Chapter 3

Tectonics

Table of Contents
Tectonics........................................................................................................................1
Table of Contents.........................................................................................................1
Table of Figures............................................................................................................2
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................3
3.2 Development of the Indian Plate...........................................................................3
3.2.1 Stages of Movement of Indian Plate..............................................................3
3.2.2 Result of Collision............................................................................................6
MMT (Main Mantle Thrust)...............................................................................6
MCT (Main Central Thrust)...............................................................................6
MBT (Main Boundary Thrust)............................................................................6
SRT (Salt Range Thrust)......................................................................................6
3.3 Division of Himalayas............................................................................................7
3.3.1 Sub-Himalayan................................................................................................7
3.3.3 Higher Himalayas............................................................................................9
3.3.4 Tibetan/Tethyan Himalayas...........................................................................9
3.4 Tectonics of Salt Range........................................................................................10
3.5 Division of Salt Range..........................................................................................12
3.5.1 Eastern Salt Range: ......................................................................................13
3.5.2 Central Salt Range:.......................................................................................13
References...................................................................................................................16

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Table of Figures
Fig. 3.1: Three stages of India's Flight towards the Eurasian Plate (USGS, 2015).......5
Fig. 3.2: Generalized regional tectonic map of the Salt Range, Pakistan (modified
after Kazmi and Rana, 1982).........................................................................................8
Fig. 3.3: Map showing Himalayas Division along with major faults and Geological
features (Searle et al, 2018)............................................................................................9
Fig. 3.4: Location map of the Salt Range in northern Pakistan (Ghazi et al, 2014)....11
Fig. 3.5: Salt Range Division and Lithological Continuity General Geological Map
(Abbas, 2015)...............................................................................................................12

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3.1 Introduction
Tectonics is the study of the deformation of rocks that built earth’s crust
structures. Within a small region of Pakistan one can glance at all types of tectonics
involve in forming structures (Powell et al, 1973).

A significant Transform Plate Boundary; the Chamman Fault, which divides the
Eurasian Plate from the Indo-Australian Plate, is a notable example of an active fault .
Suture zones associated with subduction; the Indus and Shyok Sutures were created
when the Indian and Eurasian Plates collided. Chagi Arc and Kohistan Island Arc,
both located in Ladakh, are arcs that were created as a result of intra-oceanic
convergence in the Neo-Tethys. Makran is an active plate subduction system with a
deformed plate boundary. A significant portion of Pakistan is seismically quite active,
and various neotectonics structures have been documented .Only an 800,000 sq. km
area reveals a tectonic junction of separate interacting plates and microplates and has
excellent field exposures, which makes the present idea of plate tectonics unique
(DeCelles et al, 2020).

The mountains of Pakistan have five different orographic zones; The Karakoram and
the High Himalia, Lesser Himalayas, and subsidiary Ridges, The Suleiman Kirthar
Mountain, the Makran Oroclinal Ranges, and Chagi-Ras-Koh Ranges (Turab et al,
2017).

3.2 Development of the Indian Plate

The Indian Plate is a minor tectonic plate that spans the Eastern Hemisphere's equator.
The ancient continent of Gondwana formerly included the Indian Plate. The Indian
Plate began to move north after separating from the other Gondwanaland shards. A
convergent border is formed as the Indian Plate collides with the Eurasian Plate and
moves northward relative to it. Diverging on the other side is the Indo-African
Boundary (Gee et al, 1989).

3.2.1 Stages of Movement of Indian Plate

Following are the stages of movement Indian Plate.

 Stage 1: The Indian Plate started moving northward around 130 million years
ago. At that time, the Indian Plate was moving or shifting at a rate of 3-5 cm
annually.

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 Stage 2: Between 80 and 54 million years ago, the Indian Plate was advancing
northward at a pace of 15-20 cm per year. It was viewed as a very quick
movement (Ghazi et al, 2015).
 Stage 3: The Indian Plate was advancing north at a pace of 4-6 cm between 53
and 50 million years ago. It was regarded as a very slow motion. Then, some
50 million years ago, the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate clashed along a
convergent boundary. As a result of this collision, the Himalayan Ranges and
several Thrust Faults were formed. An angle of fewer than 45 degrees is
required for all hanging to move upward about the footwall along a thrust
fault.

