Higher-resolution biostratigraphy for the Kinta Limestone and an implication for continuous sedimentation in the Paleo-Tethys, Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Turkish J Earth Sci
(2017) 26: 377-394
© TÜBİTAK
doi:10.3906/yer-1612-29

/>
Research Article

Higher-resolution biostratigraphy for the Kinta Limestone and an implication for
continuous sedimentation in the Paleo-Tethys, Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia
1,2,

2

3

4

2

5

Haylay TSEGAB *, Chow Weng SUM , Gatovsky A. YURIY , Aaron W. HUNTER , Jasmi AB TALIB , Solomon KASSA
1
South-East Asia Carbonate Research Laboratory (SEACaRL), Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Geosciences and
Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
2
Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,
Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia

3
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation
4
Department of Applied Geology, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
5
Department of Applied Geology, School of Applied Natural Sciences, Adama Sciences and Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia
Received: 29.12.2016

Accepted/Published Online: 21.09.2017

Final Version: 13.11.2017

Abstract: The paleogeography of the juxtaposed Southeast Asian terranes, derived from the northeastern margins of Gondwana during
the Carboniferous to Triassic, resulted in complex basin evolution with massive carbonate deposition on the margins of the PaleoTethys. Due to the inherited structural and tectonothermal complexities, discovery of diagnostic microfossils from these carbonates has
been problematic. This is particularly the case for the Kinta Limestone, a massive Paleozoic carbonate succession that covers most of
the Kinta Valley in the central part of the Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia. Owing to the complex structural and igneous events, as
well as extensive diagenetic alterations, establishing precise age constraints for these carbonates has been challenging. Furthermore, the
sedimentation history of these deposits has been masked. Three boreholes, totaling 360 m thickness of core, were drilled at either end
of the Kinta Valley on a north-south transect through sections with minimal thermal alteration. The sections are composed chiefly of
carbonaceous carbonate mudstone with shale and siltstones beds, in which the carbonates were sampled for microfossils. Five hundred
conodont elements were extracted. Nine diagnostic conodont genera and 28 age diagnostic conodont species were identified. The
identification of Pseudopolygnathus triangulus triangulus and Declinognathodus noduliferus noduliferus indicated that the successions
ranged from Upper Devonian to upper Carboniferous. Further analysis and establishment of stage-level datum that range from the
Famennian to Bashkirian (Late Carboniferous) enabled detection of continuous sedimentation and improved age constraints in
undated sections of the Kinta Limestone. This higher-resolution conodont biostratigraphy suggests a prevalence of continuous
carbonate deposition during the Early Devonian to Late Carboniferous in the Paleo-Tethys. Thus, the identification of diagnostic
conodont species for the first time from subsurface data in the area has helped improve the biostratigraphic resolution and establishes
depositional continuity of the Kinta Limestone. These data could provide clues to the Paleo-Tethys paleogeographic reconstruction and
paleodepositional conditions, and could establish higher temporal resolution correlation than previously attempted.
Key words: Carbonate, conodont, higher-resolution, correlation, paleogeography

1. Introduction
The Devonian to Carboniferous of Southeast Asia
was dominated by carbonate deposition from shallow
continental to deeper waters of the Paleo-Tethys
(Metcalfe, 2002; Jian et al., 2009a, 2009b). Paleogeographic
reconstructions of this region (Metcalfe et al., 1990;
Metcalfe, 2011, 2013; Searle et al., 2012) have shown,
using paleontological, paleobiogeographical, and
tectonostratigraphic datasets, that the Paleo-Tethys had
huge accommodation space, which probably resulted in
the deposition of massive carbonates in the Paleozoic.
*Correspondence:

The Paleozoic stratigraphic record of Peninsular
Malaysia, where many carbonate occurrences have
been reported (Figure 1), is not an exception. These
deposits encompass marine sedimentary successions
ranging from the late Cambrian to early Permian (Foo,
1983; Lee, 2009). Complex tectonostratigraphic events
of the Paleo-Tethys basins have been well documented
by Metcalfe and Irving (1990), Alavi (1991), Hutchison
(1994, 1996, 2007), Metcalfe et al. (2011), and Metcalfe
(2013). Thus, these complicated paleodepositional settings
may have influenced the distribution and abundance of

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 1. Map showing the study area in Peninsular Malaysia, Southeast Asia region. The study area is marked by the red box in
western Malaysia.

