Journal of Southeast Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3/4, pp. 407-429, 1991 0743-9547/91 $3.00 + 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press Ltd

The origin and tectonic significance of m~langes in Eastern Sabah, Malaysia

BEN CLENNELL
Department of Geology, Royal HoUowayand Bedford New College, Egham, Surrey TW200EX, U.K.

(Received 1 September 1990; accepted for publication 5 May 1991)

A~tract--Extensive chaotically disrupted rock bodies are found across Sabah in diverse tectonic settings. These
units, which include broken formations, a dismembered arc-ophiolite complex and mud-matrix mrlanges were
formed by a combination of sedimentary, tectonic and diapiric processes.
The mrlanges of the eastern part of Sabah are considered to be related to basin initiation in an intra-arc setting,
and are not related directly to subduction-accretion processes. The East Sabah mrlanges are composed
predominantly of deep water clastic sediments, deposited in the Central Sabah Basin, mixed with varying amounts
of exotic ophiolitic material. The sedimentary clasts have a variety of well-developed "soft-sediment" deformation
structures. These are in part inherited into the mrlange from syn-sedimentary deformation, and in part generated
during the m6lange-forming events. The mrlanges are not metamorphosed, and vitrinite reflectance data suggest
that except for a few localities, a maximum temperature of less than 120°C was attained in the matrix. The
ophiolitic blocks commonly have tectonic shearing fabrics associated with low temperature metamorphism. These
metamorphic fabrics are incompatible with the deformation mechanisms in the sedimentary clasts and the mud
matrix, and are interpreted as being inherited from shear in the ocean floor environment (e.g. fracture zones)
or associated with ophiolite obduction. The similarity in clast type, deformation history and general structure
also suggest that all the mrlanges of the east of Sabah were formed in a series of related events during late Early
Miocene and earliest Middle Miocene time. It is postulated that these events, which triggered sedimentary,
diapiric and tectonic mrlange-forming processes, are related to the coeval onset of extension and sea floor
spreading in the southeastern Sulu Sea.

INTRODUCTION outcrop in a series of elliptical-shaped basins. In the east

SABAH, a state of Malaysia located in the northern part
of Borneo, lies at an important junction between three
marginal basins (the Sulu, Celebes and South China
Seas) and is bounded to the southwest by the extension
into Borneo of the Sundaland craton. Recent geophysi-
cal exploration, both academic and for petroleum explo-
ration (e.g. Taylor and Hayes 1983, Hinz et al. 1989),
and a drilling programme in the Sulu and Celebes Seas
(Leg 124 Scientific Party 1989, Nichols et al. 1990, Smith
et al. 1990) have provided a wealth of new information
on the region. Various models including this new data
(e.g. Hutchison 1988, 1989, Tjia 1988, Rangin 1989,
Rangin et al. 1990), differ in their interpretations, but all
seek to explain the evolution of the collage of tectonic
and sedimentary units which make up Sabah within the
framework of the marginal basin system.
Figure 1 shows the major geological features of the
Sabah region. In the west of Sabah lies a belt of uplifted
and deformed deep water clastic sediments which form
the Crocker Ranges. This belt of rocks, which ranges in
age from Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene is inter-
preted as being part of an accreted wedge of sediments
transported towards the west-northwest during south-
eastwards underthrusting of the extended leading edge of
mainland Southeast Asia (Hamilton 1979, Tongkul
1989, 1991).
The central and southern part of Sabah comprises
Palaeogene to early Neogene sediments formed in a deep
marine basin (the Central Sabah Basin of Hutchison
1989), which are unconformably overlain by later Neo-
gene sediments. These Upper Miocene to Pliocene sedi-
ments are mostly shallow marine clastics, with some
terrestrial beds, including coals. These sediments now
407
and northeast of Sabah, the Central Sabah Basin passes
offshore into the western Sulu Sea sub-basins (Bell and
Jessop 1974), which contain a very thick, mud-rich
terrigenous sequence of Late Miocene to Recent age
overlying Lower Tertiary sediments with marked uncon-
formity.
The eastern and southern part of Sabah was the locus
of arc-type volcanic activity from Early Miocene to
Quaternary time. In the Dent and Semporna peninsulas,
considerable volumes of andesitic to dacitic lavas and
volcaniclastics were produced during the early Neogene,
and in the Quaternary, olivine basalts were erupted
subaerially in the Semporna Peninsula. In the northern
Crocker Ranges, large but isolated, post-tectonic grani-
toid masses, including the Mount Kinabalu Intrusion
were intruded during the Late Miocene and Pliocene.
Outcrops of a relatively complete ophiolite complex lie
in an arcuate belt from Darvel Bay in southeastern
Sabah, through the Telupid area in the centre of the
state, to the Kudat Peninsula and Banggi Island in the
extreme north (Hutchison 1975). The cover to the ophi-
olite succession includes pelagic sediments of Lower
Cretaceous to Eocene age (Leong 1977, Jasin et al. 1985),
but the oceanic lithosphere itself, which is in part
metamorphosed, may date from earlier in the Mesozoic
(Leong 1974, Hutchison 1978). The ophiolite probably
forms the basement to the Tertiary sedimentary systems
of Sabah, as there is little evidence for widespread
basement of continental affinity (Hutchison 1982, 1989).
Closely associated with the other tectonostratigraphic
units of Sabah are a number of extensive mrlange
terrains, mostly located to the east of the Crocker
Ranges. These have become amenable to detailed study
for the first time during construction of the rural high-
 li16 ° 1117° 4~
IGNEOUS ROCKS SEDIMENTARY ROCKS oo

EAST SABAH Granitoids~ Miocene Upper Miocene to

MELANGES to Pliocene sediments
~ ~ Banggi Volcanics Q Quaternary
Late Cretaceous to
(~) Garinono Early Miocene Early Miocene
7._° basalts deep marine sediments
(~) Ayer Late Oligocene to OTHER ROCKS
~-~ Middle Miocene
pyroclastics and lavas I Early to Middle
(~) Kuamut Miocene chaotic units
• Fault /,, ......" Lineament N Ophiolitic basement and
oceanic cover sediments
KOTA MARUDU-, I .. .... •
.. -..:.,. t "r,., •
,,.'::: ",.',... " :--..
• ".-. ( ..... :-. v:':'::'::::
I ....... -., s
SOUTH :?--.::::'-:
?-.-..::::...,,. FIGURE3
CHINA
LABUK I 6°
SEA BAY ,
SULU SEA
6° KOTA £ ' "/'/: ~.:: K~al~al~'-~l..,:~ t'~"z"" ~'9" i" "'::.:~
SANDAKAN
KINABALU ¢-.'-', ...-.!?.

Z
q3
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:,.
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"," ." ..'. ". SEMPORNA PENINSULA