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Fig. 3.1: Three stages of India's Flight towards the Eurasian Plate (USGS, 2015)

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3.2.2 Result of Collision
The thrust fault developed due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates.

 MKT (Main Karakoram Thrust)

 MMT (Main Mantle Thrust)
 MCT (Main Central Thrust)
 MBT (Main Boundary Thrust)
 SRT (Salt Range Thrust)

MKT (Main Karakoram Thrust)

The collision of Kohistan-Ladakh with the southern boundary of the Micro

Karakoram Plate during the Cretaceous period resulted in the formation of the Main
Karakoram Thrust (MKT). The MKT thrust fault divides the late Paleozoic
metasediments of the Karakoram plate from the cretaceous-tertiary rocks of the
Kohistan-Ladakh arc. It is referred to as MKT in Kohistan and Shyok suture zone in
the Ladakh region (Kazmi, 1997).

MMT (Main Mantle Thrust)

Between the metamorphic shield and platform rock of the hinterland of the Indian
plate and the mostly mafic and ultramafic rock of the Kohistan Ladakh arc complex in
Pakistan, there lies a tectonic boundary known as the MMT.

MCT (Main Central Thrust)

The Indian Plate has pushed beneath the Eurasian Plate throughout the Himalayas,
creating the Main Central Thrust, a significant geological fault. The fault is exposed
on the surface in an NW–SE orientation and slopes down to the north. Along the 2200
km of the Himalayan Mountain Belt, the thrust fault persists (Edward et al, 2000).

MBT (Main Boundary Thrust)

One of the main Himalayan thrusts that occurred throughout the Cenozoic is the Main
Boundary Thrust, which is currently included in the Himalayan Thrust wedge.

SRT (Salt Range Thrust)

Salt Range Thrust (SRT), which is bordered by the Jhelum and Indus River, truncates
the southern edge of the Salt Range. The less distorted tertiary successions of the
south in the Punjab Plain have been pushed aside in favor of the older successions of

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the Salt Range. Alluvium from the Jhelum River and recent conglomerates cover the
majority of the thrust zone (Yeats et al, 1984). However, the thrust is exposed close to
the Jalalpur and Kalabagh regions, revealing the Paleozoic rocks lying beneath the
Neogene or Quaternary deposits of the Punjab Plain (Yeats et al, 1984; Gee and Gee,
1989). The Salt Range and Potwar Plateau have been transported southward in the
shape of a huge slab over the Punjab Plain due to the Salt Range Thrust's successful
decoupling of sediments from the foundation along the salt layer. Thus, the Salt
Range is the surface manifestation of the decollement thrust's leading edge.

3.3 Division of Himalayas

 Sub Himalayas
 Lesser Himalayas
 Higher Himalayas
 Tethyan/Tibetan Himalayas

3.3.1 Sub-Himalayan
The Sub-Himalayan zone, which is bordered to the north by the Main Boundary
Thrust (MBT) and to the south by the MFT or Himalayan Frontal Fault (HFF), is
made up of the Himalayan foothills. The Potwar Basin and the Salt Range are parts of
the Sub-Himalaya. Azad Kashmir Zone in the east and Punjab Zone in the west make
up Pakistan's Sub-Himalaya in a longitudinal sense. Southward, the Indo-Gangetic
and Punjab Plain alluvium cover the folded Siwalik series (Sychanthavong et al,
1987).

In a transverse sense, the Punjab Plain Foreland is split into the following zones:

1. Northern Potwar or Rawalpindi Zone: a fold and thrust belt that ends in the Khairi
Murwat structure.

2. The Kohat Basin and a wide syncline beneath a plateau make up the Soan Zone in
the east and west, respectively (Treloar et al, 2019).

3. Further south is the lone Punjab Platform that is significantly bent.

4. The Salt Range, a salt-related geological feature, and a decollement connected to

salt are distinctive features of the Punjab Zone of the Sub-Himalaya.