microfossils, which are among the key datasets required to
understand the Paleo-Tethys depositional environments,
sedimentation histories, and biostratigraphy.
To date, high-resolution conodont biostratigraphy
of Peninsular Malaysia has focused mainly on the
northwestern part of the Western Stratigraphic Belt as
this part of the peninsula contains an almost complete
stratigraphic succession of Paleozoic strata (Lee et al., 2004;
Cocks et al., 2005; Meor et al., 2005; Lee, 2009; Bashardin
et al., 2014), is relatively fossiliferous, and is less affected
by metamorphism (Lee, 2009). Conversely, the current
biostratigraphy of the Kinta Limestone, which is the main
carbonate lithological unit found within the Kinta Valley,
in the central part of the Western Belt, is based solely on
some poorly preserved uncommon microfossils recovered
from outcrop samples within highly metamorphosed
sections (Suntharalingam, 1968; Lane, 1979; Lane et al.,
1979; Fontaine et al., 1995; Fontaine, 2002; Metcalfe, 2002)
(Figure 2).
Despite the Kinta Limestone and associated
siliciclastic lithologies having been affected by multiple
alterations such as diagenesis, structural deformation, and
metamorphism, important and informative microfossils

378

have still been preserved (Suntharalingam, 1968; Fontaine
and Ibrahim, 1995; Haylay et al., 2013). Ingham et al.
(1960), Lee (2009), and (Richardson, 1946) documented
that the limestone close to the intrusive batholith lacked
fossils and is invariably marmorized, implying that
paleontological data from outcrops nearer to the granitic
intrusion might be affected by structural and thermal
events. This has negatively impacted our understanding
of the biostratigraphy and deposition history in the
Kinta Valley successions and resulted in widely variable
age constraints as detailed below. The outcrop-based
dating showed that the limestones to the north are
mixed Devonian to Carboniferous (Metcalfe, 2002); the
limestones further to the southern tip of the valley are
middle Devonian to middle Permian (Suntharalingam,
1968). Among the pioneer workers on biostratigraphic
studies in the Kinta Valley, Gobbett (1968), who found
fusulinacean foraminifera, and Suntharalingam (1968),
who identified mollusks and tabulate corals from tinmine outcrops, determined the age of the successions as
middle Devonian to middle Permian. Contributions from
Fontaine and Ibrahim (1995) also confirmed a Permian
age section from western Kampar in the southern part


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 2. Map of the study area showing the Kinta Valley in the Peninsular Malaysia. Note
that drilling locations are in the north (Sungai Siput) and in the south (Malim Nawar).

of the Kinta Valley using Maklaya (fusuline). Lane et

al. (1979) and Metcalfe (2002) introduced conodont
dating from a metamorphosed limestone outcrop in the
Kanthan area, which has been dated as mixed Devonian
to Carboniferous in age. These studies have advanced the
stratigraphic understanding of the Kinta Limestone, as
they introduced the usage of microfossils from different
geographical localities and they attempted to establish
local and regional correlations as well. However, a
thorough review of the previous micropaleontological
works on the Kinta Limestone showed that these efforts

were patchy and all age constraints were made based only
on data derived from specific outcrops. Some of them even
showed diverse age ranges for groups of microfossils in a
single section (Metcalfe, 2002), which may indicate how
complex it was to establish constrained paleontological
dating of the sedimentary successions let alone understand
the depositional history of the succession. The impact of
the tectonothermal effects in the late Permian and Early to
middle Cretaceous (Harbury et al., 1990) has also affected
the reliability of the aragonitic, calcitic, and siliceous
microfossils for dating and understanding the depositional

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
history in the basin. Thus, the existing paleontological
dating has been thwarted by poor preservation and
crystallization of the microfossils, which in turn hindered

identification of taxa to the species level.
Despite the many attempts to date the Kinta Limestone
on the basis of outcrop studies, microfossil distributions in
the Kinta Limestone have been much debated due to the
associated stratigraphic complexity, and the stratigraphic
resolution remains ambiguous. As a result, a new approach
is required to examine the Kinta Limestone from fully
cored subsurface data to determine the stratigraphic
variation and depositional history in the basin. This paper
uses conodonts, which are second only to pollen and
spores as the most resistant microfossils to metamorphism
(Haq et al., 1998), to address the challenges of depositional
history, dating, and biofacies variations in the Kinta
Limestone. These phosphatic microfossils are the most
commonly used biostratigraphic tool for dating late
Cambrian to Late Triassic marine rocks (Sweet, 1988;
Sweet et al., 2001), which fits the tentative age of the Kinta
Limestone. This work presents our preliminary results
and interpretations of the conodont biostratigraphy of
the Kinta Limestone and its implications for continuous
deposition of carbonates in the Paleo-Tethys during the
late Paleozoic. This includes resampling classic and new
outcrops as well as using new borehole data from the
deepest part of the Kinta Limestone succession recognized
to date. This study focuses on samples from these vertical
boreholes to improve the biostratigraphy and examine the
depositional history of the Kinta Limestone.
1.1. Stratigraphic setting
The Kinta Valley is in the central part of the Western
Stratigraphic Belt, where the Kinta Limestone is the major