~'~" 1,16o KALIMANTAN ] 117° , ' 11180 ]119 °

Fig. 1. Geological map of Sabah showing the extent of the East Sabah mtlanges and their relationship with adjacent rock units• Geology based on Lim and Yin (1985); structural
features from unpublished map by Tongul (1991).
 Tectonic significance of mrlanges in Eastern Sabah
way network, with extensive road cuttings providing
excellent, fresh exposures.
M61anges are generated at the end of a continuum of
disruption and mixing which leads from coherent strata
to totally dismembered units. In this paper, the terminol-
ogy of Raymond (1984) is followed (Fig. 2). Following
the usage of Cowan 0985) and Aalto (1989) the term
clast is used for small rock fragments in the mrlange,
while block is reserved for fragments of more than 25 cm
mean diameter.
THE MI~LANGES OF EASTERN SABAH
Chaotically disrupted rock units outcrop over some
12 000 km 2 of Eastern Sabah, making this area one of the
largest m61ange terrains in the world. The "chaotic"
rocks are mainly mud-matrix mrlanges and broken
formations but include a dismembered ophiolite com-
plex. During the mapping of Eastern Sabah by geologists
of the Malaysian Geological Survey and its British
colonial predecessor, mrlange units were given different
pseudo-stratigraphical names--for example the Ayer,
Kuamut and Garinono "Formations". These rock units
are not true Formations (they are not clearly defined
stratigraphically) and they belong largely to a single
contiguous body (Tahir and Tan 1986). The areas
mapped under the same "Formation" name include
areas of broken formation and coherent strata as well as
true fragment-in-matrix mrlange. The old "Formation"
names are retained in this paper as a useful geographical
reference, in order to compare parts of the mrlange
terrain with differing compositional and structural
characteristics. The biostratigraphic control on the ages
of the bedded sedimentary units associated with the
m61anges is rather poor, but it is clear that many of these
Formations are strongly diachronous and transitional
into one another across Eastern Sabah.
Garinono Mblange and associated sediments
The Garinono Mrlange Unit (Collenette 1966,
Newton-Smith 1967, Lee 1970) covers an area of up-
COHERENT UNITS
Stratigraphic u n i t s
with internal
stratal continuity
'~.~
[iiiii!ii)iiiiiiiiii!i!iii!i!iiiii!i]
~.~. t........-....................)
.~ ~
I:i:!:i:i:i:i:i?i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:!:]
...................
L.', ".L %'..,','.'/,', %'.','.':
~ OR
-r.
~ FORMATION
(S)
~ OR
= ~ COMPLEX
(I)
~3
Fig. 2. Classification of mrlanges and associated rock types, after Raymond (1984).
409
proximately 3800 km 2 in the Sandakan area of Eastern
Sabah. During this project, the Garinono mrlange was
studied in fresh road cuttings between the towns of
Telupid, Beluran, Sandakan and Bukit Garam (Fig. 3).
This area was studied in the most detail because of good
exposure and lack of later deformation. The Garinono
continues into the Kuamut and Ayer mrlanges south of
the Kinabatangan River. It consists of mrlange and
broken formation derived mainly from sandstone and
shale units, but also contains a small volume of admixed
igneous material.
The Garinono Mrlange Unit has a complex relation-
ship with adjacent bedded units known as the Kulapis,
Labang and Tanjong Formations. The lowest part of
the Kulapis Formation probably dates from Eocene
time (Fitch 1958, Newton-Smith 1967, C. F. Wong, pets.
commun. 1989), but the earliest known fossils
(nannoplankton) are of Middle to Upper Oligocene age
(L. Gallagher, pets. commun. 1989). The main body of
the Kulapis Formation has a shelfal trace fossil assem-
blage (Yap 1975) within a thick-bedded, sand-rich facies
association which includes grain-flow and slurry-flow
deposits. Red- to orange-coloured friable sublitharenites
and calcareous lithic arenites, interbedded with lami-
nated red mudstones are the most common lithologies
(cf. Fitch 1958, Collenette 1965, Newton-Smith 1967,
Yap 1975). The upper part of the Kulapis Formation
(here including the Kamansi Beds of Newton-Smith
1967) is lithologically similar to the lower part, but is
generally thinner bedded and more mud-rich. The
youngest fossils from the Kulapis Formation are Middle
Miocene in age: nannofossils (L. Gallagher, pers. com-
mun. 1989), palynomorphs (C. F. Wong, pers. commun.
1989) and possibly also pelagic foraminifera (Halle and
Wong 1965, p. 35) of this age having been collected from
the unit. The Garinono M61ange Unit generally has
sharp, probably faulted contacts with broken formation
of the Kulapis Formation, which are in turn transitional
into coherent Kulapis strata. Such contacts are found on
the Sandakan road near Lungmanis, north of the Segal-
iud River, and on the new highway to Telupid. In a num-
ber of places, for example near the Kolopis River and
north of the Segaliud River, the Garinono Mrlange Unit
BROKEN UNITS DISMEMBERED UNITS MELANGES
Stratigraphicunits with Rock bodies without Rock bodies without
locally broken internal internal strata/continuity internalstratal continuity
stratal continuity or exotic blocks containing exotic blocks
DISMEMBERED
DIAPIRIC MELANGE
FORMATION
BROKEN
FORMATION
OR TECTONIC MELANGE
COMPLEX
POLYGENETIC MELANGE
COMPLEX
ENDOLISTOSTROME
ALLOLISTOSTROME
 N 118
06 ° 0 i0 20 30 40 5O
Sulu 06 °
km
Sea
Bgi:° .
o
. ° .
. °
. . .

o . .
Labuk Bay
t
Xc,*~,
:.:.:.:.:.:.
i ii SANDAKAN(

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii i
LEGEND iii!iiii!
o.°Oo.oO. ~ iii!!iiii!'~'~
• .-..oO.-.°o
" : :': :":""::''":'"'ll

FORMATION
" ~¢:,: : : : K. KINABATANGA.~¢~
~ TANJONG ['~ GABBRO iii ::
FORMATION INTRUSION
~ BONGAYA
FORMATION ~ OPHIOLITE
i::iiiiii::i::iiii :: ii
!!iiiiii!i!!i::ig M:
CARBONATE ~ MELANGE
; -'- '-' BUILD-UPS ~ UNIT i!": i
"::i=======================.
rj.........
~ LABANG .......
.:.: o..oo.o.ooo...
FORMATION ~ MUD
VOLCANO
LOWI~ KULAI~S ~ BROKEN
FORMATION ZONE

vrrRINITEREFLECTANCEDATA
118

Fig. 3."Geological map of the Sandakan area of Eastern Sabah, showing extent of Garinono M61ange Unit and its relationslfi~p to the Cretaceous Telupid Ophiolite and the Tertiary
sediments of the Central Sabah Basin. The locations of mudstone samples are marked, with an indication of their organic maturity expressed as an equivalent value of vitrinite
reflectance (determinations by Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd). Geology based on Fitch (1958), Newton-Smith (1967), Lee (1970), Lim and Yin (1985) and new data collected
during this study•
 Tectonic significanceof m61anges in Eastern Sabah
overlies strongly folded Kulapis Formation sediments
with marked unconformity.
The Labang Formation, deposited across the Central
Sabah Basin from Late Oligocene to lowermost Miocene
time, is characterised by mass flow sedimentary facies,
such as Bouma Ta-e turbidites, and has a deep marine
trace fossil assemblage (Collenette 1965, Chuah 1985,
Rangin et al. 1990). Calcareous, thin-bedded (5-30 cm)
sublitharenites interbedded with siltstones and mud-
stones predominate, but thin detrital limestone horizons
are also found. The fine grained, grey to greenish
sandstones are characterised by organic-rich laminae.
These characteristics make the Labang Formation
sandstones visually distinct from the dominantly red-
coloured and massive Kulapis sandstones. Contacts
between the Labang Formation and the grey matrix
m61ange are transitional, with a zone of sheared broken
formation, usually associated with minor calcite veining
and slickensiding, between the m61ange and coherent
strata. Similar relationships are displayed by rafts of
Labang material within the main body of the Garinono
M61ange Unit. Such contacts are exposed north of the
Segaliud River, at Lungmanis and on the Sukau road.
The Tanjong Formation comprises fully marine clas-
tics and occasional coralgal reef facies which date from
the Early Miocene in its lower part, passing up into
nearshore and paralic facies which were deposited during
the Middle to Late Miocene (Collenette 1965, Haile and
Wong 1965, Tham 1983, C. F. Wong and H. Soediono,
pets. commun.). The m61ange contacts with the Tanjong
Formation are also mostly stratigraphical. In the Segal-
iud area, bedded Tanjong mudstone overlies the m61ange
unconformably. The Tanjong strata near Bukit Garam
are slump folded and have big blocky olistoliths (up to
10 m across) at the base (cf. Tham 1983). In this area the
Tanjong Formation forms a transition into both dis-
turbed Kulapis Formation and grey-coloured polymict
m61ange of the Garinono unit.
The Garinono M61ange Unit, which is interleaved
with the three sedimentary formations described above,
was therefore formed within a shallowing-up marine
basin. This basin is termed the Central Sabah Basin by
Hutchison (1988, 1989), and is considered to be the
onland extension of the Sulu Sea.
The m61ange must have formed before deposition of
the Sandakan Formation, which overlies the Garinono
unconformably at Sandakan town (Lee 1970), and near
the Manjang River. The Sandakan Formation contains
abundant shallow water benthonic foraminifera and
occasional pelagic foraminifera dating from the mid part
of the Middle Miocene (Lee 1970, Ujiie 1973). It also
bears a good palynological assemblage of general
Middle Miocene age (C. F. Wong, pers. commun. 1989,
Bartram 1990), and occasional Middle Miocene cal-
careous nannofossils (L. Gallagher, pers. commun.
1989). The lower age limit of the Garinono M61ange
Unit can be deduced from the age of the youngest
included material, which is earliest Middle Miocene.
However, the greater part of the m61ange matrix and
clasts are considered to date from the Oligocene and
411
Early Miocene based on microfossil and palynological
work (Lee, 1970, C. F. Wong and H. Soediono, pers.
commun. 1989, Bartram 1990).
Contacts between the Garinono M61ange Unit and
other terrains, such as the Crocker Accretionary Com-
plex, are generally obscure because of thick vegetation.
In the Telupid area, however, the m61ange and the
Kulapis Formation sediments are clearly overthrust
from the south by, and imbricated with, a slice of the
Telupid Ophiolite Complex; the contact being exposed in
a recent road cutting.
The majority of clasts in the Garinono M61ange Unit
are sandstones or siltstones. Using the terminology of
Folk (1974), the main lithologies are lithic greywackes
and sublitharenites, and these share certain character-
istics of bedding thickness and sedimentary structures
with rocks of the Labang and Kulapis Formations.
Pillow basalt, serpentinite and chert are found as scat-
tered blocks throughout the m61ange outcrop, frequently
blocks of all three lithologies being found in the same
vicinity. These blocks are "exotic" in that they cannot be
related to disaggregation of adjacent bedded units. Other
exotic clasts in the m61ange include cherty limestone and
rocks of mixed lithology. The exotic clasts are volumet-
rically insignificant compared with slabby blocks and
clasts derived from the adjacent bedded sediments.
Ayer and Kuamut mklanges
The Kuamut and Ayer M61ange Units together cover
an aggregate outcrop area of about 8000 km 2 in south
central Sabah and the Dent Peninsula, respectively
(Collenette 1965, Haile and Wong 1965, Leong 1974).
The Ayer mblange is very poorly exposed, except in
quarries near to Lahad Datu, and on the main road to
Sandakan between the Segama and Kinabatangan
rivers. The Kuamut m61ange was studied in road out-
crops between Lahad Datu and Tawau, and in the
Segama, Bole, Tingkayu and Sabahan valleys. In south-
ernmost Sabah, the upper Labang and lower Tanjong
Formations are represented by thin-bedded, distal tur-
bidite facies (Kalumpang Formation) deposited during
the Miocene (Leong 1974). This area was also the focus
of major arc-type volcanic activity throughout the Neo-
gene (Kirk 1968, Rangin et al. 1990). The Ayer and
Kuamut m61anges were therefore formed in a more
active setting than the Garinono and this is reflected in
the composition and structure of the southern part of the
m61ange terrain.
The Ayer and Kuamut m61anges are dated as Early to
Middle Miocene age, being draped disconformably
by, and in part being tectonically interleaved with, a
sequence of tuffaceous sediments of Middle Miocene age
(Leong 1974, Rangin et al. 1990). In its type area, the
Kuamut river valley, the Kuamut m61ange is overlain
with probable unconformity by the Tanjong Formation
(Collenette 1965). Mudstones of the Ayer M61ange Unit
contain a few foraminifera of Middle Miocene age, and
many from earlier in the Miocene (Haile and Wong
1965). The Kuamut M61ange Unit, in the south of its
412 B. CLENNELL

