South China continental margin signature for sandstones ...searg.rhul.ac.uk/pubs/suggate_etal_2014...

Gondwana Research 26 (2014) 699–718

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South China continental margin signature for sandstones and granitesfrom Palawan, Philippines

Simon M. Suggate a,⁎, Michael A. Cottam a,b, Robert Hall a, Inga Sevastjanova a, Margaret A. Forster c,Lloyd T. White a, Richard A. Armstrong c, Andrew Carter d, Edwin Mojares e

a SE Asia Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdomb BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd., Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, Aberdeen AB21 7PB, United Kingdomc Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australiad Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdome Geosciences Division, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, 1515L & S Bldg., Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Philippines

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1784 443592; fax: +E-mail address: [email protected] (S.M. Suggate).

1342-937X/$ – see front matter © 2013 International Asshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2013.07.006

a b s t r a c t
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:Received 17 January 2013Received in revised form 8 July 2013Accepted 21 July 2013Available online 29 July 2013

Handling Editor: M. Santosh

Keywords:PalawanNorth BorneoMount Capoas graniteZircon U–Pb geochronologyHeavy minerals

We report results of heavy mineral analysis and U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from metasediments andCenozoic sandstones, and U–Pb dating of zircons from Cenozoic granites of the North Palawan ContinentalTerrane (NPCT) and the South Palawan Terrane (SPT). The NPCTmetasediments are derivedmainly from graniticandmetamorphic rocks of continental character. They contain zircons that indicate amaximum depositional ageof Late Cretaceous and other age populations indicating a South China origin. The sediments were deposited onthe South China margin before rifting of the continental margin during opening of the South China Sea.Miocene SPT sandstones contain similar heavy mineral assemblages suggesting sources that included NPCTmetasediments, metamorphic basement rocks at the contact between the SPT and the NPCT, South China Searift volcanic and/or minor intrusive rocks, and the Palawan ophiolite complex. The SPT sandstones are verysimilar to Lower Miocene Kudat Formation sandstones of northern Borneo suggesting a short-lived episode ofsediment transport from Palawan to Borneo in the Early Miocene following arc-continent collision. U–Pb datingof zircons shows that the Central Palawan granite is Eocene (42 ± 0.5 Ma). The Capoas granite was intrudedduring a single pulse, or as two separate pulses, between 13.8 ± 0.2 Ma and 13.5 ± 0.2 Ma. Inherited zirconages from the Capoas granite imply melting of continental crust derived from the South China margin with acontribution from Cenozoic rift-related and arc material.

© 2013 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Palawan, the westernmost island of the Philippine archipelago, liesat the southern margin of the South China Sea, approximately 400 kmto the northeast of Borneo (Fig. 1). Geologically, Palawan can be dividedinto two blocks, the North Palawan Continental Terrane (NPCT) and theSouth Palawan Terrane (SPT) (e.g. Hamilton, 1979; Taylor and Hayes,1983; Faure et al., 1989; Yumul et al., 2009). The NPCT is interpretedas a continental fragment thatwas derived from the South Chinamargin(e.g. Holloway, 1982; Taylor and Hayes, 1983; Hall, 1996). This issupported by previous provenance studies (Suzuki et al., 2000; Waliaet al., 2012) which suggested that Upper Cretaceous to Eocene sand-stones of Central Palawan (NPCT) were derived from the Kwangtungand Fukien regions of South China. The SPT includes a LowerCretaceous–Eocene ophiolitic complex (e.g. Yumul et al., 2009) andOligocene to Miocene sediments. Almost nothing is known about theprovenance of these sediments from this terrane.

44 1784 434716.

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As an areawith proven hydrocarbon potential, Palawanhas been theattention of a number of recent studies (e.g. Yumul et al., 2009; Knittelet al., 2010;Walia et al., 2012). Despite this,many aspects of the tectonicevolution and geology of this region remain unclear. In particular, thereare still outstanding questions about the ages of igneous, metamorphicand sedimentary rocks on Palawan. For example, metasedimentaryrocks that were previously considered Palaeozoic have yielded Creta-ceous detrital zircons (e.g. Walia et al., 2012). The geology of Palawanis also similar to that of North Borneo and both include Mesozoicophiolitic rocks that are overlain by Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentaryrocks and are intruded by granites. Both areas share a strong NE–SWorientation (Fig. 1). In both cases (e.g. Hutchison, 2010) the onshoreregions are flanked to the west by significant bathymetric troughs(the NW Borneo and Palawan Troughs) that are in turn flanked bybathymetric highs (the Dangerous Grounds and Reed Bank). Perhapsmost notably, both areas are intruded by young granite plutons: theMt Kinabalu pluton in northern Borneo (Cottam et al., 2010), and theMt Capoas intrusion in Palawan (Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997).

K–Ar age determinations on theKinabalu granite in northern Borneoby a number of authors (Jacobson, 1970; Rangin et al., 1990; Bellon and

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700 S.M. Suggate et al. / Gondwana Research 26 (2014) 699–718

Rangin, 1991; Swauger et al., 1995; Hutchison et al., 2000) suggestedthat the granite may be as old as ~14 Ma. However, U–Pb dating ofzircons by Cottam et al. (2010) showed that the Kinabalu granite is aLate Miocene pluton emplaced and crystallised in less than800,000 years between 7.85 ± 0.08 and 7.22 ± 0.07 Ma. Encarnaciónand Mukasa (1997) had reported Middle Miocene ages (~14 Ma) forthe Capoas granite based on U–Pb dating of zircon and monazite butrecognised that these were discordant and could be mixtures of oldercores and younger magmatic rims. The new SHRIMP age data for theKinabalu granite raised the question of whether the Capoas granite ispossibly of similar age and origin.

Heavy minerals are sensitive provenance indicators, because of thediversity of common assemblages, restricted parageneses ofmany com-mon heavy mineral species and their ability to preserve geochemicalcharacteristics of parental source rocks. Heavy mineral analysis hasbeen successfully applied in provenance studies across the world(Morton et al., 1994; Mange et al., 2005; Garzanti and Ando, 2007), in-cluding SE Asia (e.g. van Hattum et al., 2006; Clements and Hall, 2011;Suggate, 2011; Sevastjanova et al., 2012; Witts et al., 2012; vanHattum et al., in press), in areas where there are sufficient differencesbetween sediment source areas. Several authors have suggested thatinitial heavy mineral assemblages undergo modifications duringsediment generation, transport and storage. The most significant ofthese include (a) hydraulic sorting (density fractionation), (b) dissolu-tion during deep burial (diagenetic dissolution) and (c) dissolutionduring tropical weathering. It is recognised that these secondary pro-cesses change the initial abundances of the minerals (e.g. Garzantiet al., 2011; Andò et al., 2012) or possibly can selectively remove min-erals from the initial assemblage (e.g. Morton and Hallsworth, 2007).However, minerals that remain in the heavy mineral assemblage stillyield useful information about their source rocks.

Recent provenance studies based on heavy minerals suggest thatduring the Early Miocene Palawan shed granitic and metamorphicdetritus to northern Borneo (van Hattum, 2005; Suggate, 2011; vanHattum et al., in press). Provenance studies of NPCT metasediments(Suzuki et al., 2000; Walia et al., 2012) concentrated on light mineralsand U–Pb dating of detrital zircons. Detrital heavyminerals were brieflydescribed from thin section, but interpretations of provenance werebased on limited data, insufficient for detailed characterisation ofheavy mineral assemblages (e.g. Mange and Maurer, 1992).

In order to address these uncertainties, we carried out fieldworkin Palawan to collect igneous rocks, metasediments and Cenozoicsandstones from the NPCT and SPT. We report here the results ofheavy mineral analysis, U–Pb dating of detrital zircons and zirconsfrom Cenozoic granites from Palawan.