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 Fig. 3.2: Generalized regional tectonic map of the Salt Range, Pakistan (modified
after Kazmi and Rana, 1982)

3.3.2 Lesser Himalayas

The Main Central Thrust (MCT) and MBT define the zone's northern and southern
boundaries, respectively. The Lesser Himalaya includes the Hill Ranges, Plio-
Pleistocene basins, and Southern Kohistan, which are likely structural block
components

In its western region, the Lesser Himalaya is made up of Precambrian to Late

Paleozoic meta-sediments, as well as Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks.
Thrust nappes of high-grade gneisses originating from the Central Crystalline Axis

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have replaced these meta-sediments. The southern sedimentary zone of the Lesser
Himalaya may be found as a broad belt in the region of the southern Hazara, Kala
Chitta, and Attack Cherat Ranges as well as a fringe along the Pir Panjal, Kaghan, and
across the Hazara Kashmir Syntaxes (HKS) (Khan et al, 2021).

Fig. 3.3: Map showing Himalayas Division along with major faults and Geological
features (Searle et al, 2018)

3.3.3 Higher Himalayas

The MCT is the base of a massive slab of high-grade metamorphic rocks that is 10–15
km thick and sits on top of the Lesser Himalayan series. The High Himalaya, which is
situated between the Main Mantle Thrust (MCT) to the south and the Indus Tsangpo
Suture Zone/MMT to the north, is an intracrustal thrust sheet of Precambrian Central
Crystallines (Singh et al, 2020).

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3.3.4 Tibetan/Tethyan Himalayas
North of the Higher Himalayas is where the Tethyan Himalayan Zone is. The
turbidities, deltaic, and shelf sediments of the Late Precambrian sequences slope
upward into comparable Cambrian and Early Ordovician deposits. The summit of
Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, is made of Ordovician limestone. The
northwest Himalayan Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone, also known as the Indus Suture,
forms the northern boundary of the Tethyan Himalaya. On the northern border of the
Indian Plate, the Tethyan series has formed as a shelf deposit along a continental
margin (Thakur et al, 1981). The Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone in the central and
eastern Himalayas severely shortens the Tibetan-Tethys Himalaya to the north.

3.4 Tectonics of Salt Range

The Salt Range is aptly referred to as the "Field Museum of Geology" due to the
abundance of geological characteristics it possesses. It is an open book of geology,
with abundantly fossiliferous stratified rocks like the Permian carbonate succession
including brachiopod fauna and foraminifer’s biostratigraphy that was recently
documented. The analysis of Permo-Triassic marine sections is another Salt Range
specialty. Particularly well-researched and suitable as a stratigraphic framework for
the area are ammonites. The Jhelum River and the River Indus form the eastern and
western boundaries of the Salt Range, which is located between 32°15′ and 33°0′ N
and 71°34′ and 73°45′ E. A north-south trend begins to emerge beyond the River
Indus after a sharp curve. The Salt Range is the north-south part, while the Trans
Indus Salt Range is the east-west extension. It has an overall east-west direction and is
arcuate and convex to the south, turning to the north-west at the western end and to
the northeast towards the eastern end. The Salt Range has an average height of 800
meters, while Mount Sakesar, the highest peak (32°32′ N, 71°56′ E), is 1,570 meters
high. Permian or Eocene limestone or Tertiary sandstones are exposed in the top half
of the scarp (Ghani et al, 2021).

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 Fig. 3.4: Location map of the Salt Range in northern Pakistan (Ghazi et al, 2014)

The Potwar Basin, which is located near Rawalpindi and has an average elevation of
500 meters, is bordered on the south by the Salt Range and on the north by the Kala
Chitta Hills (33°37′ N, 73°8′ E). Previous research raises the possibility that the
Punjab Foreland Basin's thrust sheets have been raised because they pushed across the
basin. As a result of the continuous collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates,
the Salt Range is the Himalayas' newest and southernmost east-west oriented frontal
fold and thrust band

The Salt Range is characterized by two regional scale differentiating features: the first
is the presence of substantial salt deposits, and the second is the presence of numerous

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regional and local scale nondepositional occurrences spanning in age from the
Eocambrian to the Pleistocene (Gee and Gee 1989). Along the active Salt Range
Thrust, the Salt Range exceeds its fan material to the north. Simple, broad, shallow
folds and a gently descending monocline may be seen over the range's northern side.
The folding tightens in the south, and in the southern scarp, east-west-trending faults
and over-folds have formed. According to tectonic theory, the Himalayas are a recent
collisional mountain belt that was created at around 67+2 Ma when the Indian Plate,
which was migrating north, collided with the Asian Plate. The Tethyan Ocean's
closing and the lateral displacement of rigid blocks, out of the path of the Indian
subcontinental without any crustal thickening, were the sole mechanisms used to
tolerate this collision, which was not followed by significant mountain formation. In
terms of primary tectonics and how they relate to one another, stratigraphy and
sedimentation, and structural type, this study seeks to offer an overview of the
regional geology of the Salt Range. The tectonic processes and topography in the Salt
Range region are highlighted by the marking of the structural characteristics that were
taken from Landsat data. These photos also aid in the explanation of the thrust front's
lateral dispersion.