outcrop, is largely unfossiliferous, but Leong (1974)
reports good microfauna, of Early to Middle Miocene
age, from matrix mudstones collected further north. The
mrlange units and the volcaniclastics are faulted to-
gether with, and partly overriden by, the upper levels of
a delaminated ophiolite sequence (known as the
Chert-Spilite Formation), making delineation of the
true mrlange from the dismembered and imbricated
ophiolite complex rather arbitrary (Kirk 1962, Leong
1974). Stratigraphic resolution is not sufficient to deter-
mine whether the Eastern Sabah mrlanges formed di-
achronously throughout the Early and Middle Miocene,
or in a paroxysmal event at the beginning of the Middle
Miocene.
The Kuamut Mrlange Unit is close in clast compo-
sition to the Garinono, and the sedimentary clasts
appear to come from similar sedimentary facies (Table
1). There is, however, a higher proportion of chert,
limestone and pillow basalt in the Kuamut and Ayer
mrlanges. In addition, the Ayer unit has more tuffaceous
and agglomeratic igneous material, though this is in
general interleaved with the true mud-matrix mrlange
rather than forming discrete clasts within it. In the
southern Dent Peninsula, Haile and Wong (1965) record
a number of high temperature, very high pressure meta-
morphic blocks from within the presumed outcrop of the
Ayer Mrlange Unit.
Matrix of the mblange units
The proportion of matrix in the East Sabah m~langes
is extremely variable, and commonly changes over a
short distance. Typically, 20-30% of the mrlange is
formed of hard clasts larger than 5 cm, with the remain-
der being scaly clay and comminuted fragments of
sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. In other portions
clasts, blocks and relict bedded slabs of sandstone and
siltstone constitute well over 60% of the mrlange by
volume. The mud matrices of the mrlanges have been
studied in some detail using X-ray diffraction and scan-
ning electron microscopy. Table 2 compares the clay
mineralogy of the matrix of the East Sabah mrlanges
with mudstones from some of the adjacent bedded
formations.
The matrix of the Garinono is a rather uniform,
bluish-grey, plastic clay containing sand- to pebble-sized
fragments of silt and mudstone. The clay mineralogy is
dominated by illite/micas, chlorites and kaolinite, with
smectite and interlayered illite/smectite present locally.
Portions of the Garinono matrix which are red and green
in colour tend to have a high smectite content, and are
probably derived from volcanic ash bands. The clay
mineralogy of the Garinono matrix gives an indication
of the diagenetic grade of the mrlange, as smectite is
dehydrated, then converted to illite at temperatures over
100°C (Hower et al. 1976). Organic matter maturity data
from the Sandakan area (converted to equivalent vit-
rinite reflectance values in Table 2 and Fig. 3) display a
correlation with clay mineralogy: together these data
show that while some portions of the mrlange have
remained below 60°C, others have been heated to at least
170°C (Bostick, 1979). The background matrix of the
Kuamut and Ayer mrlanges is identical to that of the
Garinono but compositions are more variable, with a
high proportion of chloritic and smectitic clays and, in
places, highly crystalline illites. Some of this matrix is

Table 1. Summary of clasts types found in the East Sabah mrlanges. Bold type indicates commonest
clasts (together forming 70% or more of the total), italicised type indicates rare and volumetrically
minor clasts, plain type signifies widespread but volumetrically minor blocks
Garinono Ayer Kuamut
Sedimentary clasts
sublitharenite sublitharenite sublitharenite
siltstone siltstone siltstone
mudstone quartz arenite quartz areoite
quartz arenite protoquartzite protoquartzite
protoquartzite tuffaceous sandstone mudstone
tuffaceous sandstone band mudstone tuffaceous sandstone
limestone~lolomite nodules massive chert massive chert
ribbon chert ribbon chert ribbon chert
calcarenite cah'arenite calcarenite
oolitic limestone limestone breccia
marble micritic limestone
conglomeratic quartzite
Mixed blocks
basalt -sandstone basalt -chert chert -sandstone
chert basalt basalt -chert -sandstone serpentinite -sandstone
ehert sandstone chert basalt
serpentinite-sandstone
agglomerate ~hert
Igneous and metamorphic clasts
andesitic/dacitic tuff and tuffite basaltic agglomerate pillow basalt
pillow basalt mixed agglomerate basaltic agglomerate
serpentinite pillow basalt serpentinite
gabbro dacitic tuff dacitic tuff
serpentinite-agglomerate serpentinite ophicalcite
ophicalcite ophicalcite
metabasics amphibolite
high pressure-metabasites
 Tectonic significance of m61anges in Eastern Sabah 413

Table 2. (a) Matrix mineralogy and vitrinite reflectance (Vre) of the East Sabah
m61anges. Data are presented semi-quantitatively: bold type indicates most abundant
phases, plain type signifies common phases, italicised type indicates rare phases
Garinono Ayer Kuamut
Clay mineralogy
illite illite chlorite
kaolinite smectite illite
chlorite chlorite mixed illite-smectite
smectite kaolinite
mixed illite-smectite mixed illite-smectite serpentinite
Vre
0.55--0.96 up to 3.21 1.70

Table 2. (b) Clay mineralogy of bedded sedimentary formations adjacent to the

Garinono M~lange Unit
Kulapis Labang Tanjong
Clay mineralogy
illite illite illite
kaolinite mixed illite--smectite kaolinite
chlorite kaolinite chlorite
mixed illite-smectite chlorite
smectite margarite mica
Vre
0.58-0.88 0.53-0.88 0.59-0.63

