Geology for Engineers

October 27, 2019

Regional Geology of the Philippine

Regions; NCR, 4A, 4B, and 5.

Group 7
Members:
Cris James Antonio
Peachy Mae Dacanay
Colyn Claire Mahinay
Kobe Gabriel Gocatek
BSCE II - 4
NCR

LAND
The political and administrative boundaries
of the National Capital Region has not changed
since its formation in 1975 as a public corporation
under Presidential Decree No. 824. Under said
edict, Metro Manila is composed of the cities and
municipalities of Manila, Caloocan,
Mandaluyong, Makati, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig,
Pateros, Quezon, Muntinlupa, Marikina, Las Pinas,
Malabon, Navotas, San Juan, Taguig and
Valenzuela. In 1995, Congress enacted into law
Republic Act No. 7924, reconstituting Metro
Manila as a “special development and
administrative region” subject to direct supervision of the President of the
Philippines. No significant changes however were made in the geopolitical
boundaries of the region under RA 7924. The only notable changes that has
happened since then was the reclassification of some municipalities into cities.
To this day, only the town of Pateros remains classified as a municipality out of
the 17 Local Government Units (LGUs) comprising the region. The region has a
total land area of 63,600 hectares, more than half of which are classified as
residential/commercial. The largest of the cities in terms of land area is Quezon
City while the smallest is San Juan, with 17,171 and 595 hectares respectively.

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Based on its geological features, Metro Manila

may be subdivided into four (4) zones: the Coastal
Margin (including the reclaimed areas in Manila Bay),
the Guadalupe Plateau, the Marikina Valley, and the
Laguna Lowlands. About 69 percent of the region
rests on the Guadalupe Plateau and Marikina Valley,
an area with high elevation and solid geographical
foundations. The remaining 31 percent on the other
hand are situated on the so-called Coastal Margins and Laguna Lowlands
which are flood-prone. The flood-prone areas is comprised of the cities of
Manila, Navotas, Malabon and parts of Caloocan. Land subsidence and rising
sea levels are seen as the cause of flooding in these areas, particularly in
Navotas and Malabon City. On the eastern part, the flood prone towns are
Pasig City, Marikina City, Municipality of Pateros and Taguig City. Heavy flood
damage is experienced in these areas due to recurrent flooding caused by the
overflow of Pasig and Marikina rivers. The town of Pateros and parts of Taguig
City, specifically, can remain flooded for months.

Region 4A - CALABARZON
LAND
Land is considered as the
principal instrument in fostering
social justice, development,
provision of decent dwellings,
and health conditions (UN,
1976).

CALABARZON has a total

land area of 1,622,861
hectares or 5.4% of the
country’s total land area. Per
available data, 64.82% is
certified Alienable and
Disposable, 33.88% is classified
forest land, and 1.30% is
unclassified forestland. As of
CY 2010, more than 100,000
hectares have been distributed to qualified individuals for residential,
commercial, and industrial purposes under the Land Distribution Program of the
DENR.

Land resource quality in the Region has been decreasing due to erosion,
deforestation, and land conversion. Moreover, the changing weather patterns
during the past years have brought prolonged droughts and excessive rains.
These certainly affect productivity of the land, including quality of surface water.
Lower yields in crops and poor survival of plantations are to be expected.
 The Bureau of Soils and Water Management came up with Land
Degradation Assessment and identified soil erosion hotspot covering a total of
238,153.84 hectares within the Region. Per Landslide Susceptibility Map
produced by the Decision and Support Services Office (DSSO) of DENR Region
IV-A in January of CY 2011, large portion of Rizal is highly susceptible to landslide,
while bigger portions of lands within Cavite and Batangas have low susceptibility
(see Figure 2).

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture -Bureau of Agricultural Statistics

(DA-BAS) CY 2010 database provides a total of 438,673 hectares of land or 27%
of the total land area of the Region are planted to coconut. Out of this, 74% is
within the province of Quezon. The establishment of coconut plantations
increased by 28% since 2005. With increasing trend, this could in turn limit the so-
called ecological productivity of the land.

The DENR Region IV-A is currently conducting an Inventory of CARP Scope

(ICS) in order to come-up with the latest status of land within the Region. This
information will be very useful in the identification of potential sites for
developmental and land management and distribution programs of the
Department.

GEOLOGICAL
CHARACTERISTICS

The Region has a variety

of mineral resources, both
metallic and non-metallic.
Among the metallic minerals
are gold, copper, chromite,
iron, manganese, and nickel
while non-metallic includes
andesite, basalt, clay, gravel,
sand, marble, limestone,
feldspar, and rock aggregates.

