Hot Spot Induced Cenozoic Volcanism in the Upper Rajang Valley, Sarawak - Is Borneo Rifting?

The Upper Rajang Valley covers a large area in the northern interior of the island of Borneo, in the Malaysian state of Sarawak . It is underlain by the Cretaceous to Late Eocene deep to shallow marine sediments of the Rajang Group. Within this area are several Cenozoic volcanic edifices, which to date have been sparsely studied. Two distinct episodes of volcanism are recognized - the first, dated early Eocene, consists of K-rich basalts, and is represented by the Bukit Mersing volcanics, which were erupted conformably onto deep water turbidites of the Rajang Group. The second, far more extensive, is dated Pliocene to Quaternary, and is bimodal, consisting mainly of early dacite and rhyodacite tuffs, with a smaller amount of later basalt, forming several volcanic plateaus and massifs (Hose Mountains, Usun Apau, Linau-Balui, Nieuwenhuis Mountains and others). They lie unconformably over pre-Miocene sediments, the Linau-Balui basalts having been erupted onto Quaternary river terraces. Mantle-normalized REE and incompatible trace element spider plots reveal that the Bukit Mersing basalts have geochemical affinity with Oceanic Island Basalts (OIB) and rift basalts, being enriched in LREEs and Most Incompatible Elements, and no Eu anomaly. Preliminary trace element data for several basalt samples from Usun Apau also show Oceanic Island/Rift affinity. Bimodal volcanism is most often associated with rift environments. Efforts are being made to radiometrically date the volcanics, in part to determine the possibility of future eruptions. The Upper Rajang Valley is remote, covered in tropical rainforest and is very sparsely populated. At this time, there is no information concerning signs of imminent volcanism, such as hot springs and microseismicity.