"secondary", in that it is derived from the alteration of
chemically unstable clasts or tectonically interleaved
tuffaceous material.
The mixed assemblages of microfossil flora and fauna
in the m+lange matrices (e.g. Lee 1970, Leong 1974)
suggest provenance from mudstones of different ages
and sedimentary environment. This mixing is sometimes
visible on a larger scale as contorted banding or variega-
tion of clays of different colour and/or texture.
The degree of organic maturity recorded from palyno-
logical concentrates (Bartram 1990, C. F. Wong and H.
Soediono, pers. commun. 1990) sometimes shows a
bimodal distribution, again indicating different (deep
and shallow burial) provenances.
Deformation in the East Sabah mblanges
Deformation of many of the m61ange components
began before mixing into the chaotic units. This pre-
m61ange deformation may be unrelated to the m61ange-
forming events, and considerably predate them. Clasts of
serpentinite and basaltic material occasionally show
strong deformations such as cataclastic shears, intra-
crystalline plasticity effects and extensional crenulation
cleavages. These are associated with a mineral assem-
blage [quartz + albite + chlorite + epidote] which is
stable at temperatures of between 200 and 500°C. Ser-
pentinites and agglomerates usually show low tempera-
ture cataclastic to ductile shearing associated with calcite
veining and calcite encrusted slickenside surfaces. This
style of deformation leads to the generation of mixed
clasts (Fig. 4). These consist of a clast of one lithology,
coated by or intimately mixed with another lithology.
Common pairs are serpentinite mixed with sandstone
and agglomerate mixed with chert. Such mixing is
prevalent in the Ayer and Kuamut m~langes, and is also
occasionally found in the Garinono m61ange. Most of
the other exotic m61ange clasts in the East Sabah
m61anges are cherts, pillow basalts or pelagic limestones
which are usually veined and may be brecciated, but do
not show any metamorphic parageneses, or high tem-
perature deformation effects.
Sandstones in the East Sabah m~langes show a wide
range of deformation features which can be related to
syn-sedimentary to syn-diagenetic phases. Wet sediment
features such as water-escape and burrow structures or
small slumps occur in sediments before dewatering
(Elliot 1965, Pickering 1987, Elliott and Williams 1988).
With deeper burial, rocks become more completely
lithified and there is a transition from soft, plastic be-
haviour to "tectonic" failure mechanisms such as brittle
faulting involving slickensiding, and cataclastic shear.
The term hydroplastic has been used (e.g. hydroplastic
slickensides of Petit and Laville 1987) for describing
macroscopically "soft" behaviour in granular media
such as poorly lithified sediments, where the main defor-
mation is by grain rolling and inter-grain slip rather than
the brittle breakage of grains (cataclasis) which is associ-
ated with cemented rocks. Hydroplastic fractures, occur-
ring as a number of closely spaced sets, are almost
ubiquitous in sandstones of the East Sabah m61anges,
and these give the clasts a cracked and stepped appear-
ance (Fig. 5). Where such fracturing is particularly
pervasive, the clast becomes brecciated, especially at the
margins. The weak nature of the sediment at the time of
fracturing and brecciation is evident from lack of any
abrasion or breaking of grains, leaving the hydroplastic
faults with a characteristically rough, "smeared out"
surface. Hydroplastic fracture sets operate together to
generate asymmetrical boudinage in sandstone beds.
Occasionally it is possible to delimit the hydroplastic
faulting to an essentially wet-sediment phase, before
even early diagenetic processes have operated. For
example, carbonate and pyrite nodules, typical of very
shallow diagenesis, may overgrow early formed micro-
faults. More usually, quasi-hydroplastic behaviour
can be seen to have persisted into the syn-diagenetic
regime. It is very common to find calcite veins formed
414 B. CLENNELL

synchronously with fracturing and brecciation, both matrix and the scaly fabric, where present, is defined by
cutting and being cross-cut by these features in the same re-orientation of platy clay grains rather than by fracture
rock. Syn-diagenetic fracturing is often associated with networks or by pressure-solution seams (Fig. 8; cf. Agar
minor mud injections, probably related to dewatering of et al. 1989).
interbedded mudstones (cf. Labaume 1987). Later quartz
or calcite veins tend to follow dilationary fractures and Diagenetic controls on deformation
mud injections, and early formed quartz veins may be
There is a strong compositional dependence on the
split centrally by a new growth of chalcedony or calcite.
nature and timing both of authigenic cements and of
The hydroplastic or soft-sediment behaviour (sensu
quartz and carbonate veining in the sandstone clasts of
Maltman 1984) described above is transitional into styles
the East Sabah m61anges. Calcareous arenites are ce-
of deformation which may be regarded as "tectonic",
mented early and become strongly veined by carbonate,
which occur in the deeper syn-diagenetic regime. Slicken-
whereas clean sands remain unlithified until cemented by
sided fault surfaces and cataclastic shears may overprint
authigenic clays and silica during deeper burial, where
previously formed hydroplastic fractures in the sand-
pervasive quartz veining may occur. Greywackes, having
stones (Fig. 6). Sandstone clasts may also be affected by
a high matrix content, lithify at various stages of burial
surficial polishing, leaving patches of glassy smoothness
depending on the ease of dewatering of the constituent
on previously cracked and stepped clasts (Fig. 7). The
clays. They are often veined by carbonate and rarely may
mechanism of polishing is evidently abrasion by a fine
be veined by quartz.
matrix material, planing off grains held tightly in place
These disparities lead to a variety of rheological
by a strong cement. Such polishing may be a late effect,
responses in clasts of different composition mixed to-
though it is not always related to late stage brittle or
gether in the m61ange. Early cemented calcareous sand-
cataclastic faulting: in some cases polishing has occurred
stones are brittle at an early stage, but become weak
by continued slip on an early fracture surface, with the
relative to quartz cemented, clean sandstones later in
increasingly fine grained fracture fill abrading the wall
diagenesis. Greywackes tend to behave hydroplastically,
rock. In the Ayer m61ange, chert clasts in the "cataclastic
and are relatively weak until deep diagenesis causes
envelope" of agglomerate blocks (Rangin et al. 1990) are
partial silicification of the clay matrix. Clean sandstones,
polished in the same way as adjacent sandstone clasts.
having high porosity, are prone to strain-hardening
This shows that such polishing was synchronous with or
cataclastic microfaulting which forms granulation seams
post-dated mixing of sediments and ophiolite clasts to
(Fig. 10; cf. Underhill and Woodcock 1987).
form the polymict m~lange.
Incorporation into the m61ange matrix has had little
There is a spectrum of deformation types visible in the
modifying effect on the early diagenesis of the sand-
sandstones from the m61anges. The least deformed sand-
stones when compared with equivalents from the nor-
stones, which comprise the great majority of clasts, have
mally bedded formations from which they are derived.
only simple hydroplastic faulting and a little calcite
This implies that m61ange mixing occurred after most of
veining. The most intensely deformed clasts develop
the important diagenetic changes. Maturity of organic
cataclastic web structure (Byrne 1984) associated with
matter in Sandakan Formation sediments which overlie
distributed grain breakage and ultimately widespread
the Garinono unit is as high as that found in the m61ange
crystal-plastic deformation and diffusive mass transfer
itself (Fig. 3). This would suggest that a phase of deeper
(mostly pressure-solution). Most of these "higher grade"
burial occurred after all of the mblange-forming events.
effects are incompatible with the lack of strong shearing
However, the microstructures described above attest
or cleavage development in the m61ange matrix (see
that the important diagenetic changes, as regards the
below), and so these clasts must be considered to be
response of the rocks to deformation, occurred before
"exotic" tectonites.
and during the m61ange-forming events.
The matrix of the Garinono M61ange Unit, where
freshly exposed, usually has a strong scaly fabric (cf. Slump folding
Moore et al. 1976), breaking into lensoidal fragments
with lustrous, often slickensided surfaces (Fig. 8). Scaly Slump structures are present in the Garinono M61ange
fabric is particularly well developed in clay with a high Unit, and are well developed in the adjacent bedded
proportion of smectite, though the scaliness itself does formations. Slump folds were tentatively distinguished in
not have a strong dependence on composition. The scaly the field from folds of tectonic origin using the criteria
fabric may be pervasive, and associated with mud injec- of Woodcock (1976), Naylor (1982) and Elliott and
tion structures, or be present as discrete lustrous sur- Williams (1988), outlined in Table 3. In the Kulapis
faces. The matrix of the Ayer and Kuamut M61ange Formation, the folds are developed on a number of
Units is also generally scaly though may have a more scales, ranging from decimetres to tens of metres across,
flaky foliation. There is no strongly preferred orientation and commonly are found completely overturned. Re-
of the scaly foliation, either on the outcrop, or regional folding and faulting of slump folds is evident, and they
scale, in any of the East Sabah m61ange units. Indeed, are usually associated with soft-sediment deformation
the foliation tends to wrap around clasts which them- features such as mud injections. In the Sukau area,
selves have apparently random orientations in the folded and contorted Labang Formation beds are tran-
m61ange (Fig. 9). There is no tectonic cleavage in the sitional into dismembered formation and m61ange. The
 Tectonic significance of m61anges in Eastern Sabah 4 15