2. Geological background

There is general agreement that parts of northern Borneo andPalawan (Fig. 1), along with areas such as the Dangerous Grounds andReed Bank in the South China Sea, are extended and attenuatedcontinental fragments rifted from the South China margin. The riftedmaterial has been termed the Palawan Continental Terrane (PCT;e.g. Holloway, 1982; Taylor and Hayes, 1983), the North PalawanBlock (NPB; e.g. Almasco et al., 2000), and the North Palawan Continen-tal Terrane (NPCT; e.g. Encarnación et al., 1995; Encarnación andMukasa, 1997). The term North Palawan Continental Terrane (NPCT)is used here. This continental crust was originally envisaged to be a sin-gle large fragment rifted from the South Chinamargin (Holloway, 1982;Taylor and Hayes, 1983), but recent studies (Yumul et al., 2009) havesuggested that there are several internal sutures and multiplefragments. Continental crust has been identified in northern Palawan,parts of the islands of Mindoro and Panay, and Reed Bank (Holloway,1982; Taylor and Hayes, 1983; Kudrass et al., 1986; Schluter et al.,1996; Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997; Yumul et al., 2009; Frankeet al., 2011; Knittel, 2011). The NPCT moved south during subduction

of the proto-South China Sea beneath NW Borneo and the CagayanArc and the opening of the South China Sea (Holloway, 1982; Taylorand Hayes, 1983; Kudrass et al., 1986; Vogt and Flower, 1989; Ranginet al., 1990; Hall, 1996; Hutchison, 1996; Schluter et al., 1996;Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997; Hutchison et al., 2000; Hall, 2002;Replumaz and Tapponnier, 2003; Cottam et al., 2010; Hutchison,2010; Franke et al., 2011; Hall, 2012). Subduction of the proto-SouthChina Sea terminated in the Early Miocene after collision of the NPCTwith the active continental margin of Sabah and the Cagayan Arc(Holloway, 1982; Rangin et al., 1990; Tan and Lamy, 1990; Hinz et al.,1991; Hall, 1996; Hall andWilson, 2000;Hutchison et al, 2000). Oceanicspreading in the South China Sea ceased in the Early or Middle Miocene(Taylor and Hayes, 1983; Briais et al., 1993; Barckhausen and Roeser,2004).

3. Geology and stratigraphy of Palawan Island

The geology of Palawan Island (Fig. 2) has commonly beeninterpreted to comprise two discrete tectonic elements (e.g. Hamilton,1979; Holloway, 1982; Taylor and Hayes, 1983; Mitchell et al., 1986;Encarnación et al., 1995; Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997; Almascoet al., 2000). The northern part of the island is made up of thecontinental-derived metamorphic and sedimentary rocks of the NPCT.The southern part of the island comprises ophiolitic rocks and Cenozoicclastic sediments of the SPT. The NPCT and SPT are in contact along abroadly north–south trending steep fault that cuts through UluganBay, in the centre of the island.

3.1. North Palawan Continental Terrane metamorphic and sedimentaryrocks

The NPCT includes a succession of low to medium grade metamor-phic rocks and sedimentary rocks related to the pre-, syn- and post-rift stages of the opening of the South China Sea (Sales et al., 1997;Suzuki et al., 2000; Franke et al., 2011) and isolated granite bodies incentral and northern Palawan. Reviewing the stratigraphy of theNPCT, Sales et al. (1997) classified it on the basis of three distinct tecton-ic environments: pre-rift and rift; drifting and South China Sea (SCS)seafloor spreading; collision and post-collision. Based on the region'soffshore seismostratigraphy, Franke et al. (2011) recognised four mainphases: (1)Mesozoic pre-rift sedimentation associatedwith themarginof the Asianmainland; (2) Latest Cretaceous–Eocene sedimentation as-sociatedwith rifting of the South China Sea basin; (3) Oligocene to EarlyMiocene sedimentation concurrent with the drifting episode of thePalawan–Mindoro microcontinental block during South China Seaseafloor spreading; (4) Late Miocene to Recent sedimentation duringand after the collision between the microcontinental block and thePhilippine Mobile Belt.

The oldest rocks reported from the NPCT (Fig. 3) are a series ofUpper Palaeozoic to Lower Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks (Saleset al., 1997). They include sandstones, tuffs, slates, phyllites and schists(Sales et al., 1997; Yumul et al., 2009) that have undergone medium-grade regional metamorphism (e.g. Suzuki et al., 2000). Metamorphicrocks from Mindoro in the north of the NPCT have variously beendated as Late Palaeozoic (Knittel and Daniels, 1987), older than LateCretaceous (Sarewitz and Karig, 1986), and Paleocene (Faure et al.,1989). Dating of igneous and detrital zircons from metamorphic rocksexposed in southern Mindoro suggests a Late Palaeozoic (Middle toLate Permian) age for the metamorphic rocks of the NPCT (Knittelet al., 2010). These rocks were suggested to have formed in associationwith a Permian magmatic arc that extended along the south coast ofAsia (Knittel et al., 2010) prior to the opening of the SCS. In places, themetasediments are overlain by a sequence of cherts, clastic sedimentsand carbonates, exposed mainly in the north of Palawan and on theCalamian Islands (e.g. Sales et al., 1997; Suzuki et al., 2000; Yumulet al., 2009). All of these rocks belong to the pre-rift succession, and

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Fig. 1. The position of Palawan, Philippines and northern Borneo within SE Asia (a). SRTM digital elevation model and sea floor bathymetry of Palawan showing the North PalawanContinental Terrane (NPCT), the South Palawan Terrane (SPT), the location of the regional capital Puerto Princesa and the Capoas granites bodies (b).

701S.M. Suggate et al. / Gondwana Research 26 (2014) 699–718

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Fig. 2. Simplified geological map of Palawan Island, Philippines modified from Almasco et al. (2000) and Mines and Geoscience Bureau (2011). The Ulugan fault (red dashed line) is theboundary between the North Palawan Continental Terrane (NPCT) and the South Palawan Terrane (SPT).


were deposited along the southern margin of Asia prior to the openingof the SCS (e.g. Sales et al., 1997; Suzuki et al., 2000; Yumul et al.,2009; Franke et al., 2011).

These rocks are overlain by a sequence of Upper Cretaceous–Eocenesedimentary rocks in Central Palawan (Suzuki et al., 2000) that arethought to represent rift-related sedimentation (Sales et al., 1997;Franke et al., 2011). They are very low to low grade metamorphosedsedimentary rocks that are exposed mainly in Central Palawan andinclude mudstone, pebbly mudstone, and interbedded sandstone andmudstone (Suzuki et al., 2000). The succession is divided into threeunits: the Caramay Schist, the Concepcion Pebbly Phyllite, which isalso called the Tumarbong Semi Schist (Mines and Geoscience Bureau,2011), and the Babuyan River Turbidite (Mitchell et al., 1985; Suzuki

et al., 2000) which is variously called the Boayan Formation (Waliaet al., 2012), the Boayan Clastics (Hashimoto and Sato, 1973) and theBoayan–Caruray Clastics (Wolfart et al., 1986).

3.2. North Palawan Continental Terrane granitic rocks

The Central Palawan granite (Fig. 4) is a difficult-to-access north-trending body with a mapped area of approximately 19 km2. It hasalso been called Stripe Peak granite (Mitchell et al., 1985). Float samplescollected during this study were taken from riverbeds approximately20 km away from themapped area of the granite. It has been suggestedto be no older than Late Eocene, as it intrudes sedimentary rocks ofprobable Eocene age (Mitchell et al., 1985). Two K–Ar dates (36.6 ±

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Fig. 3. Onshore stratigraphy of the North Palawan Continental Terrane (NPCT) and theSouth Palawan Terrane (SPT) based on data from Mitchell et al. (1985), Almasco et al.(2000), Franke et al. (2011), Mines and Geoscience Bureau (2011) and this study.


1.8 Ma and 37.0 ± 1.9 Ma) from biotite in biotite–quartz monzonite(Mitchell et al., 1985) support a Late Eocene age for the intrusion.