lithological unit covering most of the valley (Figure 2). The
Kinta Limestone has previously been dated as extending
from the Silurian to Permian (Suntharalingam, 1968; Foo,
1983; Schwartz et al., 1989; Hutchison, 1994; Fontaine and
Ibrahim, 1995; Metcalfe, 2002; Haylay et al., 2011, 2012).
The flat valley floor of the Kinta Valley is characterized
by some prominent remnant karstic limestone hills
protruding from thick Quaternary sediments (Batchelor,
1988), which overly the Kinta Limestone (Batchelor, 1988;
Kamaludin et al., 1993; Fontaine and Ibrahim, 1995). The
thickness of this overburden varies from north to south
and it reaches 30 m on average at the drilling location in
the Malim Nowar (Figure 2). The subsurface of the Kinta
Valley is believed to be underlain by the Kinta Limestone
and by Late Triassic to Early Jurassic granitic intrusions
(Ingham and Bradford, 1960). The elevated areas in the
east and west of the Kinta Valley represent these granitic
batholiths (Figure 2). The stratigraphy of the Kinta Valley
is represented by the Kinta Limestone, the dominant
lithology, with minor intercalation of siliciclastics such

380

as pinching out black shale and silt beds, particularly in
the Upper Devonian to lower Carboniferous intervals
(Haylay et al., 2015). The Kinta Limestone is bounded on
top by an erosional unconformity and the lower boundary
is unknown, except for speculative older Precambrian
basement complexes. At present the valley is tilting
towards the south and the topography is drained to the

south along the Kinta River.
2. Materials and methods
In this study, we have carried out an extensive survey of
all the accessible outcrops along a north-south transect
of the Kinta Valley. These included all major outcrops
from Sungai Siput through to Malim Nawar (Figure 2).
The detailed fieldwork and survey allowed us to establish
that only two limestone hills, near Sungai Siput, would
enable us to infer the depositional environments of the
Kinta Limestone. These hills are outliers surrounded by
siliciclastics; they are both accessible, relatively unaltered by
thermal impact, and have exceptionally preserved pockets
of limestones retaining primary sedimentary features
(Haylay et al., 2014). Two boreholes, SGS-01 and SGS-02,
were drilled, retrieving a total of 126.98 m of cores. These
boreholes were drilled at ~1 km lateral distance from each
other. A third borehole, MNR-03, was then drilled further
to the south of the Kinta Valley in Malim Nawar (Figure
2) and retrieved the deepest core, at 232.82 m. This is an
area where most of the fossiliferous limestone sites were
reported in the literature. The three boreholes resulted in
a total of ~360 m of core recovery, which enabled detailed
lithofacies (Figures 3–5) and micropaleontological studies
of the Kinta Limestone.
The lithofacies from the northern part of the Kinta
Valley is mainly dominated by dark to black carbonate
mudstone with black shale beds and siltstone intervals,
particularly at the base of boreholes SGS-01 and SGS02 (Figures 3 and 4). The southern section of the Kinta
Limestone contains calcitic limestone with minor schistose
intervals (Figure 5). The lithofacies from the southern

section are relatively coarser than those of the northern
section. To investigate the sedimentation history of the
Kinta Limestone, establishing high-resolution conodont
biostratigraphy was required. A total of 58 samples from
cores and outcrops were selected for conodont study.
Forty core samples (Figures 3–5) and 18 outcrop samples
were processed. Sampling intervals for the cored sections
of the boreholes are shown in Figures 3–5, along with
the lithostratigraphic logs of the cores. The sampling
intervals were set based on the outcrop and core lithofacies
description prior to analyses.
Core and chip samples were dissolved for the extraction
of conodonts following standard procedures (Jeppsson
and Anehus, 1995, 1999; Jeppsson et al., 1999). Depending


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 3. Lithostratigraphic section and sampling intervals of borehole SGS-01. The sampling interval was set based on
lithofacies description of the cores.

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 4. Lithostratigraphic section and sampling intervals
for borehole SGS-02. Note that the sampling was set based on
lithofacies characterization.

382

Figure 5. Lithostratigraphic section and sampling intervals of
borehole MNR-03. Note the Quaternary sand unconformably
overlaying the Paleozoic carbonate, and sampling was set based
on the lithofacies characterization.


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
on the dominant lithological characteristics (calcareous or
argillaceous), acid leaching for carbonates and treatment
with soda were followed. Subsequently, based on the
nature of the residues, the conodonts were either manually
separated by examining them under a reflected light
binocular microscope or separated using heavy liquid
(bromoform) separation. This was followed by manually
picking the conodonts from enriched or nonenriched
insoluble residues under the microscope using a needle
and a thin brush, which was accompanied by mounting
and cataloging for studying.
Study and identification of the picked conodont
materials required imaging through a scanning electron
microscope (SEM). For this purpose, representative
specimens were selected from the collection (Figures 6
and 7). The samples were mounted in a row of different
positions in which all the important structures of the
conodonts could be seen. These were then sprayed with
a thin layer of gold and placed in the SEM for imaging.
Sample selection, preparation, and description were done
at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, Malaysia.