Fig. 4. Mixed clast from the Garinono M61ange Unit near the Bode River. The core of the clast consists of fine grained
calcareous greywacke, probably from the Labang Formation. This is coated by silicified siltstone (Sil) and chloritised
basaltic rock (Ig). The chlorite + albite + epidote mineralogy of the latter, and the pervasive calcite veining indicate mixing
in fluid saturated conditions. The sandstone core of this clast is cut by numerous cataclastic shears which are similar to
the web structure described by Byrne (1984) and Lucas and Moore (1986). This clast is found in a portion of m61ange which
is characterised by low temperature, soft-sediment deformation and so is interpreted as being inherited from an earlier shear
zone affecting already lithified substratum.
416 B. CLENNELL

Fig. 5. (a) Large sandstone block from a megaturbidite bed isolated within muddy m61ange of the Garinono unit. The block
shows evidence of stratal extension very early in diagenesis which produced straight, dilationary hydroplastic faults normal
to the large sole marks on the base of the bed. A later, sinuous set of hydroplastic fractures are developed parallel to the
sole marks. This relationship of fracture and fault orientations with sole marks is so common as to suggest that stratal
extension occurred during sliding of thick sandstone layers down the original sedimentary slope. These large blocks were
then rotated out of their original orientations during m61ange mixing. Hammer is 40 cm long. (b) Sandstone block from
the Ayer M61ange Unit near Lahad Datu shows the effects of deformation soon after deposition. Early flute marks are
truncated by tool marks, and both are flattened by loading and by slip of the sandstone bed down-slope. (c) A close-up
of part of the upper photograph shows sand grains smeared out on the surface of the block while the sediment was cohesive
but incompletely cemented.
 Tectonic significance of m61anges in Eastern Sabah 417

Fig. 6. (a) Slickensides developed on the surface of a chloritic sandstone clast from the Garinono M61ange Unit, north of
the Segaliud River. Sub-millimetre striations truncate previously formed hydroplastic fractures. (b) An optical thin section
cut parallel to the polished surface shows cataclastic shears bending asymptotically into the shear surface (top of
photograph) where cataclastic deformation has reduced the grain size and caused some grain alignment. The shears are
cut by late stage calcite veins (arrowed).
418 B. CLENNELL

Fig. 7. Polishing is a common feature of sandstone blocks in the East Sabah m61anges. (a) Large block of lithic arenite
from near Lahad Datu shows strong polishing, producing a glass-smooth surface overprinting previous soft-sediment and
syn-diagenetic hydroplastic fault sets. (b) Scanning electron microscopy reveals that polishing proceeds after strong
cementation of the sand grains by quartz and clay minerals. Grains are planed off in situ by an abrasive material (presumably
clay matrix containing very fine, hard mineral grains) which leaves no striations (even of sub-micron size) on the polished
surfaces.
 Tectonic significance of mrlanges in Eastern Sabah 419

Fig. 8. Scanning electron photomicrograph of a scaly folia from smectitic clay matrix of the Ayer mblange near Lahad Datu.
Scale bar is 10 microns across. Platy grains of illite/smectite are oriented parallel with the undulating scaly folia, but there
are no mineral or striated lineations on the surface. Many of the clay samples from the mrlange matrices have a similar
fabric, which suggests that the scaliness was developed during dewatering under (non-coaxial) strain. Other samples, which
are macroscopically identical, show strongly aligned and striated clay grains under electron microscopic examination, which
would indicate an origin during distributed shearing of largely dewatered sediment.

Fig. 10. Granulation seams, networks of fine cataclastic faults, are a common deformation structure in highly porous
sandstones of the Kulapis Formation. Discrete faults in the laminated part of a sandstone bed from a fault zone in the
Bode River area pass into a complex network of granulation seams in the coarser and more porous lower part. Grain size
diminution, and an increase in angularity in the fault zones, cause the granulation seams to strain harden (Underhill and
Woodcock 1987). Lens cap is 40 mm across.
420 B. CLENNELL

Fig. I I (caption opposite).

 Tectonic significance of m61anges in Eastern Sabah 421

Fig. 12. (a) Mud injection structure from broken formation of the Lower Miocene Kulapis Formation adjacent to the
Garinono M61ange Unit, Segaliud River. Red and green smectitic clay with a very lustrous scaly foliation injects into cracked
slabby blocks of sandstone along syn-diagenetic fractures, Such mud injections, always associated with scaly clay
development, are commonly found where mobile, partly dewatered mud penetrates into fractures in interbedded,
incompletely lithified sandstones. (b) Bedded tuffaceous sediments overlying the Ayer unit are injected by a diapir-like
body of m61ange. The structure is found north of the Segama River, at the leading edge of the imbricated volcaniclastic
sequence.

Fig. 11. (a) Relict bedded raft of sandstone and mudstone from grey matrix Garinono m61ange. The greenish-grey colour,
grading and thin, organic-rich laminae identify the sediment as being derived from the Labang Formation. Inset shows
how extensional faulting has pinched off blocks of the sandstone to float in sheared (sub-scaly) mudstone. X-ray diffraction
results from this mudstone are very similar to data from the grey scaly matrix of the main body of the Garinono m61ange.
(b) Typical grey matrix m61ange of the Garinono unit (sensu stricto) from the Telupid road. Large blocks of interbedded
sandstone and mudstone float in the clay matrix and have contorted shapes indicative of ductile deformation. The smaller
clasts in this locality are hard, angular or ellipsoidal sandstones, and very rare exotic clasts of chert and basalt. (c) Broken
Formation of the upper part of the Kulapis Formation exposed in new cuttings on the Telupid road. Large slabs of thickly
bedded sandstone are surrounded by unsheared or slightly scaly red mudstone. Bedding is often contorted, though
well-developed slump folds are rare, and difficult to distinguish from tectonic folds. The outcrops of this m61ange sub-type
are extensive, and appear to be formed by sliding, overturning and disaggregation of partly lithified sediment on a
depositional slope. Parts of thick beds have pinched off to form olistoliths which float in the mudstone.
 Tectonic significance of m61anges in Eastern Sabah 423

A N B N
Restored + Relict
Palaco- ~

° °+ ° ~

",~o= ~ • N=48
o N=34

C N D N
Matrix o Normal
foliationsf - faults ~ /
N=7 N=6

ast long
, J axis orientation
N=5 " ~ ~ o extension
N=9~ , '
,T nsides
Fig. 9. Structural data from the Garinono Mdlange Unit (area covered in Fig. 3). All lower hemisphere, equal area
projections. (A) Slump fold axial orientations (circles) and restored current lineations (crosses) from large relict bedded slabs
in the Garinono M61ange Unit and adjacent parts of the Kulapis and Labang Formations. No palaeoslope orientation can
be inferred for the basin because of the spread of data (see discussion in text). (B) Bedding orientations (poles to relict
bedding) from the Garinono Mdlange Unit. Data from the 1:50 000 map of the Sandakan area (Lee 1970) are included
as squares, data from this survey as small circles. Beds frequently show steep rather than shallow dips and overturning
is rare, but otherwise azimuths and dip angles appear random. (C) Foliations measured from scaly or sheared matrix in
the Garinono Mdlange Unit. Open circles--poles to foliation planes; stars--long axis orientations of ellipsoidal clasts.
Strong planar fabrics are very rare in the Garinono M61ange Unit, and may be associated with minor, late-stage,
north-south compression. (D) Normal faults (great circle projections) and extension directions measured from deformed
blocks within the Garinono Mdlange Unit. Small circles -slickenside lineations; stars--boudinage extension directions.