The Capoas granite comprises several small bodies that intrude thebasement rocks of the NPCT on the Capoas peninsula in north-centralPalawan (Fig. 4). The largest body (~7 × 7 km) crops out in theflanks and summit of Mount Capoas. Further south, a second body(~4 × 7 km) is exposed in coastal outcrops and the flanks of Bay Peak.Some geological maps show a third, smaller (~3 × 3 km) exposure ofgranite around Binga Point. It is unclear if these three bodies represent

separate plutons, or if they are linked at depth. Here we subdivide theCapoas granite into the Mount Capoas granite, the Bay Peak graniteand the Binga Point granite.

Only the Mount Capoas granite has been studied in detail(Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997). It is an equigranular to porphyriticbiotite granite (29% quartz; 23% K-feldspar; 33% plagioclase; 15%biotite; abundant accessory zircon; subordinate monazite andapatite) with a textural continuum between K-feldspar phenocryst-rich and phenocryst-poor varieties (Encarnación and Mukasa,1997). The granite contains enclaves of biotite-rich fine-grainedgranite and K-feldspar phenocrysts that show magmatic flow align-ment (Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997). Chemically the granite isclassified as metaluminous and high-K calc-alkaline, and plots onthe tectonic discrimination diagrams of Pearce et al. (1984) in thesyn-collisional and volcanic arc granite fields (Encarnación andMukasa, 1997). Previous dating studies have suggested a late MiddleMiocene age for crystallisation of the Capoas intrusion (Encarnaciónand Mukasa, 1997). Based on the age and regional tectonic models,Encarnación and Mukasa (1997) suggested that the Mount Capoasgranite formed in a “post-rifting, non-collisional tectonic settingunrelated to any subduction zone”. They argued that the chemicalaffinities with syn-collisional and volcanic arc granites reflect sourcerock composition, rather than the tectonic setting of melting. Themeaning of the Late Middle Miocene age is open to question. Theage is based on a small number of zircon and monazite analysesfrom a single sample of theMount Capoas granite. The U–Pb analyseswere carried out using isotope dilution methods that have beensuperseded in many ways by newer techniques. The whole-scaledissolution of grains that was used does not allow distinctionbetween the ages of magmatic rims and those of any inheritedcores. Encarnación and Mukasa (1997) dated seven fractions ofzircons. Despite attempts to avoid zircons with obvious cores, all ofthe analyses fall off the U–Pb concordia forming a mixing arraytowards an older component with an estimated Proterozoic age(Encarnación andMukasa, 1997). All analyses reflect variable mixingof magmatic and inherited ages. Based on the lower intercept of aweighted regression line passing through all the data pointsEncarnación and Mukasa (1997) derived a magmatic crystallisationage of 15 +3/−4 Ma for the Mount Capoas granite. However, suchestimates are extremely sensitive to the slope of the regressionline; small changes in data and/or weightings can produce largevariations in intercept age. They also analysed four sub-samples ofmonazite from the same sample. The 207Pb/206Pb and 206U/238Pbages are inversely discordant (Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997).However, 207U/235Pb ages are concordant and range between13.5 ± 0.2 Ma to 12.7 ± 1.3 Ma, with an error weighted mean ageof 13.4 ± 0.4 Ma (Encarnación and Mukasa, 1997).

Direct dating methods such as SIMS (Secondary Ionisation MassSpectrometry), of which the SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution IonMicroProbe) is an example, have been used successfully to indepen-dently date cores and rims (e.g. Ireland and Williams, 2003; Irelandet al., 2008). Such studies can therefore provide information on boththe magmatic (crystallisation) age of the rock, the age(s) of possibleprotoliths and subsequent phases of metamorphism. We report newSHRIMP ages below.

3.3. South Palawan Terrane

The SPT (Fig. 3) is dominated by ophiolitic rocks belonging to thePalawan Ophiolitic Complex (Mitchell et al., 1986). The complex com-prises a full ophiolitic sequence of basal harzburgites, gabbros, pillowbasalts and chert (Encarnación et al., 1995). It is dated as EarlyCretaceous to Eocene based on radiolarians (Raschka et al., 1985),nannoplankton (Müller, 1991), biostratigraphy (Faure et al., 1989),and K–Ar dating of basalt (Fuller et al., 1991).

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Fig. 4. Simplified geological map of Palawan (a). Geological map of the Mount Capoas region showing granite sample locations (b). Geological map of central Palawan showing samplelocations of metasediments and Central Palawan granite (c). Geological map of central southern Palawan showing sample locations of Neogene sandstones (d).


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Along the contact between the SPT and the NPCT through UluganBay in central Palawan amphibolites and schists form a sole of high-grade metamorphic rocks (Encarnación et al., 1995). The ophioliticrocks are overlain by a sequence of Paleogene and Neogene clastic sed-imentary rocks (Almasco et al., 2000). The character of these sedimen-tary rocks is largely unknown. However, the association of ophioliticand continental rocks overlain by Paleogene and Neogene clastic sedi-mentary rocks has led to comparisonswith the stratigraphy of northernBorneo (e.g. Hamilton, 1979; Müller, 1991; Almasco et al., 2000).

4. Sampling

Siliciclastic sedimentary rock and granite samples were collectedfrom Palawan (Fig. 4) during a field survey in 2011 conducted in collab-oration with the Philippines Mines and Geoscience Bureau.

Siliciclastic sedimentary rock samples were collected from theBabuyan River Turbidites, Caramay Schist and the Tumarbong SemiSchist of the NPCT and from the Miocene Isugod Formation of the SPT.Float samples were collected from the Central Palawan granite.Sampling was limited to float samples from riverbeds because of theinaccessibility of themain granite body. Sampling of the Capoas granitewas limited to two of its three bodies: the Bay Peak granite and theMount Capoas granite. The Binga granite, the smallest of the threegranite bodies within the Capoas granite, was not sampled. Althoughsampling of the Capoas granite was limited to a small number of coastaloutcrops, field observations suggest little lithological variation withinthe pluton. In outcrop the granite has a consistent composition and tex-ture. There is a coarse-grained groundmass of quartz, mica, pink feld-spar and hornblende with large phenocrysts of feldspar (up to 3 cm)that display a strong, but variable, preferred orientation. Occasionaleven largermegacrysts display both simple twinning and concentric zo-nation. It was not possible to sample the Capoas granite over a range ofelevations because of the inaccessibility of the mountain. However,minimal lithological variation was observed within float boulders onthe cobble beach around the base of Mt Capoas. Although not in situ,the abundance of similar cobbles, likely to be sourced fromall elevationsof the pluton, suggests little lithological variation. Field observationssuggest the Bay Peak granite is different from the Mt Capoas granite. Ithas a medium-grained groundmass of quartz, mica, feldspar and horn-blende. Feldspar phenocrysts are smaller (up to 1.5 cm) than thoseseen in the Capoas granite, being only slightly larger than the ground-mass, subhedral and with no apparent preferred orientation. The BayPeak granite was well exposed in coastal outcrops to the south of BayPeak itself, as well as occurring as characteristic knolls of largesub-rounded boulders both within and along the track that leadsnorth over thewestern flanks of Bay Peak. These sites allowed samplingof the Bay Peak granite over a small elevation range.

5. Methods

Heavyminerals were separated from fivemetasedimentary samplesfrom the NPCT and two sandstones from the SPT following the standardprocedure described by Mange and Maurer (1992). Point counting wasperformed on the heavy mineral assemblage using an automatedstepping stage. The line point-counting method of Mange and Maurer(1992) was used in this study. At least 200 non-opaque and non-micaceous heavy minerals were identified and counted. Differenttypes of zircon, tourmaline and apatite were counted separately.Opaque, altered, carbonate, mica group and light minerals wererecorded, but not included into the total heavy mineral count. Selectedheavy mineral grains were analysed with a JEOL Scanning ElectronMicroscope (SEM) with the attached energy dispersive system (EDS)in order to confirm optical identifications.