As provided by the
MGB-Region IV-A in 2008,
Batangas province has the
highest potential for copper
ore, gold, lead, and clay. Moreover, Batangas is the only province with barite
and gypsum. On the other hand, Rizal province reportedly has the highest
potential in terms of iron, limestone, shale/silica, and concrete aggregate/sand
gravel,

The probability of occurrences of mineral deposits with economic

potentials within Cavite is considered unlikely. The only mineral deposits of
commercial value in the area are volcanic rocks such as basalt and andesite.
Quezon province is the second highest in terms of availability of copper ore,
gold, and limestone.

As of July 2011, more than 30,000 hectares are being excavated for sand
and gravel, and explored for gold, copper, silica, zinc, basalt, andesite,
limestone, etc. content within Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, and Laguna provinces.

REGION 4B – MIMAROPA
LAND

The Region has a total land area

of 2,745,601 hectares, broken down into
992,317 hectares of Alienable and
Disposable (Agricultural) Lands and
1,753,284 hectares of Classified
Forestlands. The total forest area
regardless of land classification for the
entire Region is 1,195,144 hectares (CY
2003 Forestry Statistics). MIMAROPA
boasts of a long coastline totaling 6,428
kilometers which is 17.7% of the country’s
total coastline of 36,289 km. It is made
up of twelve (12) main islands, namely:
Marinduque, Mindoro & Lubang,
Romblon, Tablas & Sibuyan, Palawan,
Dumaran, Coron, Culion, Balabac &
Linapacan, It is one of two (2) Regions
sharing no land border with another Region, the other one being Region VIII
(Eastern Visayas). The entire MIMAROPA area is also part of the Coral Triangle
Initiative (Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia).
GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

MIMAROPA is also rich in mineral resources. Important metallic minerals

that can be found include copper, gold, silver, iron, lead, zinc, molybdenum,
pyrite, manganese, nickel, chromite, cobalt, mercury and chromium. Non-
metallics are: coal, asbestos, guano and phosphates, red and white clay,
marble, barite, jade and silica.

REGION 5 – BICOL REGION

LAND

The Bicol Region has a

total land area of 1,763,250
hectares, of which 541,189
hecta res are established as
forestland and 1,238,091
hectares are alienable &
disposable lands. Per 2011
Philippine Forestry Statistics, it
has a total forest cover of
156,476 he ctares.

As of 2011, a total of 83
Community-Based Forest
Management (CBFM)
Agreements were signed by the DENR in the region involving 47,926 hectares of
forestland, and benefitting 12,328 households and 83 people's organizations. The
CBFM is a government strategy which "gives the management of forests back to
the people." It offers long-term security of tenure to partner-communities and
promotes an integrated approach to sustainable forest resource management.

The region also participated in the National Greening Program, a flagship

program of President Benigno S. Aquino III which aims to reforest the entire
Philippines within 2011-2016. In 2011 alone, Region 5 was able to rehabilitate
6,080 hectares of open and denuded lands by conducting massive tree
planting activities involving its citizens, thereby expecting to increase the region's
forest cover.

Bicol Region has a large amount of rich flat land, and agriculture is the largest
component of the economy, followed by commercial fishing. Coconuts, abaca,
banana, coffee and jackfruit are the top five permanent crops in the region.
Rice and corn are among the chief seasonal crops. Mining is also one of the
contributors to the region's economy.

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Bicol Region is volvanic in origin and part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Volcanism is evident by the number of hot springs, crater lakes, and volcanoes
that dot the region starting from Mount Labo in Camarines Norte to the Gate
Mountains in Matnog, Sorsogon. Mayon Volcano is the most prominent of the
volcanoes in the region, famous for its perfect conical shape and for being the
most active in the country. Other volcanoes include Bulusan Volcano, Mount
Isarog, Mount Iriga, Mount Malinao, Mount Masaraga, and the Pocdol
Mountains. The region is endowed with rich mineral resources, which include
gold, copper, guano, rock phosphate, marble, silver, lead and manganese.
References:
 https://ncr.denr.gov.ph/index.php/about-us/regional-profile
 https://calabarzon.denr.gov.ph/index.php/about-us/regional-profile/reg-prof-state-reg-enr
 https://mimaropa.denr.gov.ph/index.php/about-us/regional-profile
 https://r5.denr.gov.ph/index.php/about-us/regional-profile
 http://region5.mgb.gov.ph/
 http://region4a.mgb.gov.ph/mgb-iv-a-conducts-hydrogeological-survey-in-batangas-city/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki