| Titiwangsa Mountains | |
|---|---|
| Banjaran Titiwangsa/Besar (Malay) ทิวเขาสันกาลาคีรี (Thai) | |
_near_Gunung_Suku.jpg) The view of the Titiwangsa Mountains near Mount Suku. | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mount Korbu |
| Elevation | 2,183 m (7,162 ft) |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 480 km (300 mi) NW/SE |
| Width | 120 km (75 mi) NE/SW |
| Geography | |
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| Countries | |
| Provinces/States | |
| Range coordinates | 5°58′12″N101°19′37″E / 5.9699°N 101.3269°E /5.9699; 101.3269 |
| Parent range | Tenasserim Hills |
| Geology | |
| Rock ages | |
| Rock types | |
TheTitiwangsa Mountains (Malay:Banjaran Titiwangsa,pronounced[ˈband͡ʒaˈrantitiwaŋˈsa]), also known asBanjaran Besar (lit. 'main range') by locals, is the chain of mountains that forms the backbone of theMalay Peninsula. The northern section of the range is insouthern Thailand, where it is known as theSankalakhiri Range (Thai:ทิวเขาสันกาลาคีรี;RTGS:Thio Khao Sankalakhiri;pronounced[tʰīwkʰǎwsǎn.kāːlāːkʰīːrīː]).
The mountain range acts as a natural divider, dividingPeninsular Malaysia, as well as southernmost Thailand, into east and west coast regions. It also serves as adrainage divide of some major rivers of Peninsular Malaysia such as thePahang,Perak,Kelantan,Klang andMuar. The length of mountain range is about 480 km from north to south.
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This mountain range is a part of the widerTenasserim Hills. It forms the southernmost section of the Indo-Malayancordillera which runs fromTibet through theKra Isthmus into theMalay Peninsula.[1]
The Titiwangsa Mountains proper begin in the north as the Sankalakhiri Range, a prolongation of theNakhon Si Thammarat Range which includes the smaller Pattani, Taluban, and Songkhla sub-ranges. The Sankalakhiri marks the border between theSouthern Thai provinces ofYala in west andNarathiwat in the east. Across the border into Malaysia, the main stretch of the range runs in a northwest–southeast orientation, straddling the borders between thewest coast states ofPerak andSelangor withKelantan andPahang on theeastern side of the peninsula. From thetripoint ofPahang,Selangor andNegeri Sembilan nearMount Nuang, it then transverses through the middle of the state of Negeri Sembilan, also a west coast state, thus dividing the state into two regions – western Negeri Sembilan, which consists ofSeremban,Port Dickson andRembau Districts, and eastern Negeri Sembilan, composed of the districts ofJelebu,Kuala Pilah,Jempol andTampin – and terminates in the south near the town ofTampin, in the southern part of the state.[2][3][4] Outcrops of Titiwangsagranite, mainly consisting ofinselbergs, project further south intoMalacca, where it abuts in the waters of theStrait of Malacca inPulau Besar.[5]
In general, the greatest elevations occur along the northern and central sections of the range, with its highest point measuring 2,183 m (7,162 ft) onGunung Korbu,Perak. On the Thai side, the highest point is 1,533 m (5,026 ft)Ulu Titi Basah (ยูลูติติ บาซาห์), at the Thai/Malaysian border betweenYala province andPerak.[6] On the other hand, the height gradually diminishes towards the southern reaches of the range, which mainly runs throughNegeri Sembilan, with elevations ranging from 1,462 m (4,797 ft) at its highest onMount Besar Hantu, on the border between the state andPahang, as well as 1,193 m (3,914 ft) on Mount Telapak Buruk on the boundary between the districts ofSeremban andJelebu to 500–900 metres (1,600–3,000 ft).
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The Titiwangsa Mountains are predominantlygranitic. The mountain range is part of asuture zone that runs north–south, starting inThailand at theNan-Uttaradit suture zone (partly coincident with theDien Bien Phu fault), and extending south towards PeninsularMalaysia (Bentong-Raub suture zone).[7] The eastern half of the Titiwangsa Mountains inPeninsular Malaysia is an amalgamation of continentalterranes known asCimmeria or Indochina, whereas the western half is an amalgamation of continental terranes Sinoburmalaya orSibumasu. These two halves of terranes were separated by thePaleo-Tethys Ocean.[8][9]
The Cimmeria was separated fromGondwana around 400mya during theDevonian and rifted towards Laurasia, the northeastern arm ofPangea. It attached to Laurasia completely around 280 mya during theLate Permian.
Sibumasu terranes on the other hand, only started to separate from Gondwana during theEarly Permian and rifted towards Indochina. The collision of the Sibumasu terranes and Indochina terranes 200 mya during theLate Triassic resulted in the closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and formation of the modern Titiwangsa Mountain belts.
Peninsular Malaysia, while being tectonically stable, has a history ofintraplate earthquakes,[10] with most of them of low magnitudes. As the Bentong-Raub suture runs parallel to the Titiwangsa Mountains, a large network offault lines crisscross the mountain range.[11] The known major fault lines in the mountains are theBukit Tinggi,Kuala Lumpur andSeremban fault lines, with the first two being the most active.
Between 1984 and 2013, there were tremors ranging from 1.6 to 4.6 on theRichter scale with local epicentres inKenyir Lake,Manjung,Temenggor,Bukit Tinggi andKuala Pilah, the latter three being situated along the Titiwangsa Mountains. As a precautionary move, the Department of Minerals and Geosciences pitched 23 Earthquake Benchmark (PAG,Malay:Penanda Aras Gempa) stations around earthquake-prone areas in Peninsular Malaysia, with 13 inPahang, six inSelangor, and two each inPerak andNegeri Sembilan to monitor possible movements within the fault network.[12] TheMinistry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) also pointed out that strong earthquakes centred in neighbouringSumatra,Indonesia could potentially activate ancient faults in Peninsular Malaysia and the effects of tremors could be felt around areas along thewest coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
FT 51 nearBukit Putus,Negeri Sembilan._(25582962393).jpg)
The rainforests of the Titiwangsa Mountains form part of theTitiwangsa Forest Complex, which is itself part of the largerCentral Forest Spine conservation area. A number of roads and highways cut through the mountain range, effectively acting asmountain passes linking settlements on either side of the range.
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Several populartourist destinations such asRoyal Belum,hill resorts such asCameron Highlands,Genting Highlands andFraser's Hill are located on the range.
Two of Malaysia's largest metropolitan areas are located along the western fringes of the mountain range, namelyGreater Kuala Lumpur (ranked #1) andKinta Valley (ranked #4). The Kinta Valley Geopark encompasses the entirety of Kinta Valley, wherekegelkarst topography is prevalent.
The mountain range was the subject of thepatriotic song "Titiwangsa", which was first sung bySaloma. Its lyrics glorifies the magnificence and beauty of the Titiwangsa Mountains, and its significance toMalaya as a whole.
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