Disc Contents © IPA, 2006 - 2nd Annual Convention Proceedings, 1973
Contents
Search PROCEEDINGS INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION
Second Annual Convention, June 1 9 7 3
PRE-TERTIARY PALEOTOPOGRAPHY AND RELATED SEDIMENTATION
IN SOUTH SUMATRA
INTRODUCTION
The basal wedge of Tertiary sediments in the
South Sumatra Basin was deposited during a
tr’ansgressive cycle that extended from Late
Eocene to the Middle Miocene. These
sediments were deposited in continental to
fluviatile-shallow marine environments, on a
surface of pre-Tertiary rock that had
considerable topographic relief. The area of
the basin discussed in the paper is shown on
Figure 1. The western margin of the basin is
structural and placed at the outcrop of the
pre-Tertiary rocks along the edge of the
Barisan Mountain Range. The eastern and
southeastern margins are the depositional
basin edges on the Sunda shield and the
Lampung high. To the northwest the basin
area is open ended and extends toward the
Central Sumatra Basin.
.The amount of information available for this
study ranges from reasonably complete
geologic and geophysical coverage in the
Stanvac blocks to sparse, reconnaissance
information from the basin edge and from
the areas operated by other companies. In
addition, not many wells reached the pre-
Tertiary section in the deeper parts of the
basin. Hence, some of the interpretations
presented here are speculative and subject to
modification when new data become available.
STRATIGRAPHY
The stratigraphic column and terminologies
used in this paper are shown on Figure 2.
The pre-Tertiary “basement ” is a complex of
igneous rocks of probable Mesozoic age, and
of Paleozoic and Mesozoic metamorphics and
89
P. ADIWIDJAJA *)
G. L. DECOSTER *)
carbonates. Unconformably overlying the pre-
Tertiary rocks is the Lemat Formation,
consisting of “granite wash”, sands, clays,
rock fragments and tuffs. The Lemat is over-
lain by shales of the Benakat Member that
grade laterally into the coarse clastics of the
upper part of the Lemat. These units are
probably of Eocene to Early Oligocene age.
The sand-shale sequence of the Talang Akar
Formation of Late Oligocene and Early
Miocene age rests unconformabiy on the
Lemat-Benakat and on pre-Tertiary rocks
in some localities. The Early Miocene Basal
Telisa Limestone and Basal Telisa Sandstone
members conformably overlie the Talang
Akar. The youngest unit of the transgressive
cycle of deposition is the Telisa Formation,
deposited in late Early to early Middle
Miocene time. The regressive depositional
cycle extended from the Middle Miocene into
the Pliocene during which time the Lower
and Middle Palembang units were deposited.
All of the above formations were uplifted,
folded and faulted during the Plio-Pleistocene
orogeny. During this orogenic phase, the
Upper Palembang was deposited in troughs
and synclines, the sediments being pre-
p
dominantly coarse clastics and tuffs.
THE PRE-TERTIARY UNCONFORMITY
SURFACE
The South Sumatra Basin is interpreted to
have originated as an interior basin with
appreciable relief. The topography appears to
have been formed and controlled by different-
ial erosion of the pre-Tertiary rocks, by
tensional faults and troughs, and probably in
*) P. T, Stanvac Indonesia
 SOUTH SUMATRA
A r r o d i r c u r r r d in this
popor

Basin outiino ot tho

r n d of tho Borol W r O
Limestone da pori t I on

%ALE I : 2.SOe~OQo

Fig. 1 - IndexMap
 91

AGE 1 UNITS
IN THIS PAPER
EQUIVALENT
UNITS
LIT H OLOG Y

PLEISTO- 1 UPPER PALEMBANG KASAI TUFF Continental tuffaceous gravels, sands ,

CENE clays

MUARA ENlM Paralic - non marine sands, clays and

FM coals

AIR BENAKAT Shallow marine sandstones, claystones

Lt-
FM
w
z I _
w
u Marine shales with thin beds of
TELISA FM GUMAl FM
0 limestones and sandstones
I

