Mt Kinabalu, Surroundings On Track For National Geopark Status
Kinabalu Geopark advisor Prof Dr Felix Tongkul (third from right) and National Geoparks Committee members at The Last PoW Camp Memorial. --fotoBERNAMA (2019) COPYRIGHTS RESERVED.By Noorazlina JindehThe proposed Kinabalu Geopark is now undergoing the final round of evaluation prior to its recognition as a national geopark. This first of a two-part article focuses on the geological and cultural significance of some of the geosites located in Ranau.
RANAU (Bernama) -- Mount Kinabalu has the distinction of being the highest peak in Malaysia but not many people may know that its geological formation had spanned millions of years before glacial erosion and sedimentation that occurred 10,000 to 30,000 years ago left it in its present form.
Not surprisingly, the geological and topographical elements of Kinabalu Park, dominated by the 4,095-metre high mountain, in Kundasang here, are also evident in the surrounding areas.
A total of 30 sites with geological, cultural and biological heritage value has been identified in an area encompassing part of Ranau district and the entire districts of Kota Belud and Kota Marudu. In line with the state government's aspiration to have this area declared as a national geopark, the National Geoparks Committee recently carried out an evaluation of the sites concerned.
Kinabalu Park is the core of the proposed 4,750-square kilometre Kinabalu Geopark.
The National Geoparks Committee was established by the federal government in 2015, six years after Langkawi was recognised as a Unesco Global Geopark, to realise the nation's geopark development vision.
Its secretariat is based at the research centre of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Institute of Environment and Development in Langkawi and its members comprise experts in various related fields and officials from specific government agencies.
SPECIAL FACTORS
Kinabalu Geopark advisor Prof Dr Felix Tongkul, who was also involved in the appraisal process, said the evaluation of all the geosites in Ranau, Kota Belud and Kota Marudu that fall within the proposed Kinabalu Geopark has been completed and they were now awaiting the National Geoparks Committee's go-ahead for its recognition as a National Geopark.
He said besides encompassing several geosites with geological, cultural and biological heritage value, Kinabalu Geopark also boasts three other factors that would assist it in its recognition as a national geopark.
"The three factors that make Kinabalu Geopark special are firstly, Mt Kinabalu which is among the highest peaks in Southeast Asia; secondly, its granite formation that is fairly young, that is, it was formed around nine million to seven million years ago; and thirdly, the glaciers that used to cover the peak at one time," said the geologist.
The Sabah government also hopes to get Kinabalu Geopark declared as a Unesco Global Geopark. According to Unesco rules, a national geopark has to be well-known globally for at least a year before any application to recognise it as a Unesco Global Geopark can be considered.
Kinabalu Park itself was accorded Unesco World Heritage Site status in 2000.
Tongkul said while efforts towards national geopark status started 10 years ago, the evaluation process only started this year.
"We assessed various selected sites based on their geological, biological and cultural heritage," he told Bernama recently.
GEOSITES
The proposed 4,750 sq km-Kinabalu Geopark has a total population of 257,289, 14 geological sites, 10 biological sites and six cultural sites.
Recently, the National Geoparks Committee members visited several of these sites in Ranau as part of its evaluation. Among the sites visited were Pinosouk Plateau, Kinabalu Botanical Garden, Poring Hot Springs, Sungai Kenipir, a prisoners of war (PoW) memorial and other sites referred to as 'Tasik Kuno' and 'Lautan Kuno'.
"The Pinosouk Plateau was formed after the ice at the peak of Mount Kinabalu started melting. The process caused erosion and led to all kinds of rocks and sediments sliding downwards to form a plateau thousands of years ago.
"The angular rocks deposited in a haphazard manner (on the plateau) are characteristics of glacial sediments," said Tongkul, who is director of Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Centre for Natural Disaster Studies.
Tasik Kuno, an area which lies 460 metres above sea level on Ranau Plateau and measures 8,000 metres in length and 4,000 metres in breadth, may be a padi field now but the ground on which it lies was formed after the earth's surface broke due to faulting some 40,000 years ago.
Tasik Kuno is filled with gravel, sand and clay to a depth of between 60 metres and 120 metres, all of which were washed down to the area from the surrounding hills, explained Tongkul.
PILLOW BASALT
The Lautan Kuno geosite features rocks that were formed from the oceanic crust. Located at Kampung Garas in Perancangan -- along the road from Ranau to Kota Marudu -- the rocks found there have been identified as basalt lava, which originally lay 4,000 metres below sea level.
"The magma that was slowly released (from underwater volcanoes) collided with the seawater, forming rock structures that resemble pillows," he said.
He said the top part of the pillow basalt features siliceous rock sediments estimated to be 130 million years old. This means that the deepest part of the ocean crust (from where the rocks originated) could have been almost 200 million years old, he said.
The tectonic compression process which occurred around 20 million to 15 million years ago lifted the ocean's crust to the earth's surface, which explains the rock formations found in Kampung Garas, that are among the oldest found in Sabah.
The Sungai Kenipir geosite, meanwhile, shows evidence of the oceanic sedimentation process because the sediments on its bank are composed of layers of sandstone and mudstone, the age of which is estimated to be 65 million to 45 million years.
CULTURAL SITE
The Last PoW Camp Memorial located about eight kilometres from Ranau town is among the cultural geosites in the proposed Kinabalu Geopark.
A tourist destination, the memorial is a reminder of the torture inflicted on more than 1,000 Australian and British soldiers during the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945). The soldiers were forced to trudge barefoot over 250 kilometres through the thick jungle; along the way, the weaker ones were killed by the Japanese while many soldiers died of other causes even before they reached Ranau.
After the Japanese surrendered, the remaining prisoners who were still alive were killed by the camp guards. Six soldiers, however, managed to escape and were rescued by the locals.
The 1.4-hectare Kinabalu Botanical Garden, which is among the biological sites in Kinabalu Geopark, has a collection of about 16,000 plants.
Popular among tourists, the garden, opened in 1981, also features more than 1,500 species of orchids, including the world's smallest called one ‘Podochilus tenius’ and the world's most expensive species, called ‘Paphiopedilum rothschildianum’. The latter is also known as slipper orchid and can cost up to RM50,000.
Other plants found here include rhododendron, pitcher plant, wild ginger and tristania.
The Poring Hot Springs, which is also a tourist destination, has a combination of geological, biological and cultural heritage.
Its hot sulphur spring water is formed by the heat from the remaining magma from Mount Kinabalu flowing to the surface of the earth. The temperature of the water here can reach up to 60 degrees Celsius.
Translated by Rema Nambiar
BERNAMA