3.5 Division of Salt Range

Fig. 3.5: Salt Range Division and Lithological Continuity General Geological Map
(Modified after Abbas, 2015)

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3.5.1 Eastern Salt Range:
The eastern Salt Range is designated as the region between the Jogi Tilla and Khewra
(cf. Gee and Gee 1989). The Diljabba and the Chambal Jogi Tilla, two significant thin
northeast-trending ridges, split off from the Salt Range's easternmost extremity, which
loses height. In contrast to the latter, which consists of steeply descending monoclines
that are complicated by intricate thrusts and tear faults, the Diljabba Hill is a steeply
dipping anticline that is cut by the Diljabba Domeli Thrust. Other faults near the
surface exhibit significantly lower displacements than the Domeli Thrust. Northeast-
southwest trending folds dominate the eastern Salt Range, which contrasts sharply
with the east-west running folds in the center of the Salt Range and the northwest-
southeast trending folds on the eastern side of the Jhelum Reentrant. The eastern Salt
Range/Potwar Plateau has undergone stratigraphic investigations and seismic
analyses, which have revealed some significant traits that may be summed up as
follows:

1. In general, synclines are wide, open formations that are divided by tight anticlines.
Most of the anticlines have steep, difficult-to-overturn dips in their axial zones.
Surface faulting is quite uncommon, despite the strong deformation in the anticlines'
cores

2. All layers above the gradually north-dipping basement show disharmonic folding
and thrusting, indicating that the Salt Range Formation is where the regional
decollement in the eastern Salt Range is located the decollement has not split up-
section into molasses Both foreland and hinterland dipping, as well as blind thrusts,
form the heart of surface folds. In the cores of nearby anticlines, salt has moved from
beneath synclines (Hussain et al, 2021).

3. In certain cases, basement offset appears to localize thrusting. Pop-up structures,

triangular zones, and fault propagation folds are all prevalent deformational patterns

3.5.2 Central Salt Range:

Central Salt Range is the region between Khewra and Warchha (cf. Gee and Gee
1989). Although the middle Salt Range's folds generally travel east to west, a few
nose-shaped anticlines with a northward plunge and a north-south tendency have also
developed. The Eocene formations are found as wide, east-west plunging anticlines
and synclines of various wavelengths, many of which are capped by the early

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Miocene strata. In the proximity of the Sakesar and Chorgali formations, for example,
between Dhariala and Kalar Kahar and westward via Vasnal and Khabakki, the
plunge variation has led to the creation of huge domes and basins.

The structural style of the central Salt Range can be classified into five categories:

(1) Small folds with an axis roughly parallel to the range front.
(2) High-angle faults.
(3) Small thrusts inside the allochthon.
(4) Diapiric salt formations.
(5) Strike-slip fault zones are among the geological features.

3.5.3 Western Salt Range:

The western Salt Range is designated as the region between the Warchha and
Kalabagh. The Salt Range makes a northwest turn after the Warchha region. This
direction shift is accompanied by a change in the formations' strike, which is caused
by intricate fault lineaments. The Kalabagh Fault System suddenly terminates the Salt
Range Thrust. Before bending to the west through many north-dipping reversal faults,
this fault stretches 20 km north of the Indus River. The Salt Range Formation creates
diapers along high-angle faults, such as the right-lateral rip faults, in the western Salt
Range and further north on the Kohat Plateau. Near the Indus River in Kalabagh is
where you may find the largest of these diapers. A folded belt that contains strata as
recent as the Siwaliks is the northern Salt Range. Late Quaternary gravels (Kalabagh
Formation) that are folded overly over the Siwaliks with angular unconformity
(Iaremchuk et al, 2017).

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