Cenozoic carbonates in Southeast Asia: implications for equatorial carbonate development

Abstract

Cenozoic equatorial carbonate production was at its most extensive and diverse in the seas of Southeast Asia, yet the carbonates of this region remain poorly documented. This paper presents the first published review of carbonate deposition during the Cenozoic, collating sedimentological data for carbonate successions throughout the region. Current models of warm-water carbonate platform evolution, sedimentation and facies distribution, inspired by studies of the classic (sub)tropical areas, provide inadequate analogues for the evaluation of modern or Cenozoic equatorial carbonates in Southeast Asia. The equatorial carbonates differ in being dominated by bioclasts. Coated grains and associations with evaporites or dolomites are rare. The carbonate systems occur in a range of depositional settings which were often affected by coeval tectonism, siliciclastic input or volcanism. An understanding of the carbonate depositional environments, spatial facies distributions and controls on deposition and diagenesis is essential in order to characterize equatorial carbonate development and to evaluate their considerable economic potential.