Zircon separates were separated using standard heavy liquid andFrantz isodynamic separation techniques. High-purity zircon separateswere handpicked and mounted in epoxy resin. Zircons from three

siliciclastic samples (PAL-5, PAL-21, PAL-55) and two granite samples(PAL-5, PAL-11) from the Central Palawan granite were analysed byLA-ICPMSatUniversity College London. Zircon separates from four sam-ples from the Mount Capoas granite (PAL-33, PAL-34, PAL-35, PAL-37)and four samples from the Bay Peak granite (PAL-25, PAL-26, PAL-27,PAL-30) were analysed by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe(SHRIMP) on the SHRIMP II at the Australian National University.

5.1. U–Pb isotopic dating — LA–ICP–MS

The U–Th–Pb isotope analyses were performed using a New Wave213 aperture-imaged frequency-quintupled laser ablation system(213 nm) coupled to an Agilent 7700 quadrupole-based ICP–MS. Grainstypically were ablated with 40 μm laser spot. Real-time data wereprocessed using the GLITTER® software package (Griffin et al., 2008).Plesovice zircon (TIMS reference age 337.13 ± 0.37 Ma; Sláma et al.,2008) and NIST SRM 612 silicate glass (Pearce et al., 1997) were usedas external standards for correcting mass fractionation and instrumen-tal bias. A 10% cutoff was adopted to reject discordant data. 238U/206Pbages are used for zircons b1000 Ma and the 207Pb/206Pb ages wereused for older zircons.

5.2. U–Pb isotopic dating — SHRIMP

High purity zircon separates were analysed alongside the417 Ma Temora U–Pb dating standard (Black et al., 2003) and theSL13 U and Th concentration standard (U = 238 ppm and Th =20 ppm; Claoué-Long et al., 1995). The grains were sectioned andpolished until exposed through their midsections and Au coated.The internal zonation and structure of single grains were mappedusing cathodoluminescence and reflected light images, allowingspot analyses to be targeted on grain areas free of cracks and inclu-sions. U–Pb analyses were performed following the analytical proce-dures outlined by Williams (1998). Data reduction and all agecalculations were achieved using the SQUID 1.03 and Isoplot/Ex2.29 programmes of Ludwig (2001a,b). Young ages are assumed tobe concordant, and were determined solely using the 238U/206Pbratio; common Pb was estimated using the 207Pb. Precambrian crys-tals and cores were corrected for common Pb using the 204Pb/206Pbratio, and the age was based on the 206Pb/207Pb ratio. 238U/206Pbages are used for zircons b1000 Ma and the 207Pb/206Pb ages wereused for older zircons. Uncertainties in isotopic ratios and ages(including data tables and error bars for plotted data) are reportedat the 1σ level. Final, weighted mean ages are reported as 95%confidence limits, with the uncertainty in the standard calibrationsincluded.

6. Results

6.1. Heavy minerals and detrital zircon geochronology

Heavymineral assemblageswere identified for seven samples (Fig. 5and Table 1) from the NPCT and the SPT. Five samples were analysedfrom the NPCT. The Babuyan River Turbidite sample (PAL-5) containspredominantly colourless euhedral, subhedral and anhedral zircon(98.5%), titanite (0.9%), apatite (0.3%), epidote (0.3%), rutile (tr.) and an-atase (tr.). A few rounded zirconswith frosted surfaces are also present.The Tumarbong Semi Schist samples (PAL-19 and PAL-31) contain zir-con (94.4–100%), amphibole (0–1.6%), clinopyroxene (0–1.2%), epidote(0–0.8%), tourmaline (0–0.8%), chlorite (0–0.4%), garnet (0–0.4%), rutile(0–0.4%) and traces (1 grain on the slide) of orthopyroxene. Zircon ispredominantly colourless euhedral and subhedral. Some rutile andzircon is surrounded by micaceous matrix. Amphibole is fresh andis pleochroic in shades of green and brown. The Caramay Schist samples(PAL-21 and PAL-24) contain colourless, euhedral, subhedral, anhedraland subrounded zircon (93.7–99.0%), apatite (0–5.1%), chlorite

Zr2 70.1 %

Zr1 16.8 %

Zr4 0.3 %

Zr5 3.7 %

Zr6 1.7 %ZrOth 0.3 %Other 1 %

Zr2 41.4 %

Zr1 34.3 %

Zr3 10.1 %

Zr5 4.5 %

ZrOth 9.6 %

Zr1 25.5 %Zr2 57.9 %

Zr3 2.7 %

Zr4 0.6 %

Zr5 9.1 %

Zr6 2.1 %Ap 0.3 %Ep 0.3 %

ZrnOth 0.6 %

Other 0.9 %

Zr1 27.5 %Zr2 49.4 %

Zr3 3.6 %Zr5 4.4 %

Zr6 2 %

ZrOth 7.6 % Am 1.6 %Cpx 1.2 %Ep 0.8 %Grt 0.4 %Other 1.6 %

Zr3 6 %

Zr1 27 %

Zr2 49.2 %

Zr3 4.2 %

Zr5 10.8 % Zr6 1.2 %ZrOth 1.2 %

Ap 5.1 %Cpx 0.6 %Grt 0.3 %Other 0.3 %

Zr4 0.3 %

Zr1 28.9 %

Zr2 44.8 %

Zr3 4.2 %Zr5 12.3 %

Zr6 2.9 %

ZrOth 3.9 % Am 0.6 %Ep 0.3 %Sp 0.3 %Other 1.3 %

colourlesseuhedral

colourlesseuhedral

colourlesseuhedral

colourlesseuhedral

colourlesseuhedral

colourlesseuhedralcolourless

subhedral

colourlesssubhedral

colourlesssubhedral

colourlesssubhedral

colourlesssubhedral

colourlesssubhedral

colourless

subrounded

1

1 2

1 2

1 2 3

Miocene SandstonesPAL-53

21

1

Miocene SandstonesPAL-55

Zrtot 100.0 %

Zrtot 94.4 %

Zrtot 98.5 %

Zrtot 97.4 %

Zrtot 93.7 %

Zrtot 99.0 %

NPCT Meta-sediments

Caramay SchistPAL-21

Caramay SchistPAL-24

Tumarbong Semi Schist PAL-31

Tumarbong Semi Schist PAL-19

Babuyan River Turbidites PAL-5

SPT Sandstones

ZrOth- zircon, other

Ep - epidoteSp - Cr spinel

Zr2- colourless, subhedral Zr3- colourless, subroundedZr4- colourless, roundedZr5- colourless, anhedralZr6- colourless, elongate

Zr1- colourless, euhedral Zrtot - total zircon

Am- amphiboleCpx - clinopyroxene

Ap - apatite

Grt - garnetSt - staurolite

1 22 3

Heavy mineral groupsApprox. amount in each sample

Total = 100%

granitic/metamorphic

volcanic ultramafic(ophiolitic)

Opx - orthopyroxene

Ky - kyanite

Zr2 0.7%Zr5 0.3%ZrOth 0.7%

Ap 1%

Grt 1 %Ky 1.6 %Other 2.6%

Am 55.6 %

Cpx 2 %Opx 2.9 %

Ep 17 %

Sp 14.7 %

Zrtot 1.7%

amphibole

1 3

Fig. 5.Detrital heavy mineral compositions of sediments from the NPCT and SPT. Other zircons include purple, brown, yellow, zoned with visible overgrowths and surrounded by matrix.Other heavy minerals include titanite, tourmaline, monazite, rutile, clinozoisite and chlorite. Geological map key as for Fig. 4.


image of Fig.�5

Table 1Sample locations and compositions of detrital heavy mineral assemblages analysed from Palawan.

