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Sandakan Formation

The Sandakan Formation dominates the eastern Sandakan peninsula of Sabah. It consists of shallow marine to deltaic sandstone and mudstone deposits from the late Miocene. Detailed studies have identified several lithofacies within the formation, including: [1] thick cohesive mudstone deposited in a brackish mangrove environment; [2] channelized fluvial sandstone; [3] thinly interbedded tidal flat sandstone and mudstone; and [4] thick stacked shoreface sandstone sequences, indicating a high sediment supply. The lithofacies represent a variety of shallow marine to coastal plain depositional environments.

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99 views2 pages

Sandakan Formation

The Sandakan Formation dominates the eastern Sandakan peninsula of Sabah. It consists of shallow marine to deltaic sandstone and mudstone deposits from the late Miocene. Detailed studies have identified several lithofacies within the formation, including: [1] thick cohesive mudstone deposited in a brackish mangrove environment; [2] channelized fluvial sandstone; [3] thinly interbedded tidal flat sandstone and mudstone; and [4] thick stacked shoreface sandstone sequences, indicating a high sediment supply. The lithofacies represent a variety of shallow marine to coastal plain depositional environments.

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Alvini Ika
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Sandakan Formation

This upper Miocene formation dominates the eastern Sandakan peninsula of sabah. There are two main
lithologies : sandstone and mudstone. The structure is simple, with a predominant N-S strike and
westwards dip (Figure 100). The sandy facies forms impressive cuestas that dominate the immediate
surroundings of the town. The litholigies allow an interpretation of shallow marine to deltaic. The main
description are by lee (1970) and Noad (1998). The formatin sits unconformtably upon Garinono
Melange (1970). At Tanjong PAPAT, on coast beneath the Mosque, Oligecene (?) andesitic tuff is
exposed. It is overlain by the Sandakan Formation and has been correlated with the volcanic of the
Cagayan Ridge of the Sulu Sea.

Although the Sandakan Basin is monoclonal, its outliers to the west form isolated circular basin,
notably the Bidu-bidu and Manjang basins, wich Noad (1998) recorded as outliers of the main Sandakan
Formation. They are both less than 10 km in diameter.

Litologi

A comprehensive study allowed Noad (1998) to describe the Sandakan Formation as comprising several
lithofacies.

Mudstone facies. It made of thick cohesive dark-grey mudstone with abundant fossil content.
The beds are highly carbonaceous and occasionally contain coal beds up to 5 cm thickness. Scattered
sideritic nodules are common. The mudstone contain abundant logs up to 2.5 m length, rooted tress and
carbonaceous detritus and a brackish to marine microfauna. Scattered rounded amber (damar) clasts
are common. The have yielded spiders, ants and the other insects. The mangrove lobster Thalassina sp.,
up to 10 cm length, has been described (Noah, 1998). A brackish water mangrove environment is
interpreted.

Channelized trough cross-bedded sandstone. The sandstone is fine-grained to very fine grained,
forming beds ranging from 1 to 14 m thickness, interbedded with the Mudstone facies. The sandstone
bases are channelized, incising into the underlying grey mudstone with a relief 2 up to 2 m. The channels
pinch out laterally and vary in width from a few meters to 150 m. The channels are not stacked and
occur singly. They have been measured to trend N-S to NW- SE. The sandstone is usually trough cross-
bedded. The main fossil are traces fossils, including a bird footprint. The channelized sandstone are
interpreted as fluvial.

Thinly interbedded sandstone and bioturbated mudstone. The interbeds are only 0.5 5 cm
thick. The sandstone beds are silty and contain abundant mud drapes. The mudstone beds are well
bioturbated. The environment is interpreted as a mixed to muddy tidal flat.

Thick stacked sandstone sequences. These dominated the southern and eastern Sandakan
Penisula (Figure 100). They resist erosion and form large scarps reaching more than 100 m in height .
The sandstones are both trough cross-bedded and planar cross-bedded. Trough cross-bedded sands are
individually 30-50 cm thickness. Planar cross-bedding is less common. The planar sets are on a metre
scale and dip up to 300.

The sandstones grade up from medium fine grained or very fine-grained. Rippling is common.
Paaeocurrent directions trend dominantly to the WNW fossils are generally absent; trace fossils
abundant. There is a dominance of Ophiomorpha burrows. The thick sandstone deposits are interpreted
as sub-tidal middle to upper shoreface. A high rate of sedimen supply is implied.

Thin to medium bedded sandstone with abundant Skolithos. This facies is of stacked sandstone beds;
interbedded mudstones are usually absent. The sands are thinly bedded. The most common trace fossils
are the small vertical tubes of Skolithos. The environment is thought to have been on the foreshore or a
shoaling part of the shelf (Noad, 1998)

Sandstone and mudstone interbeds. This is a very heterolithic facies. It is a set of interbedded
very fine-gained sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. The sandstone beds are less than 150 cm and are
packed with carbonaceous material. Rippling is common. Noad (1998) regards these deposits as
tempestite, representing abrupt changes in energy level.

Mudstone rich in crabs . Thick grey mudstone with occasional thin siltstone. Th most common
fossils are small crabs, the largest collected being 7 cm across (Noad, 1998). In addition there are 15
species of bivalves. These deposits resulted from quiet conditions of deposition. They are thought to
have been deposited in shallow inner-shelf mudstone enviroments.

Finely, laminated mudstone. Grey featureless mudstone with some thin impersistent siltstone
beds only 1-5cm thick. This facies occurs mainly in the north. The environment was a low energy one on
an open marine shelf.

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