Type of Earthcache: Mineralogy.
West Klang Gates Quartz Ridge - Bukit Tabur West
East Klang Gates Quartz Ridge - Bukit Tabur East
Introduction
The Klang Gates Quartz Ridge that formed the Bukit Tabur (Tabur Hill) is a well-known landmark and is a favorite hiking spot to locals that hike the ridge during weekdays and especially during weekends. This is due to its easy access being about 20km north-east of Kuala Lumpur on the fringes of Ulu Kelang and Gombak.
If not the longest in the world the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge is certainly the longest quartz ridge in Malaysia. Depending on references the lateral distance has been estimated from 14 to 16km. Its width varies from only a few meters at some places to as much as 180 to nearly 200m (depending on references). The most spectacular part of the ridge is its mid-section, which stretches 4km to 5km from Taman Melawati to the National Zoo in the Ampang area.
Depending on references, various height estimates have been made from 200m to 250m above adjacent land surface. Mohd Shafeea Leman et. al., 2008 noted the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge stands at 367m above sea level, with its highest peak at 534m.
This quartz ridge has been included into the Selangor State Park for protection of the rocks and several endangered species of fauna and flora in the area.
To claim this EarthCache go to the given coordinates. Looking towards north you will see the West Klang Gates Quartz Ridge and looking towards north-east you will see the East Klang Gates Quartz Ridge. The name Klang Gates came from a narrow gap between the ridges through which the Klang River flows. It is here the Klang Gates Dam was constructed and opened in 1958. The dam is one of the major suppliers of drinking water to residents of Klang Valley, where the national capital, Kuala Lumpur is located.
From here you decide to hike the West Klang Gates Quartz Ridge or the East Klang Gates Quartz Ridge. The total straight-line distance hiking the West Ridge would be 2.8 km taking about 3 hours whereas the total straight-line distance hiking the East Ridge would be 2.0 km taking about 2 1/2 hours. The West Ridge is longer and higher than the East Ridge. The total time taken for the hike depends on individuals or circumstances.
Regardless which ridge you decide to take (waypoints given below are self-explanatory), it will be an adventure hike with a bit of scrambling on rocky parts of the ridge and at times negotiating narrow rocky paths. At certain places there are nylon ropes to help you ascend or descend. Walk the trails at a leisurely pace and search for quartz samples and at the same time take notes on the vegetations and wildlife encountered. Do your homework and see if you can identify from the ridge the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur Tower, Klang Gates Dam, Klang Gates Reservoir and Genting Highlands Resort. There will be plenty of shady resting points for breaks and snacks.
Geology
Note: Numerical geological ages are found here
Along the western foothills of the Main Range, the Lower Palaeozoic (542 – 416 million years ago) Dinding and Hawthornden Schists and Kuala Lumpur Limestone and the Upper Palaeozoic (416 – 251 million years ago) Kenny Hill Formation were intruded by the Upper Triassic (228 – 199 million years ago) Main Range Granite.
Later, deposition of hydrothermal quartz along sub-vertical Kuala Lumpur Fault Zone in the granite took place. As early formed quartz masses and veins cooled and contracted, new fractures were formed and were filled with later veins of crystalline quartz. Repeated quartz injection and deposition, contraction, and fracturing have produced a complex interlacing network of large composite and quartz veins and veinlets (thinner than veins), in many places carrying the remnants of partly or almost wholly altered granite. This quartz dyke is characteristically formed of pure milky quartz, with no traces of gold or tin mineralization. This quartz dyke formed the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge.
Coarse muscovite from the Ridge gives a K:Ar age of 175 Ma (Middle Jurassic) but second-generation sericite yields a 91.5 Ma age (Upper Cretaceous). The Jurassic age must be interpreted as a minimum, indicating that the dyke developed soon after the emplacement of the Upper Triassic Main Range Granite. The Upper Cretaceous age suggests that the fault movement continued at least until Upper Cretaceous or it was reactivated during that time.
Through millions of years of weathering and erosion, the hard and highly resistant quartz dyke formed the outstanding ridge, creating a stunning picturesque background to the bustling Kuala Lumpur city below.
An introduction to quartz.
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2.
There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Especially in Europe and the Middle East, varieties of quartz have been since antiquity the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings.
Crystal habit (Crystal shape)
Quartz belongs to the trigonal crystal system. The ideal crystal shape is a six-sided prism terminating with six-sided pyramids at each end. In nature quartz crystals are often twinned, distorted, or so intergrown with adjacent crystals of quartz or other minerals as to only show part of this shape, or to lack obvious crystal faces altogether and appear massive. Well-formed crystals typically form in a layer that has unconstrained growth into a void, but because the crystals must be attached at the other end to a matrix, only one termination pyramid is present. A quartz geode is such a situation where the void is approximately spherical in shape, lined with a layer of crystals pointing inward.
Crystal variety according to color (Crystal type)
Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal (sometimes called clear quartz), is colorless and transparent (clear) or translucent, and has often been used for hardstone carvings, such as the Lothair Crystal. Common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz, milky quartz, and others. Quartz goes by an array of different names. The most important distinction between types of quartz is that of macrocrystalline (individual crystals visible to the unaided eye) and the microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline varieties (aggregates of crystals visible only under high magnification). The cryptocrystalline varieties are either translucent or mostly opaque, while the transparent varieties tend to be macrocrystalline. Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica consisting of fine intergrowths of both quartz, and its monoclinic polymorph moganite. Other opaque gemstone varieties of quartz, or mixed rocks including quartz, often including contrasting bands or patterns of color, are agate, sard, onyx, carnelian, heliotrope, and jasper.
Milky quartz
Milky quartz may be the most common variety of crystalline quartz and can be found almost anywhere. The white color may be caused by minute fluid inclusions of gas, liquid, or both, trapped during the crystal formation. The cloudiness caused by the inclusions effectively bars its use in most optical and quality gemstone applications.
Milky Quartz Crystal Veinlets from the West Ridge.
Milky Quartz Crystal Vein from the East Ridge.
How to claim this EarthCache?
As you hike up the ridge all the way to the highest point of hiking (at waypoints "Bukit Tabur West Peak" or "Bukit Tabur East Peak"), find three locations of quartz crystals. At each location take note of the followings:
1. The variety (type) and habit (shape) of these quartz crystals.
2. The structures [in veins or in veinlets (thinner than veins) or in layers attached to altered granite] in which these crystals are found.
3. The coordinates and the altitude of the location.
Send me the following;
1. The text "GC7CJH8 Klang Gates - Quartz Ridge" on the first line.
2. The answers to the following questions;
- The variety (type) and habit (shape) of the quartz crystals you found at each of the three locations.
- The structures [in veins or in veinlets (thinner than veins) or in layers attached to altered granite] in which these crystals are found at each of the three locations.
- The coordinates and the altitude at each of the three locations.
3. Provide a photo of yourself or a personal item to prove you have visited the site.*
References
* Effective immediately from 10 June 2019, photo requirements are permitted on EarthCaches. This task is not optional, it is an addition to existing logging tasks! Logs that do not meet all requirements posed will no longer be accepted.
For additional information, visit; Geosociety.org, Geocaching.com Help Center and Geocaching.com Forum.
Finding the answers to an EarthCache can often be challenging, and many people tend to shy away from these caches because of this. However, it is my opinion that geocaching is also meant to be a fun family experience that simply aims to introduce interesting and unique locations such as this one. Flexibility on logging requirements, however, can only be applied if it can be established that you have actually taken the time to visit the site. For this reason, a proper log describing your adventure accompanied by a good number of photos would be much appreciated.
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