Provenance and Basin History: the Asem-Asem basin, SE

Borneo, Indonesia
Supervisors: Robert Hall
Project Description
The Asem-Asem Basin is situated in SE Kalimantan, Borneo, along the southeast flanks of
the Meratus Mountains. The basin contains a thick sequence of Cenozoic sediments
interpreted broadly to record initiation of the basin, a marine transgression, a subsequent
regression to terrestrial environments, and post-depositional folding and thrusting. The
sequence comprises four formations - the Tanjung, Berai, Warukin and Dahor Formations thought to be of Middle Eocene to Pleistocene age. However, since they are predominantly
terrestrial deposits, the precise stratigraphic ages of these rocks are difficult to determine
and the basins evolution remains poorly understood. The present day Meratus Mountains
separate the Asem-Asem Basin from a similar stratigraphic sequence in the Barito Basin to
the northwest which has been the subject of a recent SEARG PhD project (Witts et al. 2011).
It is not clear if the two basins have always been separate or once formed parts of a single
basin.
The basin sequence is very well exposed in both active and abandoned coalmines, providing
quality of exposure that is rare in the forested regions of Indonesia. These outcrops provide
an excellent opportunity to study both stratigraphic and along-strike variations in
sedimentological character, enabling the development of detailed depositional and
stratigraphic models for the basin. The basin also provides an opportunity to study rocks of
Eocene age which are not common on land in Indonesia but are typically the oldest
sediments of the many hydrocarbon-rich basins of Indonesia.
This project will utilise stratigraphic logging and micropalaeontological dating to investigate
the age and depositional environments of the clastic Tanjung, Warukin and Dahor
Formations, and to develop a new stratigraphy for the basin. Provenance studies, including
heavy mineral analyses and dating will be used to identify the likely sources of the sediment.
The results of this study will be integrated with results of recent studies examining the
stratigraphy, sedimentology and provenance of the Barito Basin and the uplift and
exhumation of the Meratus Mountains, to examine the linkage between these two basins,
and how it may have changed over time.
This is one of several PhD studentships open to UK/EC students being advertised by the SE
Asia Research Group starting in 2012. At least one of these projects will be funded, and
there is a high probability that more will be supported. Full funding for the projects that are
chosen to begin in 2012, including fieldwork costs, will be available from the SE Asia
Research Group (http://searg.rhul.ac.uk/).
References
Hall, R. 2009. Hydrocarbon basins in SE Asia: understanding why they are there. Petroleum
Geoscience, 15, 131-146.
Hall, R., van Hattum, M.W.A. & Spakman, W. 2008. Impact of India-Asia collision on SE
Asia: the record in Borneo. Tectonophysics, 451, 366-389.
Kusuma, I. & Darin, T. 1989. The hydrocarbon potential of the Lower Tanjung Formation,
Barito Basin, S. E. Kalimantan. Indonesian Petroleum Association, Proceedings 18th
Annual Convention, 107-138.
Satyana, A.H., Nugroho, D. & Surantoko, I. 1999. Tectonic controls on the hydrocarbon
habitats of the Barito, Kutei, and Tarakan Basins, eastern Kalimantan, Indonesia: major
dissimilarities in adjoining basins. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 17, 99- 122.

Witts, D., Hall, R., Morley, R.J. & BouDagher-Fadel, M.K. 2011. Stratigraphy and sediment
provenance, Barito basin, Southeast Kalimantan. Proceedings Indonesian Petroleum
Association, 35th Annual Convention, IPA11-G-054.