GEOLOGY OF PAKISTAN

AND THE ARABIAN SEA

GEOMORPHIC FEATURES

High Himalayas
Previously referred to as Great Himalayas (Burrad and
Hayden, 1908).
Extend E-W from the Indus gorge near Besham to the
Brahmaputra gorge in Assam, a distance of 2400 km.
Average crest-line altitude is over 6000m.
Upper reaches are snow covered; valley glaciers are present.
Deep transverse gorges, steep gradients, and frequent falls.
Western-most part of High Himalayas in Pakistan is Nanga
Purbat Range.
To the north this range is bounded by the Indus and to the
south by the Kishanganga river.
The E-W trending High Himalayan Range terminates against
the N-S trending Indus Kohistan Ranges at the Indus gorge.

The Indus Kohistan-Swat-Dir Ranges

Three N-S trending mountain ranges

Lesser Himalayas
The term Lesser Himalayas was first used by Burrad and
Hayden (1908) to describe a series of ranges closely
related to Great Himalayas
Two classes: a) those that branch off from the Great
Himalayas, such as Pir Panjal Ranges b) those that are
separate folds of lower elevation, seldom rising to above
12000 to 15000 feet (4,6000m). Average width is 50 miles.
They form sharp bends, and abrupt changes in orographic
axes. These features are described as arc, lobe, orocline,
re-enterant, hairpin bends, syntaxis, etc.
NW trending Pirpanjal ranges link up with SW trending
Hazara ranges through a sharp hairpin flexure. Variously
referred to as------ Parallel and sub-parallel to NE-SW Hazara Ranges are lower
and smaller Margalla Hills, the Kalachitta Range, the
Attock-Cherat Range, and the Safed Koh Range.

Continued: Lesser Himalayas and Subsidiary ranges

N-S trending Khyber Pass ranges are juxtaposed against
the E-W trending Safed Koh Ranges.
These enclose large alluvial filled Peshawar Basin.
South of Margalla and Kalachitta ranges lies the KohatPotwar Plateau.
This plateau is intensely dissected and has short, sharp
ridges and intervening valleys.
Their altitude ranges between 3000 and 550m and these
are covered with thin vegetation.
This Plateau is 150km long and 90km wide between the
Jhelum and Indus rivers.
It is traversed by numerous ridges, hogbacks and
cuestas.
The Salt Range forms the southern margin if this Plateau.
Cis-Indus and Trans-Indus Salt Ranges.

Continued: Lesser Himalayas and

Subsidiary ranges
The Trans-Indus Salt Range, to the west of Indus,
forms an S-shaped flexure or syntaxis.
It is comprised of relatively small Marwat, Bhitani,
Surghar and Khisor Ranges.
Steep cliffs and scarp form the southern margin of
the Salt Range, 600m higher than the Indus
Plain.
In Pakistan, the Lesser Himalayas and their
subsidiary ranges are drained by the rivers
Jhelum, Soan, Siran, Bara, Kohat Toi and Kurram.
They all join the Indus river.

The Sulaiman-Kirthar Mountains

These mountains form the eastern part of Balochistan
They extend for about 850km in a N-S direction from
south Waziristan up to the Arabian Sea.
Their width ranges from 390km in the north to about
190km in the south.
To the west Chaman-Nal-Ornach fault truncates these
ranges.
Eastward, the mountains overlook the vast Indus Plain.
They are comprised of three distinct orographic zones:
Sulaiman Mountain Ranges towards NE.
Quetta Syntaxis ranges around Zarghun Knot towards west.
Kirthar Mountain Ranges in the south extend form Zarghun Knot
to the Arabian Sea.