?
Shallow marine Timestones occasionally
RAOJA F Y reefal, with sandstones
- TALANQ A K A R Shallow marine t o f l u v i a t i l e sandstones
and shales with thln coal beds

w
2
w
0
0
W

Fresh to brackish shales with m i n o r

sandstones grading t o continental
LAHAT
tuffacrous conglomerates, sandstones
F M.
and shales w i t h thin c o a l b e d s

MESOZOIC PRE-TERTIARY PRE-TERTIARY Metamorphic and igneous rocks with

4- ROCKS ROCKS limestone

PALEOZOIC

Fig. 2 - Stratigraphic Chart of the South Sumatra Basin.

92
part by structural features developed during the
Mesozoic orogeny. The tensional features
include north, northeast and some northwest
trending faults and fault blocks, and a north-
south structural depression named the Benakat
" gulley". All these structural elements were
formed by Early Tertiary time. Most of the
faults remained active throughout the period
of Lemat deposition and some were active
until lower Talang Akar time. Valid age dates
for the pre-Tertiary rocks are scarce. This
factor and the lack of detailed lithologic
descriptions generally preclude any detailed
mapping of these rocks. Nonetheless, the
subcrop of the pre-Tertiary unconformity can
be mapped in broad zones in some portions
of the basin as shown in Figure 3. The zones
mapped are described as follows :
Zone A: Permo-Carboniferous meta-
morphic rocks including phyllites, slates,
argillites, quartzites and gneisses and accasional
limestones, intruded by diorite and granite
batholiths.
Zone B: Mesozoic metamorphic rocks
including phyllites, quartzites, slates and
other metawdiments that are locally intruded
by granite. Triassic metamorphic rocks intrud-
ed by granite batholiths of possible Jurassic
age are mapped on Bangka and other islands
northeast of Sumatra. The K-Ar dating of a
pre-Tertiary slate from one well in the zone
was Jurassic; the age of a limestone from
another well in the zone was Late Jurassic to
Early Cretaceous.
Zone C: A broad area of Mesozoic
metasediments and limestones associated with
mafic igneous rocks such as diabase,serpentine,
andesite and tuffites. Limestone from several
wells and from outcrop have been dated as
Early Cretaceous or possibly Late Jurassic.
Zone D: A narrow band of hard,
tight micritic limestone found in about eight
wells and interpreted in an old industry
report as possibly Cretaceous in age.
Zone E: A band of irregulm width of
granite, syenite and diorite, probably a large
batholith.
The zones of pre-Tertiary rocks that crop out
in the Barisan Mountains trend NW-SE and
appear to be structural features formed during
the folding of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic
strata during the Mesozoic orogeny. These
mountain belt zones may have some extension
into the basin area of South Sumatra, as
interpreted on Figure 3.
The interpretation of the pre-Tertiary surface
being formed predominantly as an eroded
topographic feature rather than a structurally
formed surface is derived from analysis and
interpretation of seismic sections and isopach
maps. One. of these maps is the isopach from
the top of the Talang Akar to the base of the
Lemat. The top of this section is a time
horizon that is undaform in character over
much of the basin. This map is to be used
with some caution, however, for several
reasons. Firstly, a disconformity, or locally an
unconformity, exists within the section at the
contact between the base of the Talang Akar
and the top of the Lemat. It is believed,
however, that little or no sediment was
removed from the Lemat section in the basin
center and only limitedamounts of the original
Lemat thickness were removedon the basin
margins. The second limitation to the use of
this type of map is that differential basin
subsidence and differential compaction of
the sediments mapped are factors that affect
the thicknesses of the unit being measured.
Despite these limitations, the isopach map
supported by information from the seismic
sections, can be used to demonstrate that
appreciable topographic relief existed on the
pre-Tertiary surface. The original basin
surface might be envisioned ashaving been
similar to many interior basinal areas observ-
able in the world today. Some of this topo-
graphic relief can be seen on Figure 4 which
depicts the presence of peaks and platforms
that were high during the deposition of the
 93