North Palawan Continental Terrane meta-sediments South Palawan Terranesandstones

Babuyan River Turbidites Tumarbong Semi Schist Caramay Schist Isugod Formation

PAL-5 PAL-19 PAL-31 PAL-21 PAL-24 PAL-53 PAL-55

E118.81523 N10.06044 E119.07534 N10.01709 E119.32183 N10.59063 E119.09926 N10.02111 E119.21148 N10.10088 E118.05455 N9.18894

Zrn 98.5 94.4 100 93.7 75.8 1.7 97.4Tur 0.8 0.3Rt tr. 0.4 0.3Ttn 0.9 tr.Mnz 0.6Grt 0.4 0.3 1StAm 1.6 55.6 0.6Ap 0.3 5.1 1Cpx 1.2 0.6 2Opx tr. 2.9Sp 14.7 0.3Ep 0.3 0.8 17 0.3Czo 0.3 tr.An tr. tr.Chl 0.4 0.5Frg 23.4Fbr 0.3 tr.Ky 1.6n 330 251 198 333 389 306 308Provenancegroup:

Granitic/metamorphic and volcanic Granitic/metamorphic,volcanic and ultramafic(ophiolitic)

Zrn — zircon, Tur — tourmaline, Rt — rutile, Ttn — titanite, Mnz — monazite, Grt — garnet, St — staurolite, Am — amphibole, Ap — apatite, Cpx — clinopyroxene, Opx — orthopyroxene,Sp — Cr spinel, Ep — epidote, Czo — clinozoizite, An — anatase, Chl — chlorite, Frg — polymineral fragments, Fbr — fibrolite (sillimanite, Ky — kyanite). N — total number of heavyminerals counted.


(0–0.7%), clinopyroxene (0–0.6%), garnet (0–0.3%), clinozoisite(0–0.3%) and possibly fibrolite (0–0.3%). Apatite is euhedral (fresh)and colourless. Some apatite grains show faint pleochroism fromcolourless to light brown.

Heavymineral assemblages of the twoMiocene sandstones from theSPT (PAL-53 and PAL-55) are very different. PAL-55 is composed ofzircon (97.4%), amphibole (0.6%), epidote (0.3%) and Cr spinel (0.3%).As in all samples analysed fromNPCT, colourless euhedral and subhedralzircon dominate PAL-55 from the SPT. PAL-53 is composed of amphibole(55.6%), epidote (17%) and Cr spinel (14.7%), orthopyroxene (2.9%),clinopyroxene (2%), zircon (1.7%), kyanite (1.6%), garnet (1%) and apa-tite (1%). Amphibole is pleochroic in green-brown and blue-greenshades. SEM–EDS analyses show that SPT amphiboles are of actinolitecomposition. Representative field photographs and heavy mineralphotomicrographs of sediments from the NPCT and SPT are presentedin Fig. 6a–j.

Detrital zircons from the Babuyan River Turbidites and the CaramaySchist from the NPCT yield almost identical age populations (Fig. 7).There are two Phanerozoic populations: Cretaceous to Jurassic (60 Mato 200 Ma) and a smaller Middle Devonian to Middle Ordovician(380 Ma to 460 Ma). A Paleoproterozoic population is prominent inboth samples. Detrital zircons from the Neogene sandstones from theSPT contain Cenozoic, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Permo-Triassic, Palaeozoicand Proterozoic zircons. The dominant age populations are Cretaceousto Jurassic (60 Ma to 200 Ma). There is a smaller Paleocene to Eocene(60 Ma to 40 Ma) age population (Fig. 7).

6.2. Granite petrography

Two samples (PAL-8, PAL-11) from the Central Palawan granite havea similar appearance and mineralogy. PAL-8 comprises feldspar, quartzand biotite (altered to chlorite), with some minor hornblende. It isimpossible to differentiate between plagioclase and K-feldspar as all ofthe feldspar in this sample is sericitised. This sample also shows

extensive granophyric intergrowth textures between quartz and feld-spar, which often appear to radiate from a central rounded quartz grainsand indicate simultaneous crystallisation of quartz and feldspar. ThePAL-11 sample shares a similar mineralogy (K-feldspar, plagioclase,quartz and biotite altered to chlorite), but was deformed aftercrystallisation. Quartz exhibits undulose extinction, grain boundarymi-gration and subgrain development, and the feldspar grains show exten-sive micro-fracturing. Plagioclase exhibits deformation twinning. Thegranophyric textures observed in the PAL-8 sample reflect simultaneouscrystallisation of quartz and feldspar. These textures were not observedin the other sample of this granite (PAL-11), which might indicate thatthese textures may have been destroyed due to the localized deforma-tion observed in this sample.

The Capoas granite is a fine-grained granodiorite (Fig. 8a–b). Thesamples are predominantly composed of plagioclase, orthoclase, quartzand biotite. The feldspars commonly show sericitisation and oscillatoryzoning. The sample PAL-37 has undergone some alteration and hassmaller amounts of biotite compared to the other samples. The granodi-orite underwent some localized post-crystallisation deformation, asmicrofractures and deformation twinning were observed in plagioclasein PAL-37 and someof the biotite grainswere kinked in PAL-30. All sam-ples showed undulose extinction and subgrain development in quartzgrains indicating that regional post-crystallisation strain occurred.

The Bay Peak granite is a medium-grained granodiorite (Fig. 8c–d).The samples are composed predominantly of plagioclase, orthoclase,quartz and biotite. PAL-27 contains trace amounts of epidote. Plagio-clase and orthoclase show oscillatory zoning indicating local composi-tional changes in the melt during crystallisation (Vernon, 2004).Exsolution lamellae intergrowths are seen in PAL-26 and suggest thatthere was some instability during crystallisation and unmixing of thesolid solution into two minerals (Vernon, 2004). The granodiorite iseffectively undeformed, but undulose extinction of the feldspars andquartz, subgrain development in quartz grains indicates that somepost-crystallisation strain occurred (Vernon, 2004).

Fig. 6. Selection of field photographs of outcrops, sediment samples and heavy mineral photomicrographs from the sediments on the NPCT and the SPT. Babuyan River Turbidites(a), titanite (b), Tumurbong Semi Schist (c), amphibole (d), Caramay Schist (e), apatite (f), PAL-53 — SPT Miocene sandstones (g), staurolite (h), PAL-55 — SPT Miocene sandstones(i), Cr spinel (j). Scale bars are 100 μm.


image of Fig.�6

05

101520253035404550

522=n

0

1

2 52=n

02468

101214161820

79=n

0123456789

10 12=n

0369

1215

8121242730

= 50n

Cen K J T/P C/D O/S

0

1 3=n

0123456789

10 83=n

0

1

2

3

4

5

81=n

02468

101214161820

49=n

0

1

2 6=n

aM,egA aM,egA0 100 200 300 400 500 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

0369

121518212427

89=n

0123456789

1012=n

Proterozoic naehcrA

ehtmorfsnocrizdetirehnIyaBdnasaopaCtnuoM

setinargkaeP

enotsdnaSuajaTenecoiMylraEMember ,alusninePtaduK

oenroBN

tsihcSyamaraC(PAL-21)NPCT

etinarg

TPSenecoiMSandstones

(PAL-55)

setidibruTreviRnayubaB(PAL-5)NPCT

Neo- Meso- Paleo-

LA-ICPMS

LA-ICPMS

LA-ICPMS

LA-ICPMS

LA-ICPMS

SHRIMP

Magmatic age

NP

CT

OE

NR

OB

ND

NA

TP

SC

AP

OA

SN

AW

ALA

PCreb

munsesylan

Areb

munsesylan

Areb

munsesylan

Areb

munsesylan

Areb

munsesylan

Areb

munsesylan

A

Central Palawan

Fig. 7.Histograms and probability density curves for all zircons analysed from the NPCTmetasediments, the Central Palawan granite, the SPT sandstones, Early Miocene sandstones fromnorthern Borneo (Suggate, 2011) and inherited zircons from the Capoas granite bodies.


The Capoas and Bay Peak granites share a similar granodiorite compo-sition of plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz and biotite. The only major differ-ence between these is the grain-size, where the Capoas granite samplesare finer grained than the Bay Peak granite. These could therefore repre-sent one pulse of magmatism that crystallised differently, or two distinctpulses of similar chemistry with different grain-sizes.

