Malaysia: Threat to a hill rich with fossils

Satiman Jamin New Straits Times 26 Nov 12;

300-MILLION-YEAR HISTORY: Bukit Buchu could be flattened if no action is taken

KUALA TERENGGANU: A HILL full of 300-million-year-old fossils in Batu Rakit here may go into oblivion if no efforts are taken to protect them.

The barren hillside of Bukit Buchu, overlooking Taman Atikah in Batu Rakit, looks like many other hills that dot the coastal road to Kota Baru.

However, while the more picturesque hills have no visitors, the jagged rock face of Bukit Buchu has seen a regular stream of geologists and geology students since the 1980s as the hill holds ancient marine flora and fauna fossils.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) Oceanography and Environment Institute geological researcher Dr Peter Robertson Parham said he was excited when his colleagues informed him about the hill.

He was surprised by the density of the fossils there.

"I thought I would have to sift through a lot of rocks to find a fossil but when I went up the hill, I realised they were everywhere, even on the loose rocks that I trampled on."

Parham demonstrated his point when he picked up a loose rock which has indentations of round patterns on one side.

"The patterns are actually the fossil of brachiopods which lived in shallow seas during the Carboniferous era about 300 million years ago."

He said it was amazing that the fossils were so well preserved as the soft shale on which they were embedded could be easily affected by the elements, let alone the geologic upheavals over millions of years.

"The mud at the bottom of the prehistoric sea was turned to shale by geologic activities, such as the receding ocean levels at the end of the Carboniferous era," he said, adding that the layers of shale also indicated that the rock face of Bukit Buchu had been sheared, turned and upturned repeatedly by ancient geologic activities.

"We can learn a few things about the geological history of this area by studying the changes indicated by the patterns on the rock face."

UMT vice-chancellor Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Ibrahim Komoo, who is also the founder of the Malaysian Historic Geological Heritage, said the absence of laws protecting fossils and fossil sites could hamper efforts to preserve them.

"One way to get around this is by gazetting heritage areas as geoparks, such as in Langkawi."

He said although Bukit Buchu might lack the criteria to become a national heritage, the state government could still turn it into a state geopark to let students and the public have a better understanding of the geological history of Terengganu.

Ibrahim said Terengganu had no lack of possible geopark sites, such as Gunung Gagau, which might contain dinosaur remains as highlighted by the New Straits Times.

"Some areas in Tasik Kenyir also have the potential of becoming state geoparks as they have unique geological features. Some interesting fossils have also been found there."

Efforts to preserve Bukit Buchu should be hastened as the fossil-bearing hill stands on private land and the landowner can level the hill or turn it into a housing area, which means Terengganu may lose the 300-million-year-old treasure trove that it holds.