SOUTH S U M A T R A

See text for derriptionr

Zone A Zone D

Zone B Zone E

Zone c ~ ; r ' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fig. 3 - Pre-Tertiary Rocks Underlying the Tertiary in the Basin and Exposed in the Barisan Mountains.
94
Lemat Formation, Some of the peaks are
close to each other but separated by great
thicknesses of Lemat sediments.
DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY AND
SEDIMENTATION
Lemat Formation
The initial deposition of the Tertiary section
in the basin occurred in the Late Eocene and
Early Oligocene in a continental environment.
The sediments consisting of alluvial fan, braid-
ed stream and piedmont deposits of the Lemat
Formation were derived from the topographic
highs and were deposited in nearby vdleys and
depressions. The sediments have few
sedimentary features, are poorly sorted,
contain coarse; angdar grains of sand to
conglomerate size, and fragments of volcanic
materials and of unstable minerals. Thin coal
beds are occasionally present. The basal unit
of the Lemat in some deeper trough areas is
oftenveryfeldspathic, derived from the erosion
of nearby granite and diorite hills (“granite
wash”). N o principle direction of sediment
transport can be determined, as gravity flow
and water runoff were probably the principle
erosion and transport mechanisms. A fresh to
brackish, prodeltaic environment developed in
Early Oligocene in the central part of the
basin which may have had intermittent
connection with marine seas through its
southwestern rim. Thus, a silled basin may
have formed at this stage which coincides
with the transgression of an Early Oligocene
sea. The Benakat or upper shale member of the
Lemat was deposited in this environment.
The unit is composed of grey-brown to dark
grey shales interbedded with light green-grey
to ligh blue-grey, tuffaceous shales and
siltstones and occasional tuffaceous sandstones
and coals. Thin limestone and dolomite
stringers and glauconite are occasionally-
present. Fossils are generally small and few
in number. The Benakat grades laterally to-
ward the trough margins into coarser clastics
of the Lemat.
The age of the Lemat-Benakat is interpreted
to be Eocene and Early Oligocene. This
interpretation is somewhat speculative as it
isbased on the stratigraphic position of the
unit and on age dating results obtained from
a few samples. The Lemat-Benakat is present
in the central basin area as shown on Figure
4. It is interpreted to be present in the Lema-
tang trough, the Benakat “gulley”, and in
other troughs in the north central part of the
basin. The thickness of the Lemat is highly
variable, ranging from a feather edge t~ an
excess of 2500 feet (about 765 meters) in the
south part of the basin. The thickness defined
by seismic data in several troughs in the
central part of the basin is more than 3000
feet (about 915 meters) and is as much as
3500 feet (about 1070 meters) in one fault
depression. The unit is present in thick pods
in downfaulted blocks and in troughs, and is
thin or absent on topographic highs and, in
upfaulted blocks. Paleotopography and fault
blocks control the thickness of the unit. The
abrupt changes in thickness occurring across
faults is shown by Figure 5, which is a NE-SW
seismic section across a folded feature in the
central part of the basin. It illustrates the
control of the thickness of the Lemat by
topographic relief and by faulting.
Sedimentation is interpreted to have been
interrupted in the Middle Oligocene. N o
sediments of that age have been recognized to
date in the basin and a good seismic reflector
generally occurs at the contact between the
Lemat-Benakat and the overlying Talang
Akar. This break in sedimentation may have
been related to the regional uplift that occurred
in late Early and in Middle Oligocene time.
Local erosion of the Lemat probably occurred
on the topographic highs whereas in the
centers of the troughs there was little or no
erosion. Local trough subsidence and move-
ment along the fault probably increased some
of the formation dip of the unit.
Talang Akar Formation
Sedimentation was renewed in Late Oligocene
and continued into Early Miocene with the
 95