a z i m u t h o f slump folds a n d b o u d i n a g e features has been
used by W o o d c o c k (1976), N a y l o r (1981, 1982), Farrell
a n d E a t o n (1987) a n d A a l t o (1989) to estimate the
direction o f p a l a e o s l o p e d o w n which material m o v e d
d u r i n g mass flow. The o r i e n t a t i o n o f s l u m p fold axes a n d
b o u d i n a g e features f r o m the S a n d a k a n a r e a (Fig. 9),
show no o b v i o u s pattern. This is possibly because o f
d e t a c h m e n t a n d r o t a t i o n o f the folds d u r i n g c o n t i n u e d
m a s s m o v e m e n t , o r subsequent d e f o r m a t i o n , b u t m a y be
because the folds are tectonically p r o d u c e d in soft
sediments a n d so not directly related to mass flow.
INTERPRETATION
Provenance of material in the East Sabah mdlanges
P e t r o g r a p h i c a n d fossil evidence, a n d field relation-
ships showing transitions from b r o k e n f o r m a t i o n into
424
Table 3. Criteria for differentiatingslumpfoldsfrom foldsformedby
tectonic processes (after Naylor 1982), applied to folds found in the
Garinono Mrlange Unit
Criteria for recognitionof soft-sediment GarinonoMrlange
folds (slump folds) after Naylor 1982 Unit
1. Dewatering,liquefactionand flame Present
structures in the cores of folds
2. Load casting at the stratigraphic tops Not found
of folds post-datingthe fold
3. Sedimentponding and draping by folds Not found
4. Lack of geometricallyrelated mineral Present
veining
5. Collapsedfold style:rounded upper limbs Present
overly flattened,angular lower limbs
6. Lack of axial planar cleavage Present
blocky mrlange, suggest that most of the Garinono unit
is formed of disrupted Labang Formation sandstones
and mudstones. The Labang beds, originally deposited
in Oligocene to Early Miocene times, were mobilised
during the latest Early Miocene to early Middle
Miocene. During this deformation, Tanjong Formation
strata overlying the Labang Formation with minor
unconformity were extended, injected by scaly clay and
slump folded at the margins of the mrlange unit. The
dominant clay composition within the grey mrlange
matrix, as revealed by X-ray diffraction on around 80
samples, is similar to that of the Labang Formation
shales, but is most like the Tanjong Formation mud-
stones (Table 2). This fact, and the presence in the matrix
of a younger fossil fauna than is typical of the Labang,
imply that clasts of the Labang Formation were mixed
with younger clay during the mrlange-forming process.
This younger clay matrix, especially in the Ayer Mrlange
Unit, contains an appreciable amount of tuffaceous
material (smectite and iron-rich chlorite) which was
probably sourced from contemporaneous arc-type vol-
canicity in the southern Dent Peninsula.
The Kulapis Formation, which outcrops in the north-
ern part of the Sandakan area, is characterised by thicker
sandstone beds and fewer shales than the Labang For-
mation, with which it was deposited concurrently. Con-
trary to previous interpretations (e.g. Collenette 1966,
Newton-Smith 1967, Lee 1970), only a small quantity of
Kulapis Formation sandstone, and very little Kulapis
clay is found in the typical polymict blocky mrlange.
However, large tracts of folded and faulted Kulapis
Formation have been disaggregated into broken for-
mation during the deformation. The Garinono Mrlange
Unit sensu lato is thus divisible into a grey, matrix-rich
mrlange with exotic blocks (Garinono sensu stricto),
derived from the muddy Labang Formation, and a
red-coloured dismembered formation (which never has
exotic blocks), derived more or less in situ from the
Kupalis Formation (Fig. 11). The nature of the contact
between these sub-types is varied from locality to lo-
cality: though the grey mrlange generally overlies the red
broken formation unconformably, overthrust and
sheared contacts are found on the Telupid road.
Blocks of serpentinite, chert and pillow basalt found
in the Sabah mrlange are interpreted as being from the
Darvel Bay-Telupid ophiolite complex (referred to in
B. CLENNELL
publications of the Malaysian Geological Survey as the
Chert-Spilite Formation). A number of these blocks
have high temperature histories which are not compat-
ible with the low grades present in the matrix, or
sedimentary clasts of the mrlange. Such deformation
may have occurred during intra-oceanic processes such
as hydrothermal retrogressive alteration (Hutchison
1978), ridge-crest imbrication, transform faulting or
ophiolite obduction (Saleeby 1984), and then have been
inherited into the mrlange. By contrast, adjacent sedi-
mentary units show wet-sediment and early diagenetic
deformations which are identical to those found in the
mrlange. These structures may also be inherited, but
from a low temperature, low overburden environment.
The disrupted ophiolite is intimately interleaved with
the mrlange in the southeast of Sabah. Indeed, the
mapping of Leong (1974) shows that there is only an
arbitrary distinction between ophiolite-rich Kuamut
m~lange and dismembered "Chert-Spilite Formation"
ophiolite. By contrast, the nearest outcrop of in situ
material sourcing the smaller (but still important) quan-
tity of exotic blocks in the Garinono Mrlange Unit is
found in the Telupid area, some 120 km to the west of
the Sandakan Peninsula. The mechanism whereby these
far-travelled blocks became mixed with the younger
sediments is not clear from the spatial distribution,
relative size or concentration of exotic blocks, which all
appear random.
The most problematical exotics from the mrlange are
high pressure metabasic blocks, including garnet clino-
pyroxenites, and corundum-pyrope "eclogites" found in
the Tungku area of the Dent Peninsula (Morgan 1974,
Leong 1978). The strongly foliated clinopyroxenites have
many characteristics of the high pressure metamorphic
sole to a tectonically emplaced ophiolite (C. Parkinson,
pers. commun. 1990). As the high pressure blocks are
from a very restricted geographical area, close to a large
outpouring of andesitic lava (Haile and Wong 1965), it
is speculated here that they are reworked xenoliths,
brought up from great depth by volcanoes.
MODES OF ORIGIN OF THE EAST SABAH
MI~LANGES
In general, the mixed mud matrix and polymict clast
assemblage characterises the East Sabah mrlange as
"block in mudstone chaos" or Type III mrlange of
Cowan (1985). There is no consensus amongst geologists
as to how this type of mrlange acquires its form and
structure. Three possible mechanisms, namely tectonism,
diapirism and sedimentary mass flows, are discussed
below. It is important to note that these processes are
not mutually exclusive, but rather are end member
driving mechanisms which can operate together or
sequentially (Lash 1987).
Tectonic origin?
The Garinono m~lange and adjacent sedimentary
units have not been affected by widespread folding or
 Tectonic significanceof m61angesin Eastern Sabah
faulting which post-dates the m61ange genesis. Post-
Middle Miocene tectonism is limited to normal faulting
in the vicinity of Sandakan, and minor reverse and
wrench faulting in the Segaliud and Telupid areas.
Where the m61ange is freshly exposed, there is no
evidence of typically tectonic structures such as a
strongly aligned foliation, cleavage or pervasive veining
in the matrix. However, weak slickensiding and calcite
veining are common in m61ange clasts, and in sheared
broken formation. Evidence for a tectonic event affect-
ing the Garinono m61ange is found in the Telupid area,
where a large body of ophiolite is thrust over the
m61ange unit, imbricating slices of m61ange with plasti-
cally deformed slivers of serpentinite. The ophiolite,
when emplaced over the m61ange, was clearly "cold":
there is no evidence either of metamorphism in the
overridden m61ange, or of a metamorphic sole to this
portion of ophiolite. The palaeo-temperatures within the
Garinono M61ange Unit, estimated from vitrinite reflec-
tance and clay mineralogy are generally low and all
below 150°C (when compared with tables in Bostick
1979 and Guthrie et al. 1986). They were probably
achieved after the m61ange-forming event because they
are just as high in overlying Sandakan Formation sedi-
ments, which are undeformed (see Fig. 3).
Overthrusting of the Garinono M61ange Unit appears
to be limited to the vicinity of Telupid. The internal
structures and diagenetic grade found within the main
body of the m61ange material, and the adjacent unde-
formed bedded formations precludes any origin for the
Garinono M61ange Unit during burial beneath a thick
regional overburden. Even if only a thin sheet of ophio-
lite was emplaced over the whole m61ange terrain (by
some mechanism such as gravity gliding), it must have
been removed completely before the Tanjong and
Sandakan Formations were deposited. The overthrust
model seems extremely unlikely in view of the known age
range of these sediments. Deposition of the Tanjong
Formation, which contains virtually no ophiolite-
derived material, occurred in the Central Sabah Basin
immediately after the formation of the m61anges. Con-
sidering the similarity in composition between the east-
ern and western parts of the Garinono unit, the
overthrusting in Telupid appears to have been part of a
late tectonic event and resulted only in localised over-
print of a pre-existing m61ange.
A transition in structural style as well as composition
exists between the Garinono and the other m61anges of
Eastern Sabah, the former being dominated by wet