Dissolution, extraction, and identification of the conodonts
were carried out at Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Moscow, Russia.
3. Results
3.1. Conodont abundance
The majority of processed samples produced a good
quantity and quality of conodonts suitable for identification
to species level. The conodonts showed variable abundance
in the two studied localities of the Kinta Limestone. Out of
the 40 core samples, 20 of them were taken from borehole
MNR-03 in the southern part of the Kinta Valley; six of
these 20 samples were found barren. The remaining 20
were taken from boreholes SGS-01 and SGS-02 in the
Sungai Siput section at the northern part of the valley.
The proportion of the conodonts recovered from the
northern part of the Kinta Limestone covers 80% of the
total. The conodonts from the southern part of the Kinta
Valley cover 20% of the total recovery. The samples taken
from the northern part of the Kinta Limestone contain 24
conodont species and samples from the southern part of
the Kinta Valley contain four conodont species, which have
been identified from more than 60 conodont elements.
The dark to black carbonaceous carbonate mudstone
from the Sungai Siput section of the Kinta Limestone is
richer in conodonts than the light gray calcitic limestone
from the southern section. Even though a thicker section
was recovered in the southern part of the Kinta Valley,
MNR-03, it was found to be relatively poor in conodont
speciation and abundance, only containing four species.
In addition to this, the marmorized carbonate lithofacies

to the east and west of the Kinta Valley were found barren.

3.2. Conodont biostratigraphy
The conodonts recovered from the northern and southern
localities of the Kinta Limestone range from the Early
Devonian to Late Carboniferous. Conodont taxa and
their abundances are summarized in Tables 1–3. These
conodont data allowed us to subdivide the Kinta Limestone
into stage levels of dating resolution. The conodont
species Polygnathus communis communis (Branson et
al., 1933), Pseudopolygnathus dentilineatus (Branson et
al., 1933), Palmatolepis cf. gracilis sigmoidalis (Ziegler,
1962), Spathognathodus crassidentatus (Branson et al.,
1933), Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus pinnatus (Voges,
1959), Siphonodella obsoleta (Hass, 1959), Siphonodella
crenulata (Cooper, 1939), Polygnathus inornatus inornatus
(Branson et al., 1933), Polygnathus bischoffi (Rhodes et
al., 1969), Pseudopolygnathus triangulus pinnatus (Voges,
1959), Pseudopolygnathus aff. fusiformis (Branson et
al., 1933), Pseudopolygnathus multistriatus (Mehl et al.,
1947), Clydagnathus cavusformis (Rhodes et al., 1969),
Bispathodus stabilis (Branson et al., 1933), Siphonodella cf.
quadruplicata (Branson et al., 1933), Gnathodus punctatus
(Cooper, 1939), Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus triangulus
(Voges, 1959), Polygnathus inornatus inornatus (Branson
et al., 1933), Gnathodus cf. semiglaber (Bischoff, 1957), and
Pinacognathus fornicatus (Ji et al., 1984) are common in the
samples from SGS-01 and SGS-02, indicating Famennian
to Tournaisian age carbonate deposits. The conodont
species Declinognathodus noduliferus noduliferus (Ellison,

1941), Declinognathodus noduliferus inaequalis (Higgins,
1975), Declinognathodus noduliferus japonicus (Igo et al.,
1964), and Declinognathodus cf. noduliferus noduliferus
(Ellison et al., 1941) are mainly extracted from the samples
of borehole MNR-03, suggesting Bashkirian age deposits.
These data, using the age-diagnostic conodont species
such as the Pseudopolygnathus triangulus triangulus and
Declinognathodus noduliferus noduliferus, indicate a
continuous succession of the Kinta Limestone from the
north to the south of the Kinta Valley. Representative
SEM images of the age-diagnostic conodonts are shown
in Figures 6 and 7, while the conodont biostratigraphy
along with the standard chronostratigraphy and shortterm Phanerozoic sea-level curve for the specific time
interval mentioned above are indicated in Figures 8 and
9, respectively.
4. Discussion
4.1. Stratigraphy and age constraint for the Kinta
Limestone
Using borehole data from pockets of relatively unaltered
carbonate lithologies at either end of the Kinta Valley
(Sungai Siput in the north and Malim Nawar in the south),
within the heavily metamorphosed Kinta Limestone,
has enabled us to establish precise high-resolution

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 6. The scale bar represents 100 µm. Marker conodont species’ SEM images. The name of the species of the marker conodonts is as follows: 1 =