6.3. Magmatic ages of granites

U–Pb (LA–ICPMS) dating of zircons from the Central Palawangranite(Table 2) yielded Middle Eocene ages (42 ± 0.5 Ma) that areinterpreted to represent the magmatic age of the zircons and thus thecrystallisation age of the granite (Fig. 9).

image of Fig.�7

Fig. 8. Representative field photographs of outcrops and thin section photomicrographs (ppl and xpl) of the Mount Capoas (a–b) and the Bay Peak (c–d) granites.


U–Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons from the Mount Capoas granitebodies reveal a group of tightly clustered Middle Miocene ages thatare interpreted to represent zircon magmatic ages and thus thecrystallisation age of the pluton (Fig. 10 and Table 2). There is very littlevariation between the ages from theMount Capoas granite bodies, withthe mean ages plotting within error of each other. Eighty-sevenspot analyses were made on four samples (PAL-33, PAL-34, PAL-35,PAL-37) from the Capoas granite body. Fifty-eight form a coherentgroup interpreted as the magmatic age (Fig. 11). Fifty-seven of themagmatic ages plot close to concordia, stretched along the mixing line

Table 2Sample locations, descriptions and mean magmatic ages of granites from Palawan.

Sample number Longitude (decimal degrees) Latitude (decimal degrees Elevation (m)

Zircon SHRIMP agesMount Capoas IntrusionPAL-33 E 119.301248 N 10.774655 4PAL-34 E 119.290950 N 10.769261 4PAL-35 E 119.291377 N 10.769329 9PAL-37 E 119.309682 N 10.772678 6

Bay Peak IntrusionPAL-25 E 119.333292 N 10.652703 32PAL-26 E 119.336209 N 10.671705 192PAL-27 E 119.333001 N 10.664068 154PAL-30 E 119.329835 N 10.654861 1

Zircon LA–ICPMS agesCentral Palawan Granitic IntrusionPAL-8 E 118.874868 N 10.159678 34.0PAL-11 E 118.874868 N 10.159678 34.0

a Total number of spot analyses made on sample.b Number of analyses giving magmatic ages.c Mean age of all accepted magmatic analyses.d Errors are 1σ for SHRIMP analyses and 2σ for LA-ICPMS analyses.

to common Pb (Fig. 10). These groups define a mean magmatic age of13.5 ± 0.2 Ma. One hundred and nineteen spot analyses were madeon four samples (PAL-25, PAL-26, PAL-27, PAL-30) from the Bay Peakgranite body. Ninety-two form a coherent group interpreted asreflecting the magmatic age (Fig. 11). There is a greater variation inthe ages from the Bay Peak granite, but the mean ages still plot withinerror of each other. There is no correlation between age and elevation.All of the magmatic ages plot close to the concordia, stretched alongthe mixing line to common Pb (Fig. 10). These groups define amean magmatic age of 13.8 ± 0.2 Ma. Representative CL images of

Lithology Spot analysesa Magmatic analysesb Age (Ma)c Error ± (Ma)d

Granodiorite 21 18 13.5 0.2Granodiorite 25 20 13.5 0.2Granodiorite 22 11 13.5 0.2Granodiorite 19 9 13.3 0.4

87 58 Mean = 13.5 Mean = 0.25

Granodiorite 41 29 13.8 0.3Granodiorite 37 29 14.1 0.2Granodiorite 19 17 13.6 0.2Granodiorite 22 17 13.8 0.3

119 92 Mean = 13.8 Mean = 0.25

Granite 25 14 42.1 1.2Granite 28 15 42.0 1.3

53 29 Mean = 42.05 Mean = 1.25

image of Fig.�8

35

37

39

41

43

45

47

49

51

Age

Central Palawan GranitePAL-8, PAL-11

Age = 41.96 ± 0.5 Ma (97.3% conf, from coherent group of 21)

Fig. 9. Zircon age extractor diagram (Ludwig, 2001b) showing magmatic zircon LA–ICPMS U–Pb ages for samples from the Central Palawan granite. Green error boxes indicate analysesaccepted for calculation of the median age. The blue error-boxes indicate analyses rejected for calculation of the median age. Box heights are 2σ error.


magmatic zircons from the Mount Capoas granite bodies are presentedin Fig. 12.

6.4. Inherited zircons

In addition there is a wide range of inherited zircon ages in all thegranites (Fig. 6). The Central Palawan granite contains a small numberof zircons with Cretaceous, Jurassic, Palaeozoic and Proterozoic ages.The Mount Capoas granite and Bay Peak granite contain inherited zir-cons with several significant age populations. All are from analyses ofcores. Fifty-six of the 206 spot analyses are ages that are inherited,with all except one being greater than twice the magmatic age.There are two major peaks, one of Cretaceous and Jurassic agesrepresenting 53% of all inherited ages, and a second of Neoproterozoicages representing 18% of all inherited ages. The Bay Peak granite(PAL-25) contains the oldest inherited ages. This sample includestwo zircons with Archaean (2747 ± 26 Ma and 2505 ± 11 Ma)cores. One other Archaean (2586 ± 6 Ma) core is present in theCapoas granite sample PAL-35. Both granite bodies have yielded arange of inherited Proterozoic zircon ages. There is a group of fivePaleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic zircon ages from 1810 ±38 Ma to 1389 ± 28 Ma and a group of ten Neoproterozoic agesfrom 955 ± 9 Ma to 662 ± 7 Ma. There is one Devonian age(396 ± 5 Ma), one Carboniferous age (310 ± 4 Ma) and two Triassicages (247 ± 4 Ma and 230 ± 3 Ma). The largest group is of 30 Juras-sic and Cretaceous ages (191 ± 4 Ma to 74 ± 1 Ma). The youngestinherited ages are Paleocene (64 ± 0.9 Ma), Late Eocene (36 ±0.5 Ma), Early Oligocene (30 ± 0.4 Ma) and Early Miocene (18 ±1.7 Ma). Representative CL images of inherited zircons from theMount Capoas granite bodies are presented in Fig. 12.

7. Discussion

7.1. Provenance of the NPCT and SPT sediments

The heavy mineral species present in the NPCT and SPT sedimentsare zircon (73.5–100%), amphibole (0–55.6%), apatite (0–12.3%),

orthopyroxene (0–2.9%) clinopyroxene (0–2%), epidote (0–2.6%), Crspinel (0–2.3%) and minor (b1%) titanite, kyanite, tourmaline, mona-zite, chlorite, garnet, rutile, staurolite, clinozoisite, and fibrolite. Thediversity of zircon and apatite morphological types and the presenceof different amphibole varieties suggest that these minerals are derivedfrom different sources that are discussed below.

Zircon is ubiquitous in crustal igneous, volcanic and metamorphicrocks. The abundance of euhedral and subhedral zircon suggests first-cycle provenance from granitic, rhyolitic or metamorphic rocks. Apatiteis a common accessory mineral in almost all igneous rock types. It alsocrystallises in carbonatites, hydrothermal and metamorphic (regionaland thermal) rocks or may be of authigenic origin (e.g. Deer et al.,1966; Mange and Maurer, 1992). The fresh euhedral morphology andpresence of slightly pleochroic grains suggest that apatite was derivedpredominantly from volcanic rocks. This is consistent with the associa-tion of apatite and clinopyroxene (augite), which is a common accesso-ry of intermediate volcanic rocks (e.g. Mange and Maurer, 1992).Less common, subhedral and subrounded apatite that is present inzircon-dominated assemblages was most likely derived from thegranitic sources. Amphibole is common predominantly in igneous andmetamorphic rocks. The most common amphibole in the SPT is actino-lite, which forms in contact and regionally metamorphosed rocks.According to Deer et al. (1966), the tremolite–actinolite association ischaracteristic of low-grade regionally metamorphosed ultramaficrocks, whereas actinolite–epidote–chlorite associations are producedby low-temperature metamorphism of basaltic rocks (Deer et al.,1966). Actinolite from the SPT is found in associationwith epidote, chlo-rite and Cr spinel, which is an indicator of ultramafic/ophiolitic sourcerocks (e.g. Mange and Maurer, 1992). Such heavy mineral associationssuggest that the SPT actinolite was derived frommetamorphosed ultra-mafic rocks. Rutile, kyanite, fibrolite (sillimanite), staurolite andclinozoisite are metamorphic minerals (e.g. Mange and Maurer, 1992).Kyanite and fibrolite indicate a contribution from high-grade metamor-phic rocks. Garnet may be derived from a variety of source rocks(e.g. Suggate andHall, 2013), butmost commonly is ofmetamorphic or-igin. Titanite and monazite are derived either from acid igneous ormetamorphic rocks (e.g. Mange and Maurer, 1992).

