Holocene Evolution of Labu Peatland, Brunei Darussalam: An Initial Inventory Based on Multi Palaeoenvironmental Proxies

This research investigates ten sediment cores extracted from Holocene deposits in Labu, northern Temburong District, Brunei Darussalam to provide an initial inventory of the encountered peat-forming environments. Proximate, ultimate, and geochemical analyses were performed, along with mineralogical characterisations, and 14C radiocarbon dating, as well as preliminary palaeontological and palynological examinations of the peat and the underlying substrate layers. Localised organic deposits, termed “peat pockets”, were identified, with the oldest found to have begun accumulating under topogenous-mire conditions during the Middle Holocene. This coincides with the Mid-Holocene sea-level rise, which is thought to have peaked at 6,000-4,500 years BP. However, our data suggest that sea level may have continued rising until approximately 2,500 years BP, peaking between 2,500 and 1,700 years BP, followed by delta progradation in Temburong. These “peat pockets” gradually coalesced into larger topogenous mires associated with estuarine environments. Over time, they became less influenced by marine conditions and increasingly shaped by a freshwater regime, resembling an upper delta system, similar to the present-day landscape observed in Temburong. It is proposed that these mires transitioned from a topogenous to an ombrogenous phase approximately 250 to 320 years BP, as inferred through forward age extrapolation based on a constant accumulation rate. The findings support the hypothesis of inland coastline migration during the Middle Holocene, followed by retraction due to deltaic progradation in the Late Holocene. These fluctuations align with well-established sea level changes driven by climatic variability.