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The Phuket Group, Peninsular Thailand: a Palaeozoic ?geosynclinal deposit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

A. H. G. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, 5 Princes Gate, London S.W.7
B. Young
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, 5 Princes Gate, London S.W.7
W. Jantaranipa
Affiliation:
Royal Thai Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok

Summary

The Phuket Group is the oldest rock unit in the Phuket-Takua Pa-Krabi region of the Thai Peninsula. The Group comprises two Formations: a Lower Formation of Ordovician, or possibly Cambrian, to Lower Permian age, exceeding 3 km in thickness, and an Upper Formation of early Permian age between 100 and 200m thick.

Facies analysis shows that the Lower Formation consists of mass flow deposits and sandstones comparable to the deposits of modern continental rises and continental slopes. The Upper Formation was deposited in a shallow marine and probably deltaic environment. The Phuket Group and litho-logically similar sedimentary rocks to the north and south occupy an elongate belt extending from the Shan States of Burma to the Langkawi Islands in Malaysia. The sediments, which are rich in quartz, were derived from a continental area and deposited on its margin. In contrast to previous interpretations of the Palaeozoic history of Peninsular Thailand, it is considered that the continental source lay to the east. The continental margin resembled modern margins of either Atlantic or Japan Sea type.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

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