The Sulaiman Mountain Ranges

They have a lobate shape as a multi-strand garland comprised
of arcuate, parallel to subparallel and enechelon ranges.
They are from a few tens of km to 300km long.
Relief varies from a few hundred meters to 3,600 meters.
These can be divided into the following orographic zones:
The Kakar Orocline
The northern-most, east-west trending arcuate ranges form
Toba Kakar and Kakar Khorasan ranges.
These are relatively narrow and convex to south.
They are comprised of parallel to sub-parallel, enechelon hills
interrupted wide wind or water gaps.
On either side of these ranges there are wide basin plains.
Westward, the kakar ranges merge with the north-south
trending low ridges of the Khawja Amran ranges close to the
Afghan Border.
Eastward, the Kakar ranges curve northward and merge with
the hills in Waziristan region on Afghan border.

Continued: the Sulaiman

Mountain Ranges
The Sulaiman Composite Arc
This lies to the south of the Kakar Orocline .
This is nearly 300km long and 200km wide lobate mass of
narrow , parallel to sub-parallel, disjointed, enechelon,
arcuate, relatively low hill ranges and ridges that are
convex to south.
Their altitude gradually decreases from 3,400m to 1,000m
southward.
In the eastern part the trend is SW that changes to
westard and finally to NW.
Four main but disjointed mountain arcs may be
recognized south of Kakar Khurasan and Zhob valley.
E-W trending, 120km long, 600 to 1000m high Mari-Bugti
hills

Continued: The Sulaiman Mountain

Ranges
The Sulaiman Range
It is the most conspicuous mountain of the
Sulaiman system of ranges
It is N-S trending range that comprises eastern
margin of Sulaiman lobe.
It starts from south Waziristan and continues up
to Rajanpur for a distance of 400km.
It is 20-25km wide and its altitude varies from
3,440m in the north to 1600m in the south.
It is traversed by the narrow, deep gorges of
Zhob, Drazinda and many other rivers.
The Drazinda-Pirkoh Range flanks the Sulaiman
Range on the east.

Continued: The Sulaiman Mountain Ranges

The Zarghun Knot and the Quetta Syntaxis

West of Sulaiman system of ranges, between
Quetta and Sibi, there is a triangular mass of NWSE to N-S trending hills and ridges formed of
Neogene molasse sediments.
This is 190km long and 50km wide Sibi trough or
Zarghun knot.
The most conspicuous range is the Zarghun
range, which is (NE-SW) has the highest peak in
Balochistan (Loe Sar, 3583m).
The Zarghun Knot is like an orographic wedge that
separates the E-W trending ranges of Sulaiman
lobe and N-S trending ranges of the Kirthar belt.

The Kirthar Mountain Ranges

The Kirthar Mountain Ranges comprise a 560km long and
130-220km wide complex belt of N-S oriented mountain
ranges, intervening valleys and basins.
The Kalat Plateau
1,600-2,000m high, 250km long, and 110km wide plateau
It is traversed by narrow hill ranges and wide intervening
valleys and basins.
The major ranges are:Unilath Range, Mashelakh Range, The
Chiltan Range, Kohi Maran, the Harboi hills, the Brahui
Ranges
Thir altitude ranges from 2,500m to 3,100m.
The drainage , west of Harboi hills, runs parallel to the hill
ranges, while east of the ranges it flows transversely.
The major valleys west of the ranges in the region are:
Pahrod, Bhall Dor, Shirinab,etc.
East of the ranges, the main streams are: Sarawan, Sukhleji,
and pauch that follow transverse course.

The Kirthar Mountain Ranges

The Khuzdar Knot
This comprises a triangular tract about 75km long and
60km wide south of Kalat Plateau
This tract is comprised of hills and ranges in which strike
changes abruptly and repeatedly from N-S to east-west
or SW.
It consists of short, narrow, sinuous ridges and wide
expanses of flat irregular basin plains occurring in
between hills .
Altitude of the hills varies from 1800m to 2400m while
that of hills varies between 1000 and 1500m.
The area is drained by the tributaries of the Mula and
Kulachi rivers.