image of Fig.�9

12.4 12.8 14.4 14.8 15.2 15.6 16 0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

400 420 440 460 480 500 520

4 4

Mean 206Pb/238U age:

MSWD = 1.4, N = 17

PAL-30 To common Pb

Data plotted uncorrected for common Pb

13.82 ± 0.15 Ma

12.4 12.8 13.2 14.4 14.8

0.040

0.044

0.048

0.052

0.056

0.060

0.064

0.068

430 450 470 490 510


MSWD = 1.3, N = 17

PAL-27

13.2


To common Pb

13.59 ± 0.13 Ma

12 13 15 16

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540

PAL-26


MSWD = 1.00, N = 29

10.1

To common Pb

13.81 ± 0.12 Ma

12 18 20

0.04

0.08

0.12

0.16

0.20

300 340 380 420 460 500 540

21.1

To common Pb

PAL-25


MSWD = 0.72, N = 29


13.80 ± 0.12 Ma

11 12 13 15 16 0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

400 440 480 520 560 600

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb 238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb

238Pb/206Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

207 P

b/20

6 Pb

To common Pb


MSWD = 0.95, N = 18 13.42 ± 0.12 Ma

PAL-33


1


11 12 13 14 15 16 0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

400 440 480 520 560 600

To common Pb


MSWD = 1.3, N = 11

PAL-35


13.52 ± 0.16 Ma

11 12 13 14 15 16

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

400 440 480 520 560 600

PAL-37 To common Pb


MSWD = 0.58, N = 9


14

13.29 ± 0.21 Ma

11 12 14 15 16 0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

400 440 480 520 560 600

PAL-34 To common Pb

Mean 206Pb/238U age

MSWD = 1.2, N = 20

4.1

13.50 ± 0.11 Ma

Capoas Granite

Bay Peak Granite

Fig. 10. Tera–Wasserburg concordia diagrams (Tera andWasserburg, 1972) showing zircon SHRIMPU–Pb analyses for samples from theMount Capoas (red) and Bay Peak (blue) granites.Data-point error ellipses are 68.3% confidence. Uncertainties are 1σ weighted mean ages and reported as 95% confidence limits.


image of Fig.�10

12.4

12.8

13.2

13.6

14.0

14.4

14.8

Age

Bay Peak GraniteAge = 13.80 ± 0.3 Ma

Mount Capoas GraniteAge = 13.50 ± 0.2 Ma

Pal 33 Pal 34 Pal 35

Pal 37

Pal 26Pal 25 Pal 30

Pal 27

Fig. 11. Zircon age extractor diagrams (Ludwig, 2001b) showing SHRIMP U–Pb ages for magmatic zircon samples from theMount Capoas and Bay Peak granites. Box heights are 2σ error.


To aid provenance interpretations the dominant heavy mineralassemblages have been have been assigned to different heavyminer-al provenance groups: (1) granitic/metamorphic, (2) volcanic and(3) ophiolitic/ultramafic.

The NPCT metasediments contain heavy mineral assemblagestypical of granitic andmetamorphic rockswith a continental crust char-acter, and a subordinate volcanic component. Cretaceous and Jurassicare the dominant zircon age populations. The most likely sources areMesozoic rocks of the South China continental margin (Fig. 13) wherethere are abundant Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous granitic and volcanicrocks and small Triassic plutons (e.g. Zhou et al., 2008; Sun et al., 2012).There are also Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene tholeiitic basalts, andesitesand trachytes/rhyolites in the Sanshui, Heyuan and Lienping sedimenta-ry basins in South China (Chung et al., 1997). All these are potentialsources for the granitic/metamorphic and volcanic detritus in theNPCT sediments which were deposited before the NPCT rifted awayfrom the South China margin during Oligocene opening of the SouthChina Sea. This interpretation supports previous provenance interpreta-tions by Suzuki et al. (2000) and Walia et al. (2012) that the NPCTmetasediments were derived from the South China margin, that thethree units (Caramay Schist, Concepcion Pebbly Phyllite/TumarbongSemi Schist and Babuyan River Turbidite) are contemporaneous, andthat they do not form part of the basement of north Palawan. TheCaramay Schist was originally interpreted to be of Palaeozoic age(Mitchell et al., 1985), and the Concepcion Pebbly Phyllite was sug-gested to be of probable Palaeozoic but possible Early Cenozoic age(Mitchell et al., 1985). Therewere no age data to support these interpre-tations. The BabuyanRiver Turbiditewas dated as Late Cretaceous basedon the presence of the coccolith Prediscophaera cretacea (Wolfart et al.,1986). Suzuki et al. (2000) suggested all these units were Cretaceous toEocene in age. Walia et al. (2012) showed that all these units containCretaceous zircons. The new U–Pb zircon ages from our study (Fig. 13)indicate that the maximum depositional age for the NPCT meta-sediments is Late Cretaceous and confirms the conclusion of Waliaet al. (2012). The zircon ages from the Caramay Schist and the BabuyanRiver Turbidite are almost identical and suggest that the two are derivedfrom a protolith of similar age (Late Cretaceous or younger).

TheMiocene sandstones of the SPT have heavymineral assemblagesthat indicate they were derived predominantly from a granitic andmetamorphic source and an ultrabasic (ophiolitic) source, with aminor volcanic contribution. The zircons in the sandstones (PAL-55) ofthe SPT (Fig. 13) are predominantly Cretaceous and Jurassic but includeEocene ages. Probable source areas for the Miocene SPT sandstones arethe NPCT metasediments, metamorphic rocks at the SPT-NPCT contact,

Eocene rift-related volcanic and/or minor intrusive rocks of the SouthChina Sea margin, and the Palawan Ophiolite Complex. The MiddleEocene (42 Ma) Central Palawan granite is an example of a SouthChina Sea rift-related intrusion.

7.2. Palawan and north Borneo sediments

LowerMiocene sandstones from the Tajau SandstoneMember of theKudat Formation of Sabah have unusual heavy mineral assemblagescompared to other sandstones, both older and younger, from northernBorneo (van Hattum, 2005; Suggate, 2011; van Hattum et al., inpress). Theywere derived predominantly from a granitic andmetamor-phic source, and contain continental derived accessoryminerals that in-clude unabraded zircon, tourmaline, rutile, monazite and apatite as wellas medium- to high-grade metamorphic minerals that include garnet,epidote, staurolite, sillimanite and kyanite. Heavy mineral assemblagesand compositions (Suggate, 2011; Suggate and Hall, 2013) indicatethat theywere not derived from the same sources as other Borneo sand-stones whereas they have many similarities to possible Palawansources. Garnet and kyanite in the Tajau Sandstone Member are sug-gested to be derived from high-grade metamorphic rocks exposedalong the contact between the SPT and the NPCT in Ulugan Bay. Thissuggestion is supported by similar medium- to high-grade metamor-phic minerals in the Neogene SPT sandstones and the Lower MioceneTajau SandstoneMember. Both also contain Cr spinel and clinopyroxenederived from an ultrabasic source area, likely to be the PalawanOphiolite Complex.