3 DJAMBI

SOUTH SUMATRA

Lcmat Fin w i t h
I >
d n
B c n a k a t Mbr

L e m a t Fm coarse
clartic facier only

SCALE I : 2,500,000 I
o ss
- i
UILO*LTLRS
OC3
,050c KRAKATAU
1oaoE
I ,
Fig. 4 - Occurrence of Lemat Formation and of Benakat Member in Basin
96

Fig. 5 - Seismic Section Illustrating Topographic and Fault Control of Thick-

ness of Lemat Formation.

depositon of the Talang Akar Formation in a
fluviatile, deltaic and marginal-shallow marine
environment. The connection to open marine
seas became more significant at this time and
the seas gradually encroached into the basin .
The progradation of the delta systems that
were developed in the Talang Akar ended with
the onset of a widespread marine transgression
that closed the stage of Talang Akar
deposition.
Initial depositon of the Tdang Akar was in
the form of alluvial fans and braided streams
which filled local topographic lows and
depressions, the sediments probably being
sourced locally, As the topography became
morecbnstant and level widespread delta plain
sediments, consisting primarily of point bar
and braided stream deposits, were laid down
over broad areas of the basin, These graded
into delta front and marginal marine sands
which in turn graded into prodelta shales laid
down in the more distal parts of the basin.
T h e distribution of gross facies and
environments of deposition is depicted on
Figure 6. As the deltaic sediments prograded
toward the basin center, erosion removed
some of the deltaic and fluvial sediments
d e p o s i t e d on the basin margins and
redeposited the material in the new delta plain
and delta front. In the southern part of the
basin, the principle source area was to the east
and southeast and sediment transport was
from the southeast toward the northwest.
This is indicated by environment profiles of
the Talang Akar -- no provenance studies
have been made. In the central part of the
basin, the source was from the east and
sediment transport was from the east to west
and to northwest. The marine transgression at
the end of Talang Akar time was accompanied
by the widespread deposition of shallow
marine shales which were laid upon and which
PreSeNed the previously deposited fluviatile
and deltaic sediments. These shales graded
into nearshore, fine to medium grained sand
deposited around and upon the still emergent
pre-Tertiary topographic highs. The platform
areas and local highs are interpreted to have
been inadequate sources for any apprediable
amounts of coarse clastics deposited in the
basin. The interpretation of sedimentation on
07
the west flank of the basin is uncertain
because the Plio -Pleistocene uplift and
erosion of the Tertiary section has removed
much of the lithic evidence. It is believed,
however, that zones of nearshore marine sands
may have been deposited around the positive
blocks or islands existent on the basin rim.
These sands may have been tuffaceous, the
material coming from volcanic sources located
in the vicinity; many tuffs are also present in
the overlying Telisa Formation in this part of
the basin. The tuffaceous sands cropping out
along the mountain front have not been dated
or positively correlated with the units
elsewhere in the basin but may be partial
equivalents of the Talang Akar.
The Talang Akar has been dated as Late
Oligocene to Early Miocene on the basis of
s o m e paleontological and palynological
studies, and by its stratigraphic position
beneath the well dated Basal Telisa Limestone
Member. The changes in thickness of the
formation over the basin occur in a more
regular patten than it does in the Lemat
Formation. The thickness of the Talang Akar
varies from a feather edge around the
emergent highs and the basin margins, to as
much as 1500 to 2000 feet (about 460 to 610
meters) in the troughs in the southern part of
the basin, and to 1000 feet (about 300
meters) in the northern half of the basin.
Basal Telisa Limestone Member.
Following the depositon of the Talang Akar,
there apparently was an appreciable reduction
in amount of clastics being transported to the
basin. This factor, coupled with possible
episodic stillstands, significantly affected the
depositional environment of the Basal Telisa
Limestone. In the early stages, extensive
platform or bank limestone deposits were
formed on shelfal. and platform portions of
the basin. In the later stages, further buildups
of detrital, reefal and bank limestone were
formed on top of these banks in restricted
localities. Many of these buildups were
supported by a framework of colonial coral.
The deposition of these limestones probably
ended when marine transgression resumed.
During the later stages of the development of
 I I I
103- E lor**