Continued: The Kirthar Mountain ranges

Lasbela Ranges
South of Kuzdar Knot the hills divide into two groups.
One group follows SSW direction and merges with Makran
Ranges.
The other group lies to the east and consists of SSE trending
Khude, Pab and Mor ranges.
Between these group of ranges lies the triangular 120km long
and 80km wide Porali Basin that extends southward upto the
Arabian Sea.
The Bela Ranges are drained by the Hub, Kanrach, Winder,
Porali and Kud rivers.
The Kirthat Ranges
The Kirthat Range comprises the eastern part of the Kirthar
Mountains.
It is 400km long and 30km wide N-S trending hill range and its
altitude varies from 1000m in the south to 2400m in the south.
The part north of Mula River is known as Nagau Range.

Continued: Kirthar Mountain

Ranges---The Kirthar Range
It is drained by Mula, Bolan, Panch, Sukhlegi, Gaj, and Nari
and Anaai rivers.
Initially these rivers flow parallel to the hill ranges but then
they turn abruptly eastward across the ranges and flow
through deep, narrow gorges.
The Karachi Arc
This Arc forms the southernmost part of the Kirthar
Mountains.
It is composed of parallel to sub-parallel, short, narrow,
arcuate, enechelon ridges and wide,dome shaped anticlinal
hills.
It forms 200km long and 50km wide zone from Karachi to
Sehwan.
The Bhit Range, Bhadra Range, Lakhi and Lakhra hills are
some of the prominent components.
The altitude varies from 250m in the south to 1100m in the
north.

The Makran Orocline Ranges

The Makran Ranges comprise an area 400km long and
250km wide in the SW corner of Pakistan.
Series of parallel ridges run E-W and NE making arcs,
some of which may be as long as 500km.
Main hill ranges are Siahan, Rakshan,Cen tral Makran,
Gokprosh-Garr, Jhao, Rudia and the Mekran Coastal
Ranges.
These ranges are comprised of parallel, sharp crested,
serrate ridges capped by sandstones.
The altitude of the hills varies between 2000m in the
north to 200-500m in the south.
There are valleys running in between the ridges, such as
Mand which is over 450km long.
The streams draining this region area: the Mashkel, the
Hingol, and Dasht rivers. There are several smaller
streams which drain the coastal region only.

The Chagai-Raskoh Range

These are relatively smaller, widely spaced and scattered mountain
ranges.
They stand out in a wide, open, flat expanse f an enclosed drainage
basin.
This is covered by sand, stones and dry playas.
The main streams draning into the basin include the Talab, Hamun-iLora, Baddo and Mashkel rivers.
There are four main hill tracts in this region:
i) Mirjawa Range: It is the westernmost, NW-SE trending narrow
broken chain along the Pak-Iran border. Its altitude varies between
700m in the south to over 2000m in the north.
ii) E-W trending chain of low hills run along Pak-Afghan border. It is
marked by a few craters of extinct volcanoes, e.g. Koh-i-Dalil (1484m),
Damo Din (1890m), and Koh-i-Sultan (2332m). These chains includes
50km wide area covered by sand dunes and 130km long , 50km wide,
2000 to 2400m high Chagai hills.
Impressive drainage pattern surround the extict volcanoes, while
dendritic, parallel to sub-parallel drainage network extends southward
into Hamun-i-Mashkel and amun-i-Lora playas .

Continued: The Chagai Raskoh Ranges

iii) Towards south, there is the very narrow and
low chain of E-W trending Rakhshani hills, which
are 180km long,2-5km wide and about 50-100m
high.
Parallel to the above and 20km towards south,
there is the Raskoh Range.
This is the largest and most conspicuous feature
of the area. It is 240km long, 50km wide and
1500m-3000m high.
It is like a wedge in the eastern part of the
enclosed basin of Hamun-i-Mashkel.