Siphonodella cf. quadruplicata (Branson & Mehl, 1934), sample B-1-5, upper view; 2 = Siphonodella obsoleta (Hass, 1959), sample B-1-7, upper view; 3
= Siphonodella crenulata (Cooper, 1939), sample B-2-7, upper view; 4 = Palmatolepis cf. gracilis sigmoidalis (Ziegler, 1962), sample B-1-1, upper view; 5
= Siphonodella crenulata (Cooper, 1939), sample B-1-3, upper view; 6 = Polygnathus communis communis (Branson & Mehl, 1934), sample B-2-2; 6a =
upper view, 6b = lower view; 7 = Polygnathus bischoffi (Rhodes, Austin & Druce, 1969), sample B-1-6, upper view; 8 = Polygnathus inornatus inornatus
(Branson & Mehl, 1934), sample B-1-3; 8a = lower view, 8b = upper view; 9 = Gnathodus semiglaber (Bischoff, 1957), sample B-1-6, upper view; 10 =
Gnathodus punctatus (Cooper, 1939), sample B-1-6, upper view; 11 = Pseudopolygnathus triangulus (Voges, 1959), sample B-1-3, upper view; 12, 13 =
Declinognathodus noduliferus noduliferus (Ellison & Graves, 1941), sample B-3-3, upper view.

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
Table 1. Conodont elements from SGS-01.

 

 

 

 
B-1-12

 

 

B-1-11

 

 

B-1-10

 

 

B-1-9

 

B-1-4

 

B-1-3

Samples

 

B-1-2

B-1-1

 

 

B-1-8

 

B-1-7

Conodont taxa

B-1-6

Sungai Siput (SGS-01)

B-1-5

Sections

Polygnathus communis communis (Branson & Mehl, 1934)

10

 

16

 

2

4

4

l

 

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus dentilineatus (E.R. Branson, 1934)

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palmatolepis cf. gracilis sigmoidalis (Ziegler, 1962)

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spathognathodus crassidentatus (Branson & Mehl, 1934)

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus pinnatus (Voges, 1959)

 

2

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siphonodella obsoleta (Hass, 1959)

 

 

5

 

l

3

6

8

 

 

 

 

Siphonodella crenulata (Cooper, 1939)

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus inornatus inornatus (Branson & Mehl, 1934)

 

 

8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus bischoffi (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

3

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus triangulus pinnatus (Voges, 1959) (8)

 

 

8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus aff. fusiformis (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus multistriatus (Mehl & Thomas, 1947)

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clydagnathus cavusformis (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bispathodus stabilis (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siphonodella cf. quadruplicata (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

 

Gnathodus punctatus (Cooper, 1939) (4)

 

 

 

Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus triangulus (Voges, 1959)

 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus inornatus inornatus (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

Gnathodus cf. semiglaber (Bischoff, 1957)

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

l

 

 

 

 

Pinacognathus fornicatus (Ji et al., 1984)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

biostratigraphy and constrained the age range for the
Kinta Limestone. The preserved sedimentological features
in the relatively unaltered carbonate lithofacies enabled
us to establish suitable study locations. The carbonate
lithofacies from the northern part of the Kinta Valley

are found to be interbedded with shale beds maintaining
sharp bedding contacts, lamination, and syndepositional
structures such as frequent slumps and contorted beds. In
addition to preserved sedimentary structures at the drilling
locations, similar slump-like features crop out in the caves
east of Ipoh, such as Tambun and Kek Lok Tong (Kadir et
al., 2011; Pierson et al., 2011). These features have been
found extending from the surface to the subsurface part
of the Kinta Limestone and we have been able to intercept
a continuous limestone succession with intercalation of
shale and siltstone intervals along the vertical wells from
the Sungai Siput area. Conversely, in the southern section
at Malim Nawar, the carbonate lithofacies is mainly
calcitic limestone with short intervals of schistose material
and has lost almost all of its sedimentary heterogeneity.

Despite this loss of primary sedimentary features, the
southern well has proven that, in addition to the towering
limestone karstic hills, which are mainly aligned in the
western foothill of the Main Range granite in the Kinta
Valley (Figure 2), the Kinta Limestone continuously
underlies the Quaternary deposits. It is well known that
carbonate production is partly controlled by water depth
and optimum bathymetry, where the rise of sea level is not
going to threaten the survival of the carbonate producing
organisms (Kendall et al., 1981). Examination of the
geochemical and mineralogical analyses of the lithofacies,
which creates sharp contact planes within carbonate
successions, showed that there was little mixing of the
carbonate and siliciclastics during their deposition (Haylay

et al., 2012, 2014), indicating a change in depositional
environments within the Kinta Limestone. These differing
lithologies along the strike from the north to the south of
the Kinta Valley have prompted questions of whether these
are due to lateral small-scale facies changes or actually
represent temporal changes in the carbonate succession.

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TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
Table 2. Conodont elements from SGS-02.

