The Primate-Bearing Pondaung Formation in the Upland Area, Northwest of Central Myanmar

Abstract

This review paper is intended to cover the late Middle Eocene strata occurring in the western part of the Central Burma Tertiary Belt (Colbert, 1935) or Inner-Burman Tertiary Basin (Bender, 1983), adjacent to the east side of the Indo-Burman Ranges. It is therefore concerned with the molasse-type sediments of the Pondaung Formation in the upland area, or ``N22{\textdegree} tectonic high'' area, in the northwestern part of central Myanmar. This report builds on earlier papers (Aye Ko Aung, 1997, 1999; Aung Naing Soe, 1999), which were primarily concerned with stratigraphy and sedimentary facies analysis of the upper part of the Pondaung Formation. In those papers little attention was given to the boundary characters between the Pondaung Formation and the units above and below. The present report does not include the Eocene sediments outcropping in the Pondaung range, as these have been comprehensively described by (1922) and Cotter 1914, 1938).