General geology and petroleum source rock evaluation in Gua Panjang area, Gua Musang, Kelantan

Gua Musang is a district in Southern Kelantan which located in the central belt of the Peninsular Malaysia that held many hidden geological gems. Formed during the late Permian-Triassic period, Gua Musang formation is covered with argillaceous, calcacerous, volcanic and arenacous rocks. As the largest district in Kelantan, Gua Musang holds many beautiful karst morphology that covered most of the region. The research is to confirm the previous geological information by the conduction of geological mapping in the study area of Gua Panjang that is located in the sub-district of Gua Musang. Argillaceous and calcareous rock units are both rich in organic content as they are formed from accumulation of undisturbed dead organisms. Petroleum source rock evaluation through identification of organic matter richness is a conventional geochemical method which uses recoverable solvent under not very high temperature. The method used in the research is the Soxhlet extraction method over a duration of 24 hours.Targeted organic-rich rock samples of coal and claystone collected from the study area were tested to identify the potential of petroleum source rock. Both rock samples indicate very excellent potential of petroleum source rock as they yielded a range from 675 028 to 855 708 ppm of extracted organic matter (EOM). Although these rocks contain high yield of EOM, the potential of petroleum source rock is unclear as further analyses are needed to support and confirm the findings.