Conodont taxa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B-2-10

B-2-9

B-2-8

B-2-7

B-2-6

B-2-5

B-2-4

B-2-1

Sample code

B-2-3

SGS-02

B-2-2

Section

 

 

Polygnathus communis communis (Branson & Mehl, 1934)

 

5

 

2

 

 

7

 

l

 

Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus pinnatus (Voges, 1959) (2)

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siphonodella obsoleta (Hass, 1959)

 

 

2

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

Siphonodella crenulata (Cooper, 1939)

 

 

 

 

4

 

8

 

 

 

Polygnathus inornatus inornatus (Branson & Mehl, 1934)

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

Polygnathus bischoffi (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

Pseudopolygnathus cf. triangulus triangulus (Voges, 1959)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus cf. inornatus inornatus (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

 

 

Siphonodella cf. crenulata (Cooper, 1939)

 

l

 

 

Polygnathus cf. inornatus (Branson et al., 1933)

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bispathodus cf. aculeatus aculeatus (Branson et al., 1933)

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus lacinatus asymmetricus (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

2

l

2

 

 

 

 

 

Polygnathus inornatus rostratus (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

 

2

 

 

l

 

 

 

Bispathodus aculeatus plumulus (Rhodes et al., 1969)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

Palmatolepis gracilis gracilis (Branson et al., 1933)

 

 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

Table 3. Conodont elements from MNR-03.

Sections

Malim Nawar (MNR-03)

Conodont taxa

B-3-2

B-3-3

B-3-5

B-3-6

B-3-7

B-3-8

B-3-9

B-3-10

B-3-11

B-3-12

B-3-13

B-3-14

B-3-15

B-3-16

B-3-17

B-3-18

B-3-19

B-3-20

 

 

49  

 

 

l

 

 

 

5

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Declinognathodus noduliferus inaequalis
(Higgins, 1975)

 

9

l

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Declinognathodus noduliferus japonicus
(Igo & Koike, 1964)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

Declinognathodus cf. noduliferus noduliferus
(Ellison & Graves, 1941)

 

 

 

 

 

 

27  

 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

 

 

Declinognathodus noduliferus noduliferus
(Ellison, 1941)

B-3-4

B-3-1

Samples

This question was hampered in previous studies by lack of
outcrop, as well as the highly altered nature of the sequences
and the challenging physiography of the karstic hills. In

386

this study, we have collected new data from cored vertical
wells penetrating to a depth of 232.82 m of carbonate
succession, allowing determination of the age of the


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 7. The scale bar represents 100 µm. Marker conodont species’ SEM images. The name of the species of the marker conodonts is as follows: 1,
2 = Clydagnathus cavusformis (Rhodes, Austin & Druce, 1969), sample B-1-3, 1a = upper view, 1b = lateral view, sample B-1-3= lateral view; 3, 4 =
Bispathodus stabilis (Branson & Mehl, 1934), sample B-1-3, 3a = upper view, 3b = lateral view, sample B-2-7 = lateral view; 5 = Spathognathodus sp.,
sample B-2-5 = lateral view; 6 = Bispathodus aculeatus plumulus (Rhodes, Austin & Druce, 1969), sample B-2-7 = lateral view; 7 = Declinognathodus
noduliferus inaequalis (Higgins, 1975), sample B-3-3 = upper view; 8 = Pinacognathus fornicatus (Ji, Xiong & Wu, 1985), sample B-1-8 = upper view; 9 =
Pseudopolygnathus triangulus triangulus (Voges, 1959), sample B-1-3 = upper view; 10 = Polygnathus lacinatus asymmetricus (Rhodes, Austin & Druce,
1969), sample B-2-5, 10a = upper view, 10b = lower view; 11 = Pseudopolygnathus dentilineatus (E.R. Branson, 1934), sample B-1-1, 11a = upper view,
11b = lower view, 12 = Declinognathodus noduliferus japonicus (Igo & Koike, 1964), sample B-3-15 = upper view.

387


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 8. Conodont biostratigraphy in the Kinta Limestone. Marker genera have been identified and these conodonts are plotted with
their first appearance and indicate a potential zonation in the Upper Devonian–lower Carboniferous.

388


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci

Figure 9. Lithostratigraphy, sea level, and conodont biostratigraphy of the three studied sections from the Kinta Limestone. Note that
the sections have the same vertical scale; the sea-level curve (modified after Haq and Schutter, 2008) is rising to the left and falling to the
right. The barren zone is indicated for the deepest borehole, MNR-03.

389


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
sections using well-preserved conodont species extracted
from the core samples. The paleontological dating of these
sections has enabled us to extrapolate surface data, which
are patchy and scattered, to the continuous subsurface and
thus estimate the thickness and depositional history of the
Kinta Limestone. This has provided us with an opportunity
to correlate three sections using paleontological dating at a
resolution never previously applied to this succession.
We have recovered, for the first time, sizable quantities
of phosphatic conodont microfossil elements, which
being identified to species level provide a much higher
temporal resolution for the subsurface part of the Kinta
Limestone than previously established. These microfossil
data have been associated to the lithological variations,
which have been deduced from the relict textures and
preserved sedimentary structures, to reveal temporal,
and to a much lesser extent spatial, variations within the