sediment and very early diagenetic deformation, and the
latter being influenced by much more "tectonic" be-
haviour. The full spectrum of early deformations found
in the Garinono are developed in the Ayer and Kuamut
M61ange Units. Only in the south, however, have these
been overprinted by deformations generated under con-
siderable overburden. The southern part of the East
Sabah m61anges appears to have been imbricated and
stacked at the head of a deformation front, rather than
being thrust over by a thick tectonic overburden as
suggested by Rangin (1989) and Rangin et al. (1990).
425
Thin slices of ophiolitic cover, and a very poorly lithified
volcaniclastic sequence are included in the re-defor-
mation of the m61ange terrain. Large, relict bedded slices
of Kalumpang Formation turbidites are included rela-
tively intact, and oriented sub-parallel to the dominant
foliation in the surrounding m61ange. Vitrinite reflec-
tance data record maximum palaeo-temperatures of
around 230°C for these sediments, consistent with the
deep diagenetic but sub-metamorphic environment of
this overprinting deformation.
Diapiric origin?
The presence of active mud volcanoes onshore (Haile
and Wong 1965) and mud lump islands (Fitch 1958,
Tongkul 1989) and submarine mud diapirs (Mascle and
Biscarrat 1978) offshore prompted a search for diapiric
structures within the main m61ange outcrop. McManus
and Tate (1986), noting the occurrence of typical
m61ange blocks in mud volcanoes of the Dent Peninsula,
concluded that all the m61anges of Eastern Sabah were
formed by thermally triggered diapiric activity. Accord-
ing to their model, the volcanic and hydrothermal
processes of ophiolite nappe emplacement lead to the
development of mud diapirs and mud volcanoes, sourced
from overridden muddy sediments. This thermally
driven diapiric activity gave rise to the mblanges directly.
The evidence cited by McManus and Tate for hydro-
thermal activity, such as "cracked and case-hardened
blocks", is re-interpreted here as largely being the
result of soft-sediment deformation in sandstones. The
mineralisation McManus and Tate describe from
the mud volcanoes, which includes pyrite, gypsum
and marcasite is not found in the main body of the
m61anges, and is probably the result of low temperature
hydrothermal activity in the mud volcanoes, which erupt
mud at temperatures only about 10-30 ° above the
ambient.
This is not to dismiss the importance of mud diapirism
in the neotectonics of the region. Large mud volcanoes
in the east of Sabah are almost invariably found in close
association with mud-rich m61ange. In the Dent Penin-
sula, these mud volcanoes are large enough to erupt
blocks many tens of centimetres across, and are respon-
sible for quite large surficial tracts of reworked blocky
m61ange material (Haile and Wong 1965). The suite of
clasts collected from the mud volcano north of the
airport at Lahad Datu, which includes pillow basalt,
green tuff, chert, serpentinite and many types of sand-
stone, is very similar to that in near-by outcrops of the
Ayer M61ange Unit. In addition to typical m61ange
clasts, however, are pebbles and cobbles from the allu-
vial Tabanak Conglomerate Formation, which outcrops
around the airport. This Plio-Pleistocene conglomerate
overlies the m61ange unconformably (Haile and Wong
1965, Leong 1974), and it is clear that in this locality,
m61ange has become remobilised and erupted through
this later cover. In the case of the Lahad Datu mud
volcano, this small-scale diapiric activity was initially
triggered by an earthquake in 1976 (Lim 1977, 1983).
426 B. CLENNELL
Over many thousands of years, sporadic mud volcanic
activity of this type could have reworked quite large
portions of the mrlange near the surface. However, there
is no direct field evidence to suggest that any significant
quantity of mrlange was formed primarily in this way.
Diapirism, working in tandem with other processes,
could help to explain the random occurrence of exotic
blocks found far from any in situ outcrop. Fragments of
ophiolite from the basement could have been entrained
and carried up by mud diapirism, in the mechanism
suggested by Pickering et al. (1989) for subduction
m61anges in southwest Japan. In order for this mechan-
ism to operate, however, the ophiolite needs to be
overthrust and cause overpressure within the muds
forming the m~lange matrix. As discussed above, there
is no evidence for such large-scale regional overthrust-
ing, but smaller scale imbrication is common.
Certain outcrops of the m61ange, where associated
with bedded sediments, are suggestive of cross-cutting
diapiric contacts (e.g. Barber et al. 1986, Lash 1987).
These are found between the Segama and Kinabatangan
rivers, associated with interleaved slices of tuffaceous
sediment which have relict thrust and fold structures
preserved within them (Fig. 12). The mechanism pro-
posed to explain these outcrops is of small-scale pockets
of overpressure being generated in mud-rich sediment
and m61ange as it is imbricated with the volcaniclastics.
This overpressure then led to the small diapiric struc-
tures observed. Mud injection structures found within
the m+langes are limited to intra-formational extrusions
of mud between sandstones within relict bedded sedi-
ments. Nowhere is exotically derived mud seen pervad-
ing and disaggregating blocks (cf. Barber et al. 1986,
Pickering et al. 1989).
Cowan (1985) states that chaotic, mud-rich blocky
m6langes (his Type III m61ange) are fundamentally
mobile, and so are liable to reworking by gravity tecton-
ics, i.e. sliding and diapirism. Collenette (1965) suggests
that the Kuamut m61ange may have been modified
diapirically by later loading of Tanjong Formation
sediments in superimposed basins. This extrusion per-
mitted downwarping, leading to the remarkable circular
shape (Fig. 1) of the basins. This type of large-scale (tens
of kilometres) m+lange extrusion is documented from the
coloured m61ange of Iran (St6cklin 1990).
O l i s t o s t r o m a l origin?
The previous work of geologists of the Malaysian
Geological Survey concludes that the mrlanges in East-
ern Sabah formed in mass-flow processes, but this may
in part be because other theories of mrlange formation
were not well documented at that time. Collenette (1965,
1966) proposed that the Kuamut and Garinono
mrlanges were formed by submarine slides and slumps
active soon after deposition of mud-rich sediments,
giving the rocks the field term "slump breccias". Haile
and Wong (1965) followed this interpretation for
the Ayer Formation. The work of Lee (1970) on the
Garinono and Leong (1974) on the Ayer and Kuamut
also concluded that the mrlange units were formed
primarily as olistostromes.
Page (1978), largely following Abbatte et al. (1970),
outlines a number of criteria for recognising olistostro-
mal mrlanges (Table 4). There are very few structures in
the mrlange which by this definition are truly diagnostic
of an olistostromal origin for the Garinono. For
example, in the areas mapped by Newton-Smith (1967)
and Lee (1970), in no well-exposed section can the
polymict mrlange be seen to be bounded either above or
below by bedded sediments. Large- and small-scale
slump folding of coherent bedding is evident at the
margin of the Garino Mrlange Unit, however, and is
associated with small bodies of pebbly mudstones and
other mass-flow facies, such as limestone breccias.
The main evidence for an olistostromal origin for the
Garinono mrlange is found in a number of outcrops,
exposed during recent road building, where the mrlange
overlies previously deformed sediments. In the Segaliud,
Moynod and Sandakan Bay areas grey polymict
mrlange overlies folded red sandstones of the Kulapis
Formation with mapped relationships similar to "land-
scape" unconformities. These outcrops are extensive, in
places freshly exposed, and are clearly not formed by
recent landsliding of a pre-existing mrlange. In the Kota
Kinabatangan area, rafts of the Tanjong Formation
containing slump folds are detached and lie in the upper
structural levels of the mrlange.
Collenette (1966), Lee (1970) and Leong (1974) com-
pared the scale and structure of the East Sabah mrlanges
to previously described olistostromal mrlanges, namely
the Bobonaro Scaly Clay of Timor (Audley-Charles
1965) and the Argille Scagliose of the Italian Apennines
Table 4. Criteria for recognition of olistostromal mrlanges, from Page
(1978), applied to the East Sabah mrlanges
Criteria for recognition of olistostromes East Sabah
(modified after Page 1978) mrlanges
1. The chaotic material is underlain, overlain and Present
laterally bounded by normal sediments of
nearly the same age
2. The interleaved sediment shows evidence of Present
mass flow such as slump folds or pebbly mud-
stones
3. The chaotic material contains blocks of the Present
underlying units, but not of the overlying
units
4. The matrix of the chaotic material is largely Present
argillaceous marine sediment
5. There is evidence that the mass moved prior Present
to complete lithification of the sediment
6. Formerly continuous layers of competent sedi- Present
ment (e.g. sandstone beds) have separated into
detached blocks and slabs enveloped in the
matrix, which is derived from interbedded or
subjacent argillaceous layers
7. The fragments, blocks and slabs in the Not found
mrlange tend to be increasingly fragmented
and dispersed in the direction of transport
8. Blocks of any particular type, both exotic and Present
