In spite of advances in sequence stratigraphy in the last few years, it still cannot replace classic lithostratigraphy (and maybe it should not, as sequences are interpretations, whereas formations are mappable field units). In addition there is a lot of published work which was described under local formation names. The exact meaning of these names has to be known otherwise ambiguity will mean the loss of many decades of valuable work.
In 1957 a stratigraphic lexicon of Indonesia was published, which is the basis of the definitions given here. These definitions are edited only for place name and simple fossil name changes. Annotations to this original work are in red.
Some less well publicised reports from the first oil exploration companies describe other formation names that were to become de-facto standards after being applied to subsurface units and seismic reflectors, even though they may not have type sections, or are vaguely defined. These units are described here, highlighted in blue.
Location maps for Pre-war (Dutch) mapping quadrangles for West Java and East Java
| Java A to B | Java C | Java D to G | Java H to K |
| Java L to N | Java O to R | Java S to Z | Java-PLEIST. |
| Sumatra 1 | Sumatra 2 | Kalimantan 1 | Kalimantan 2 |
| Sulawesi | East Nusatengara | Islands of the Banda Arc | Misool |
| Halmahera | Irian Jaya | Aru Islands | Natuna |