SOUTH SUMATRA

Oominontly marine %hole

Oelto ploin sond 8 aholc

Fresh-brackish boy mud

SCALE I 1,800,000

oa= D -
ruwetttts

Fig. 6 - Generalized Facies and Environments of Deposition of Talang Akar Formation.

the limestone buildups some of the uppermost
parts were subjected to subaerial leaching.
While the limestones were being deposited on
the platforms the stratigraphic equivalent
section, composed of calcareous clays
interbedded with thin beds of lime mud, was
being deposited in the deeper troughs.Toward
the basin margin, the bank limestone graded
into calcareous clays with fine to medium
s a n d s being laid down around other
topographic highs. The occurrence of the
bank or platform limestone, limestone
buildups, and the equivalent Basal Telisa
sandstones is shown on Figure 7.
Th'e Basal Telisa Limestone is very
fossiliferous and has been dated as Early
Miocene. S o m e paleontologiststs have
subdivided the Basal Telisa Limestone into
two units. The lower unit, which is essentially
the limestone platform or bank deposit is
dated as Aquitanian based on the presence of
Spiroclypeus , especially S. orbitoideus and S;
tidoenganensis. The upper unit is dated as
Burdigalian to Lower Langhian (Lower
Vindobonian) on the basis of the presence of
Eulepidina and the absence of Spiroclypeus
fauna. This age designaton may be too precise
because these large foraminifera may be more
facies than time controlled. Nevertheless, the
f a u n a s contained in the Basal Telisa
Limestone do indicate an Early Miocene age.
The Basal Telisa Limestone occurs only on the
broad shelf and platform areas within the
basin. The thickness of the lower bank is
fairly constant over the shelf area, averaging
about 200 to 250 feet (about 60 to 75
meters). The thickness variations are greater
where the bank lies on pre-Tertiary rocks
because it filled more irregular topographic
relief, An additional 200 to 400 feet (about
60 to 120 meters) of limestone are present on
top of the bank in those areas of pronounced
buildup. The outcrop of the Baturadja
Formation in the Garba Mountains is reported
to be 1700 feet (about 520 meters) thick.
Telisa and Younger Formations.
F u r t h e r m a r i n e transgression occurred
subsequent t o the deposition of the Basal
Telisa Limestone, and clays and fine silts of
t h e remaining members of the Telisa
Formation were deposited in the basin. Thin
limestones and minor amounts of sandstone,
which may be turbidites, also occur in the
unit. The rich fauna that includes Bolivina and
Uvigerina combined with the widespread
occurrence of glauconitic foraminifera1
limestone suggest deposition in warm, neritic
environments. Paleontologic analyses of the
fauna indicate a maximum water depth of
deposition in most of the troughs of the 'basin
to be 600 feet (about 185 meters) or less. It
was at this stage of the Tertiary deposition
that the basin experienced the maximum
marine incursion and the most widespread
area of deposition. The seas covered most of
the remaining topographic highs in the basin,
and probably connected the South Sumatra
Basin with the Sunda Basin to the east. The
remaining platforms and topographic highs
and the farthest reaches of the basin margins
were covered by the sea and received
sedimentation. In these areas, interbedded
shales and sands with occasional limestones
were deposited. Formerly, these basal sands
encountered in the shelf margin wells were
correlated as the Talang Akar on the basis of
lithic characteristics. The analysis of new
seismic data and the sections present in these
wells show that the sands are equivalent to the
Telisa Formation.
Toward the end of the Telisa sedimentation in
early Middle Miocene, the seas gradually
started to regress. Environments of deposition
changed from neritic t o shallow marine and
then to marginal marine and paludal--deltaic
with the deposition of the Lower and Middle
P a l e m b a n g . T h e area u n d e r g o i n g
sedimentation in the basin decreased steadily
until Plio-Pleistocene time and there was no
further deposition on the pre-Tertiary surface.
The Pilo-Pleistocene uplift of the Barisan
Mountains provided a different source for
sediments and forced a change in the principal
direction of sediment transport. Before the
Plio-Pleistocene uplift, the main source of
the Tertiary sediments was the Sunda shield
and the Lampung high, and the sediment
transport was toward the northwest, west and
s o u t h w e s t . With the advent of the
Plio-Pleistocene orogeny, the major source
100

I I 1
103. E lOS0C

SOUTH SUMATRA
a Limestone Buildup

Bonk or Platform Limestor

f3 Limrrtone and Sondctona

8CILC I : t.~oo,ooo

w LILOY8TCU
100

Fig. 7 - The Distribution of Basal Telisa Limestone.

 101

Fig. 8 -
I
Deposition of the Tertiary Sedimenta on the Pre-Tertiary Unconformity Surface.
102

SOUTH SUMATRA

8CALE I : 2.~00~000 0

c-sa! -0
KILOMLIIZ..

I0S.E

Fig. 9 - Index Map Showing Lines of Cross Sections on Figure 8.

 103

shifted to the west and sediment transport
was generally toward the northeast, depositing
the tuffaceous, fine to coarse clastics of the
Upper Palembang. The Upper Palembang has
been subsequently covered by Recent
Alluvium.
The deposition of the Tertiary sediments on
the pre-Tertiary surface in a transgressive
depositional cycle is shown on the two
sections on Figure 8. The location of these
lines of cross section are shown on Figure 9.
The two sections depict the succeedingly
younger sediments onlapping the earlier
deposits and the pre-Tertiary surface in a
shoreward direction. This relationship is gene-
rally true throughout the basin, There are
some local exceptions, however, where the
Lemat occurs over a slightly more wide -
spread area than does the Talang Akar. In
these localities, the Basal Telisa Limestone lies
on the Lemat. The SW-NE cross section on
Figure 8 demonstrates the onlap onto the
marginal shelf to the northeast and onto
platform areas to the southwest. The NW-SE
cross section is drawn diagonally across the
Lematang trough, southeast to the basin
margin and northwest onto the flank of one of
the major paleotopographic features present in
the basin area.
4. The Talang Akar Formation was deposited
in Late Oligocene to Early Miocene in
fluviatile to sllallow marine environments.
In the southern part of the basin, sedi-
ment transport was from the southeast
to the northwest from source areas to
the east and southeast.
5. The Basal Telisa Limestone was deposited
in a shallow marine environment on shelf
and platform portions of the basin during
the Early Miocene.
6. The Telisa Formation was deposited over
the widest areal extent in the basin and
onlapped the pre-Tertiary surface on the
basin margins. The time of maximum
marine transgression into the basin occur-
red in Early to Middle Miocene during
the deposition of the Telisa.
7. There was no further sedimentation onto
the pre-Tertiary topographic surface after
the deposition of the lower Telisa
Formation.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The basal wedge of Tertiary sediments

was deposited in the South Sumatra Basin
during a transgressive cycle extending from
Eocene to the Middle Miocene,
2. The paleotopography on the pre-Tertiary
surface was formed principally by diffe-
rential erosion and to a lesser extent
by faults and troughs. Structural features
developed during the Mesozoic orogeny
may have also affected the paleotopu-
graphy but this is difficult to detexminie
for lack of information about structures
within the pre-Tertiary rocks in the basin.
3. The Lemat Formation was deposited in
a continental, interior basin type of en-
vironment in Eocene to Early Oligocene.