intraformations, are intimately mixed and ran-
domly disposed
9. The blocks appear to have rotated about in- Present
constant axes during the deformation
10. Crude layering, subparallel to bounding sedi- Not found
ments bedding, is present in the mass
 Tectonic significanceof mrlanges in Eastern Sabah
(Abbatte et al. 1970). Three major problems limit the
applicability of the submarine slide model to the East
Sabah mrlanges. Firstly, the grey mrlange derived from
the deep water Labang Formation generally overlies the
broken formation sourced from shallower water Kulapis
strata. This is the opposite relationship to that expected
for slumping on an unstable slope. Secondly, modern
sediment slides do not appear to cut down into non-
sedimentary basement, even in the head wall area, and
so could not easily source exotic blocks. Lastly, large
sides, unlike smaller mass movements such as debris
flows, are coherent, rather than disaggregated and
sheared internally.
The East Sabah mrlanges differ from those having a
more clearly demonstrable origin in debris flows (e.g.
Aalto 1989) in that the former rocks were partly lithified
prior to the mass movement. Cowan (1982) describes
similar deformation of partly consolidated sediment
comprising part of the Franciscan mrlanges, though
these occupy an area an order of magnitude smaller than
the East Sabah mrlanges. Woodcock (1979) noted a
discrepancy begtween the sizes of modern submarine
mass flows, and those recognised in ancient settings and
concluded that large slides, although more prevalent
at times of relatively low sea level such as the present
day, are probably widespread, but largely unrecognised
in the sedimentary record. Since this work, many more
large submarine slumps and slides have been found
worldwide, and possible ancient examples have been
described (Jacobi 1984). The Garinono, Ayer and
Kuamut Mrlange Units, though very extensive, may
represent a single deposit of a size similar to the Bassein
Slide off Burma (Moore et al. 1976). This is still an order
of magnitude smaller than the giant slides off southeast
Africa (Dingle 1977) or Norway (Bugge et al. 1988).
More likely, numerous smaller slumps and slides, de-
taching at different levels, moved within a relatively
short time interval. These may have been triggered by
pulses of tectonic upheaval associated with the im-
brication and overthrusting of the ophiolite and arc
material. Uneven, tectonically generated topography on
the basin slope may also explain the presence of
carbonate build-ups which apparently formed on iso-
lated highs within the otherwise deep Labang Basin
(Fig. 3).
Mass movements alone cannot account for many of
the "tectonic" features, such as polishing of clasts, and
slickencrysted fault surfaces, which are found even in
parts of the Garinono mrlange which have not been
overprinted by later deformation. The bulk of the defor-
mation in all the mrlanges is, however, of syn-sedimen-
tary to early diagenetic origin. Deformation with quite
strongly "tectonic" characteristics (such as stratal exten-
sion with calcite veining) may form near the base of a
thick sedimentary slide as well as beneath tectonically
driven overburden. Similarly the base of a slide, like a
tectonic drcollement is likely to be a zone of overpressur-
ing. Such a zone could also generate minor "diapiric"
injections of mud in the overlying strata. Such structures
are known from south of the Indonesian island of
SEAES 6 / 3 4 - Q
427
Sumba (Breen et al. 1986) and from the New Zealand
Hikurangi Margin (K. Lewis, pers. commun. 1990).
Summary
Any model of the origin of the East Sabah mrlanges
must explain the occurrence of a diverse assemblage of
exotic blocks of different sizes, the deformational struc-
tures found throughout the mrlange, and the intimate
admixture of different clay components in the matrix.
The data presented in this paper generally support the
original view of the Malaysian Geological Survey that
the submarine slumps and slides have been the major
(though not exclusive) mode of formation of the East
Sabah mrlanges. What triggered the postulated gravity
slide movements is unclear. The initial opening of the
Sulu Sea occurred in the late Early Miocene (Nichols
et al. 1990), and related tectonic events may have led to
widespread slumping in the Central Sabah Basin. Unfor-
tunately the general disaggregation of the sedimentary
units makes reconstruction of the basin topography very
difficult.
The mrlanges of Eastern Sabah were formed by
slumping into a deep marine basin, mainly detaching
within the Tertiary sediments but cutting down locally to
ophiolitic substratum. In the south, the basin deposits
were pushed ahead of, and partly overridden by, an
active arc terrane which resulted in volcanigenic material
being shed on top of the mrlange in this area. Slices of
relict bedded sediment and crustal ophiolitic material
(unmetamorphosed pillow basalt and chert) were imbri-
cated with the mrlange in this process. In the eastern part
of the mrlange outcrop (Telupid area) the mrlange was
overthrust northwards, at a late stage, by the detached
upper levels of a large body of ophiolite.
CONCLUSIONS
(1) The main controls on mrlange deformation mech-
anisms are sediment composition, and largely related to
this, the degree of lithification. The important changes to
rock rheology occurred early in diagenesis. The other
major controls are bed thickness and sand-to-shale ratio.
This is best seen in the differing responses of the
sand-rich Kulapis Formation, and the muddier strati-
graphical equivalent, the Labang Formation, to the
regional deformations which produced the Garinono
Mrlange Unit (Fig. 11). Slump folds are difficult to
distinguish from early tectonic folds in the region be-
cause of the persistence of ductile behaviour during
burial.
(2) The total deformation in any mrlange can be
subdivided into pre-mrlange, mrlange-forming and post-
mrlange events. Pre-mrlange events can be recognised
because of incompatible temperature or pressure con-
ditions required to generate the observed fabrics or
mineral assemblage. Post-mrlange events can be recog-
nised as they overprint or transpose fabrics charcteristic
of the mrlange unit. Sandstones in the East Sabah
428 B. CLENNELL
mrlanges all show very pervasive pre-mrlange hydro-
plastic deformation. Indeed, the presence of hydroplastic
fractures and joints within thin-bedded strata predispose
these formations to generate mrlange during later, more
intense disruption. Post-mrlange deformations include
mud diapirism and a weak to very intense tectonic
overprint. The Sandakan Peninsula area was left un-
affected by the later tectonism, apart from minor fault-
ing, and so remains the best area for studying the
original fabrics of the East Sabah m~langes.
(3) Despite a detailed study of the internal structure,
composition and age relationships of the East Sabah
mrlanges, there are very few cases where a single,
unambiguous mechanism of formation can be demon-
strated. This is in part due to uncertainties in age
relationships, and the limited exposure available, but is
mainly a characteristic of the mrlange itself. At the scales
of observation employed, samples record different
micro-environments of pressure, temperature and strain
rate, which cannot be related back to the main driving
mechanism of the deformation. As in the case of the
diagenetic changes affecting the constituent sediments,
the modes of deformation within the mrlange clasts are
largely pre-programmed by the rock composition. It is
the nature of the contacts, rather than the internal fabric
of the mrlanges which are diagnostic in determining their
mode of origin.
(4) The structural rearrangements of the North
Borneo/South China Sea convergence system which
produced the Crocker Accretionary Complex may have
triggered the major slumping which produced olistostro-
mal m~langes in the Central Sabah Basin. However, the
very large volumes of mrlange in Eastern Sabah are not
directly related to accretionary processes. Instead they
were generated during regional extension at the time of
initial opening of the Southeast Sulu Sea.
Acknowledgements--This work is funded by Shell International
Petroleum Co. Ltd, through a postgraduate studentship. Further
support in the field came from University Kebangsaan Malaysia,
Sabah Campus. Tony Barber and Felix Tongkul provided many useful
ideas and much constructive criticism. Shell companies operating in
Sarawak: Sabah Shell Petroleum Company and Sarawak Shell Berhad,
are thanked for providing access to seismic data, internal reports and
in dating of specimens. In particular my thanks go to Herman
Soediono and Wong Chen Fon for palynological dating. I would like
to acknowledge the assistance from the Geological Survey in Kota
Kinabalu, particularly the Director, David Lee and the Department of
Geology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Professor Charles
Hutchison of U.M. is thanked for helpful discussions and many ides.
This paper contains information from many personal communications
with Wong Wai Meng, Jonathan Aitchison, Michiel de Smet and Chris
Parkinson. Liam Gallagher and Kate Bartram provided palaeontolog-
ical and palynological determinations funded by the Consortium for
Geological Research in S.E. Asia, University of London. This paper
was greatly improved by amendments suggested by the reviewers and
editors.
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