lithofacies. We have found considerable variation in the
conodont abundance, species diversity, and apparent
lithofacies association between the two northern sections
(which show little spatial variation) and the southern
section, which are comparable to the differing lithofacies
discussed above. The studied sections of the Kinta
Limestone have shown variation in many attributes,
including texture, organic content, and extent of thermal
alterations (Haylay et al., 2014; Haylay Tsegab et al., 2015).
Sediment thickness for the two cored sections measured
in the shortened, more condensed, northern part of
the valley at Sungai Siput is 126.98 m and represents
Lower Devonian to lower Carboniferous (Mississippian)
lithologies, whereas the sediment thickness recovered
from the southern part of the valley at Malim Nawar
is more than 232.82 m, mainly representing upper
Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) age sediments. These ages
show that the sections, which are about 80 km apart, can
now be correlated using the cooccurrence of established
conodont datum of Polygnathus inornatus rostratus and
Declinognathodus nodiliferus nodiliferus. The composite
stratigraphic section (Figure 8) demonstrates definitively
that the Kinta Limestone has a chronostratigraphic range
from at least the Lower Devonian to upper Carboniferous,
while the total age range based on previous studies of the
formation were much wider, possibly ranging from the
Silurian to Permian (Suntharalingam, 1968). Crucially,
this study now establishes high-resolution dating for
the previously undated Sungai Siput section, indicating
that the Kinta Limestone is older in the north, growing

younger towards the south, with much younger upper
Carboniferous to Permian sequences lying south of
Kampar (Suntharalingam, 1968; Fontaine and Ibrahim,
1995).
4.2. Sedimentation history in the Paleo-Tethys
In terms of relative thickness and depositional history,
over 80% of the conodont elements recovered in this

390

study come from the shorter and older successions in the
north. Despite the smaller section drilled, this still covers
a total chronostratigraphic age of Famennian (Upper
Devonian) to Serpukhovian (Upper Mississippian),
thus indicating that this section is condensed due to
a variable or lower rate of sedimentation during the
Late Devonian to late Carboniferous. The compacted
sediments from the late Devonian to early Carboniferous
sections are characterized by the carbonaceous dark gray
to black limestone interbedded with black shale beds.
The succession is devoid of benthic faunas and combined
with the characteristic slump structures, dominance
of fine-grained lithofacies, and bedded cherts (Haylay
et al., 2014) is indicative of a deep basinal deposit with
low depositional rates. By contrast, the section at Malim
Nawar is much thicker and covers a shorter time interval,
indicating more rapid deposition of thicker, shallower
water carbonates during the middle to Late Carboniferous,
with the occurrence of shallow benthic macrofossils and
forams. This indicates that the Kinta Limestone had a

variable depositional history, with the deeper, darker
more organic-rich pelagic carbonates (black limestones)
and black shale beds with a lower deposition rate of the
late Devonian to early Carboniferous giving way to the
thicker, more calcitic limestones of the Bashkirian to midlate Carboniferous. These variations are clearly temporal,
but may also have some relevance to the paleodepositional
conditions of the studied successions. Thus, we can infer
bathymetric variation in the paleo-basin during the
deposition of these successions, with the conodont-rich
older sections deposited in a relatively deeper setting
than the younger, conodont-poor, shallower depositional
successions in the southern part of the valley.
Our data are useful for constraining a depositional
model of the Kinta Limestone and the paleobiogeographical
evolution of the region. As the Sibumasu terrain began
to converge with the Indochina terrane, the deep basinal
deposits of the Late Devonian to early Carboniferous,
with a lower rate of deposition and characteristic slump
structures, gave way to the thicker, shallower carbonates
of the Late Carboniferous to Permian. Globally, the
Devonian to Carboniferous time is marked by widespread
carbonate platforms (Schlager, 2003; Markello et al.,
2008). In the Paleo-Tethys, massive carbonate deposits, of
which the Kinta Limestone is a part, have been reported
(Şengör, 1984; Hutchison, 2007). The Early Devonian to
early Carboniferous (Mississippian) was characterized by
continuous sea-level rise (Haq et al., 2008), which reached
a maximum in the Bashkirian (late Carboniferous). This
maximum sea-level rise corresponds to the time at which
the studied part of the Kinta Limestone was deposited,

with the dark gray to black carbonaceous Late Devonian
to early Carboniferous lithofacies giving way to thick


