten (Entolium ?) sp. K
Pecten (Entolium) sp. Meek, 1965 C C
Pecten sp. Co C
Pecten sp. A. L L L
Pecten sp. B. L L L
Pecten sp. C. L
Pecten sp. D.
L L
Pecten (Syncyclonema) sp. Meek, 1864 C C
Pleuromya sp. Co
Plicatula cf. Healey
L L L L L
Podozarnit es cf. lanceolatus (Lindley &
Hutton) N
Posidonia sp. Co
L L
Posidonia sp. ( Br own)
C C C
Posidonia sp. indet.
K
Pro/aria sp. Co
Proma/thildia colon ? (Wissman) N C
Prosospondy/us comt us (Goldfuss) N
Pt eria pahangensis L
Pt eria sp. Co C C C
Schaufh aulia astarti(orlllis (Wi ssman) N
Spondy lus dubiosus (Bittn er) N L L
-..J
\0
FOSSIL LOCAT ION I 2
]
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Sprijerina cf. fragi Iis (Sc hlot heim) N
S V/l c.l'c!oncllw sp . N L L L L
Terebratu/oid shell N
Thra cia (?) sp. N
Trigonia cf. zlambachensis Co
Trigonodus sp. Co L L
Va/sella cf. compressa (Gold fuss) N
(I) Mount Gut hri e, Singa pore (Newton, 1906)
(2) Mou nt Faber, Singapore (Newton, 1923)
(3) Near Huat Choe Village (Cox, 1952)
(4) Pul au Ayer Chawan (Cox, 1952)
(5) From 24 points on the Jurong Industria1 Estate, about 3 miles sq uare (Kobaya shi & Tamura )
(6) Behind Crown Co rk Co mpany: CF I, FIG. 3.32. (C hin , 1965)
(7) Opposite Crown Cor k Co mpany: CF2 & L1 , FIG. 3.32. (Chin, 1965 and Lim, 1975)
(8) Drain cutting beside Jalan Buroh; CF4, FIG. 3.32. (Chin , 1965)
(9) Floo r of levell ed hill heside Jalan Buroh; CF5, FIG. 3.32. (Chin, 1965)
(10) North face of Bukit Susap behin d General Electric Factory; CF6, L7 & L8, FIG. 3.32. (Chin , 1965 & Lim, 1975)
(I I) Hill cutting beside Pioneer Road; CF7, F IG. 3.32. (Chin , 1965)
( 12) Drain cutting abou t 8 m so uth of Pioneer Circus; CF8 & L9, FIG. 3.32 (Chi n, 1965 & Lim, 1975)
(13) Leve ll ed area 27 m NE of Jur ong Pier Circus; L2, FIG. 3.32. (Lim, 1975)
( 14) Drain cutting 13 m west of Jurong Pier Circu s; L3, FIG. 3.32. (Lim, 1975)
( 15) Drain cutting beside S.T.1. Factory; L4, FIG. 3.32. (Lim, 1975)
(16) East face of Bukit Sembawang; LS, FIG . 3.32 ( Lim, 1975)
( 17) Hill rese rve for Singapore Port Authority: L6, FIG. 3.32. (Lim, 1975)
( 18) Drain cutting opposi te Singapore Clay Pr oducts: L10, FIG. 3.32 . (Lim, 197 5)
(19) Benoi Sectors syncline: L1 1, FIG. 3.32. (Lim, 1975)
NOTES:
(i) N = Newton, Co = Cox, K = Kobayash i & Tamura , C = Chin and L = Lim Meng Sze Wu
(ii ) Locality 13, all fo ss il s co ll ec ted fr om thi s loedi ty ha ve been doubtfull y ident ifi ed.

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