The zircon age populations of the Neogene SPT sandstones and theLower Miocene Tajau Sandstone Member are also similar. Zircons ofEocene age (36 Ma to 49 Ma) are found in both. Cretaceous zirconscould have a Borneo source since zircons of this age derived from theSchwaner Mountains (van Hattum et al., 2006; Hall et al., 2008;Suggate, 2011; van Hattum et al., in press) dominate the Paleogeneand Neogene sediments. However, the presence of Jurassic zircons inthe SPT and Kudat Peninsula suggests a non-Borneo source. Jurassic zir-cons are largely absent from Paleogene and Neogene sediments andJurassic igneous rocks are not abundant in Borneo, except for one gran-ite body in the south Schwaner Mountains of SW Kalimantan (Haileet al., 1977; L. Davies, pers. comm., 2012). A significant population ofPermo-Triassic zircons would be expected in sediments derived fromBorneo, where zircons of this age are abundant in Paleogene sedimenta-ry rocks (van Hattum et al., 2006). The similarities of heavy mineralassemblages and detrital zircon ages indicate a short-lived episode oferosion and transport of sediment from Palawan to northern Borneo

image of Fig.�11

Fig. 12. Representative CL images of magmatic and inherited zircons from the Mount Capoas and Bay Peak granites.


in the Early Miocene at about 20 Mawhichwe interpret to be the resultof collision of the NPCT with the Cagayan Arc.

7.3. Age and crustal inheritance patterns of the Mount Capoas granite

The new U–Pb ages presented here provide a precise age forthe Mount Capoas granite. These new ages broadly confirm earlier207Pb/235U mean ages of 13.4 ± 0.4 Ma on monazite from the MountCapoas granite body by Encarnación and Mukasa (1997) and showthat the Capoas granite is significantly older (~6.6 myr) than theMount Kinabalu granite in northern Borneo. The Bay Peak granite isslightly older (0.3 myr) than the Mount Capoas granite suggesting ei-ther a single magmatic pulse between 13.8 Ma and 13.5 Ma, or twopulses that lasted no more than 300 ka.

The inherited zircons in theMount Capoas granite indicate that dur-ingmagma formation, transport and emplacement the granite sampledcontinental crust or sediments that had been reworked fromolder rocksthat were once part of the South China margin (Fig. 13). Cenozoicinherited zircon ages probably indicate magmatism associated withrifting of the South China Sea or subduction of the proto-South ChinaSea. Other inherited zircons are predominantly Cretaceous, Jurassicand Proterozoic, and the oldest grains are Archaean. The crustal inheri-tance pattern suggests a number of different sources and gives an in-sight into the NPCT basement. The basement of the NPCT is thought tobe remnants of the Cathaysian block that rifted away from SouthChina in the Cenozoic. A belt of granitic and metamorphic rocks of Pro-terozoic, Jurassic and Cretaceous age is known from SE China (Yui et al.,1996; Li et al., 2007; He et al., 2010; Zhu et al., 2010; Jiang et al., 2011).

image of Fig.�12

n= 100

Neogene SandstonesPAL 55

n= 119

Caramay SchistPAL−21

n= 250

Tajau Sandstone MbrKudat Formation

n= 118

Babuyan River TurbiditesPAL-5

n= 56

Inherited zircons Capoas granite

Age, Ma

n= 1133

Detrital Protolith

n= 820

Metamorphic Protolith

n= 608

Plutonic Protolith

SO

UT

H C

HIN

A M

AR

GIN

NP

CT

SP

T A

ND

N B

OR

NE

OC

AP

OA

SN

umbe

r of

ana

lyse

s

n= 109

Volcanic Protolith

PHAN-EROZOIC

PROTEROZOICNEO- MESO- PALEO-

ARCHEANPALEO-NEO- MESO- EO-

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

190

130

24

220

70

70

140

50

24

Fig. 13. Schematic probability density curves that show zircon populations common in the Capoas granite bodies (inherited zircons), the SPT and northern Borneo, the NPCT and zirconages that are expected to occur in rocks derived from the South China margin (probability density curves based on data from Duan et al. (2011), Gao et al. (2011), He et al. (2010), Jianget al. (2011), Knittel (2011), Knittel et al. (2010), Li et al. (2005), Li et al. (2007), Li et al. (2009), Li et al. (2011), Liu et al. (2009), Shu et al. (2011), Wan et al. (2007), Wang et al. (2007),Wong et al. (2011), Xu et al. (2005), Yao et al. (2012), Ye et al. (2007), Yui et al. (1996), Yui et al. (2012), Zhang et al. (2006), Zheng et al. (2006), and Zhu et al. (2010)).


image of Fig.�13


The source of the small number of Archaean zircons is uncertain. Thereis no record of exposed Archaeanbasement rocks in South China but zir-con xenocrysts in Cenozoic andMesozoic volcanic and plutonic rocks inSouth China (Fletcher et al., 2004; Zheng et al., 2011) suggest the pres-ence of unexposed Archaean basement beneath the western CathaysiaBlock, where the oldest exposed rocks are Neoproterozoic in age(Fletcher et al., 2004; Zheng et al., 2011). This basement has yieldedzircons with age populations of 2900–2500 Ma (Zheng et al., 2011). Al-ternatively, the Archaean zircons could be reworked from a protolithfurther to the north in the North China Craton (Jahn et al., 1987; Liuet al., 1992) where Archaean rocks are widespread.

Encarnación and Mukasa (1997) suggested that the Mount Capoasgranite formed in a post-rifting, non-collisional tectonic settingunrelated to any subduction zone. The age of the granite indicates thatit cannot be related to proto-South China Sea subductionwhichwas ter-minated by Early Miocene collision, and it post-dates collision by about6 myr. An alternative is magmatism associated with the early stages ofdevelopment of the Sulu Arc associated with northwestward subduc-tion of the Celebes Sea (Hall, in press). Collision in the Early Miocenecaused folding and thrusting on Palawan (e.g. Holloway, 1982;Hutchison, 1996). This elevated much of the region around Palawanabove sea level and sediment from the orogenic belt was transportedsouth to the Kudat Formation of northern Sabah. South of Palawanand east of northern Sabah ODP drilling shows that the oldest rocks inthe Sulu Sea were erupted in a backarc basin oceanic before 19 Ma,but are overlain by rocks of a volcanic arc that emerged rapidly abovesea level and then subsided below the CCD by about 15–14 Ma (Silverand Rangin, 1991; Silver et al., 1991). This implies an interval of rapidmigration of the active Sulu arc to the southeast (Hutchison, 1992),collapse of the volcanic arc, and extension of the former orogenic beltof Palawan. Hall (in press) suggested that trench rollback at about16 Ma drove Neogene extension in Palawan, and was accompanied bycrustal melting. The syn-collisional and volcanic arc character of thegranite is interpreted to not reflect the tectonic setting of magmatismbut the compositions of the source rocks that were melted (Frostet al., 2001).

8. Conclusions

NPCT metasediments are no older than Late Cretaceous, they wereformed on the South China margin and were derived from graniticand metamorphic rocks, all of which rifted away during opening ofthe South China Sea. The Miocene SPT sandstones and Lower MioceneTajau Sandstone Member of northern Borneo were derived from fourdifferent sources, which include the NPCT metasediments, metamor-phic basement rocks at the contact between the SPT and NPCT, SouthChina Sea rift volcanic and/orminor intrusive rocks, ofwhich theMiddleEocene (42 ± 0.5 Ma) Central Palawan granite is an example, and thelocal ophiolite complex.

The Mount Capoas granite body was intruded during a single pulsethat endured for c.300 ka or as two separate pulses between 13.8 ±0.2 Ma (Bay Peak granite) and 13.5 ± 0.2 Ma (Mount Capoas granite).It is significantly older than the Kinabalu granite of northern Borneo.However, like the Kinabalu granite, inherited zircon ages from theMount Capoas granite imply melting of continental crust derived fromthe South China margin with a contribution from Cenozoic rift-relatedand arcmaterial. Melting is suggested to have occurred in an extension-al setting induced by subduction rollback.

Acknowledgements

The project was funded by the SE Asia Research Group at RoyalHolloway University of London, supported by an oil company consor-tium. We thank Roland de Jesus at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau(MGB) for the permission to conduct fieldwork in Palawan.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2013.07.006.

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