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
calcitic limestones in the Bashkirian. At Sungai Siput,
preserved beddings and laminations suggest deposition
in a relatively deep, low-energy environment, suggesting
the development of anoxic conditions in the deeper part
of the paleo-basin and thus possibly more favorable
conditions for the preservation of conodonts. Similar
studies in relation to the abundance and diversity of
conodonts and other marine microfossils showed that
conodonts recovered from lithofacies in association with
black shale beds indicate the paleo-basin water depth and
possibly paleo-hydrographic conditions (Fåhraeus et al.,
1975; Klapper et al., 1978; Lindström, 1984; Aldridge,
1986). The compendium of marine microfossils (Sepkoski,
2002) noted that the conodonts showed a decreasing
trend in diversity and abundance from the Devonian to
the Carboniferous, which is consistent with our data from
the Kinta Limestone. These data also fit with the endDevonian mass extinction event, with high Devonian
diversity leading up to it and then low diversity in the
Carboniferous.
Studies in the Paleo-Tethys indicated that it was
characterized by continuous deposition of sedimentation
until the Neo-Tethys (Gaetani et al., 1991). The closure
of the Paleo-Tethys was in the Middle Triassic (Sone et
al., 2008), implying that there was accommodation space
for a continuous deposition of sedimentary successions

in the paleo-basin. Moreover, the global sea level for the
Phanerozoic (Haq and Schutter, 2008) was on the rise
from the Devonian to lower Carboniferous. Carbonateproducing organisms were at their peak during those
periods (Markello et al., 2008) and hence a huge volume
of carbonate sediment is expected in these conditions,
favoring the possibility of deposition of the voluminous
Kinta Limestone. Studies have indicated that the
paleolatitude of the Paleo-Tethys during this time was
tropical (Stauffer, 1974), which is another important factor
for carbonate sedimentation, with many modern carbonate
analogs being limited to low-latitude geographic locations
of the Earth.
High-resolution conodont biostratigraphy of the Kinta
Limestone confirms the significant chronostratigraphic
range of the formation, with no apparent breaks
in sedimentation. Crucially, we demonstrate that
sedimentation was not consistent and these rates are
comparable with other temporal observations within the
Paleo-Tethys basin. Our conclusions are, however, limited
to the Late Devonian to late Carboniferous and there may
be breaks in sedimentation in older or younger sequences
not encountered in this study. Other studies have shown
comparable continuous successions of Middle Devonian
to lower Permian in the Kinta Valley (Suntharalingam,
1968; Foo, 1983; Hutchison, 1994; Fontaine and Ibrahim,
1995), without an apparent sedimentation break. These

studies, however, reached their conclusions without the
detailed subsurface biostratigraphic framework used in
this study, which enabled more precise age determination

and sedimentation data to be established. In contrast to this
study, the previous studies were only able to constrain the
bottom and top of the succession using macrofossil data,
while we have been able to reveal details of the depositional
history of the Kinta Limestone. In order to constrain the
entire succession, we would need to penetrate deeper
into the older sequences at Sungai Siput, as our existing
boreholes did not reach the underlying oldest sedimentary
succession. Similarly, we would also prospect for younger
drill sections south of Kampar in the Late Carboniferous
to Permian sequences. This research may encourage the
revisiting of similar successions in the Paleo-Tethys for
useful clues for potential petroleum exploration target in
the Southeast Asia region.
In conclusion, improved high-resolution dating of the
Kinta Limestone using conodont biostratigraphy from three
newly cored well sections in relatively unaltered sediments
has, for the first time, conclusively constrained the age of
part of the Paleozoic carbonate successions in the central
part of the Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia. This has
enabled measurement of a continuous succession of Upper
Devonian to upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) strata.
Results indicate continuous but variable rates of deposition
during the Late Devonian to Late Carboniferous in the
Paleo-Tethys basin of Peninsular Malaysia. The research
also indicated sedimentological and temporal variations
related to changing local paleodepositional conditions,
and the extent of oxygenation within the paleo-basins was
reflected in the marked variation of sedimentation in the
late Paleozoic Paleo-Tethys basin.

Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS (Y-UTP Grant - 12) and the Southeast
Asia Carbonate Research Laboratory (SEACaRL) for
financial and logistical support. We are also thankful to
the laboratories in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS and
laboratory technicians Samsudin B Osman, Mohd Najib
B Temizi, Amirul Qhalis B Abu Rashid, Zulhusni Bin
Abd Ghani, and Shahrul Rizzal BM Yusof. We would like
to extend our appreciation to Prof Michael Poppelreiter
and Associate Prof Dr Jose Antonio Gemaz for reviewing
and providing constructive comments on the previous
drafts of the manuscript. We are also grateful to the
management of Sime Darby Berhand, for permission to
drill in their planation at Sungai Siput, and to the Minerals
& Geoscience Department Malaysia (JMG) for access
granted to drill in their research site in Malim Nawar.
Nurlela Ahmed is thanked for her administrative support
and facilitations at SEACaRL. Finally, the first author is

391


TSEGAB et al. / Turkish J Earth Sci
thankful for the postgraduate grants won from IAS and
a travel grant to support presentation of this research at
the XVIII International Congress on the Carboniferous
and Permian, Kazan, Russia. Part of this paper was

also presented at ICPSEA3, which was organized with

collaboration of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS and the
IGCP 596 “Climate change and biodiversity patterns in the
Mid-Palaeozoic (Early Devonian to Late Carboniferous)”.

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