THE INDUS PLAIN

The Indus plain forms the eastern part of Pakistan.
It is bounded by the mountains to the north and west, by the
Arabian Sea to the south, and the Thar Desert to the east.
It is 1200km long and has a maximum width of 400km in the
north. It is narrow in the middle (only 12km wide) and
160km in the south.
The most conspicuous features in the Indus Plain are the
uplifted hills between Shahkot and Chiniot and small hillocks
near Khairpur, Hyderabad, and Thatta.
Their altitude in the north is 250m with a relief of 100m.
The Indus Plain is composed of vast thickness of sediments
brought by the Indus and its tributaries.
The Indus and its tributaries, which drain the Indus Plain
together have a catchment area of about 440,000 sq.km.
There are three types of streams in the drainage system:
perennial, misfit and ephemeral streams.

Continued: Indus Plain

The Indus Plain is composed of two broad, distict geomorphic
regions:
a) Piedmont zone (Indus Piedmont)
b) Central alluvial plain (Indus Plain)
Indus Piedmont
This piedmont zone forms the continuous sloping apron along
the foothills on the northern, northwestern, and western margin
of the central alluvial plain.
It is 16 to 24km wide but attain a width of 55km in the Dera
Ismail Khan area.
It is the steepest part of the Indus Plain and covers an area of
46,000 sq.km.
It comprises two distinct physiographic units:
a) Upper more steeply inclined Piedmont Plain.
Formed from coalescing of gravelly alluvial fans, slope:
b) Lower gently sloping Sub-piedmont plain.
Formed from deposition of finer sediments.
Slope: 20-10m/km and 5-2m/km respectively

Continued: Indus Plain

The Piedmont plain is characterized by gravel and
sand deposits, braided streams, and bad land
topography.
The Sub-piedmont plain is composed of fine
textured soil and is traversed by numerous, small,
meandering, dry channels which have their origin in
the upper Piedmont Plain.
Downstream, the Sub-piedmont plain merges with
central alluvial plain towards south.
The Central Alluvial Plain
This lies between the Indus Piedmont and the Thar
Desert.
It has a gentle southward slope ranging from 1.0m0.2m/km in the north and 0.1m/km or less in the
south near delta.

Continued: Indus Plain

It comprised of the present floodplains of the Indus and
its tributaries, their former courses and the courses of
extinct streams, the barr plains, the present and the old
deltaic flood plains and associated mud flats.
The present flood plains and delta are active geomorphic
features where geomorphic processes are operative.

The Indus Delta

The present delta of the Indus is triangular in shape and
extends from Thatta up to the Sea.
It covers an area of about 2,600 sq.km
Before the constructing of irrigation canal system the
delta was advancing @ 113 feet per year towards the
sea.
The Indus was transporting 300 million tons of silt to the
delta.

Continued: Indus Delta

After the construction of the canals and barrages across the
Indus and its tributaries, the annual discharge has been
greatly reduced.
The active delta has shrunk to mere 260 sq.km of triangular
zone near Keti Bander.
The Indus delta is one of the largest in the world.
It is seventh largest in the area and also seventh largest in
river discharge.
The Indus Delta has a relatively straight coastline compared to
the higly crenulate deltas of the Mississippi and Ganges rivers.
It receives the highest average wave energy of any major
delta in the world at a water depth of 10m.
At the shore it receives the 4th highest wave energy in the
world.
Most of the sediments discharged by the Indus settle on the
continental shelf

Continued: Indus delta

Some of the sediments are also transported to the SE by
the longshore currents.
Much of the load is directly transported to the Indus
canyan from where it goes to the Indus fan.
Indus fan is the largest physiographic feature of the
Arabian sea.
This sedimentary load makes bottom-water turbidites in
the Indus fan.
The present day deltaic complex consists of the deltaic
flood plain and the tidal delta.
The deltaic flood plain is characterized by the meander
belt deposits of the distributaries of the Indus which have
silted up
In between the meander belts of the distributaries there
are flood plains at a slightly higher level, formed by the
overflow from the distributaries.

Continued: Indus Delta

The lower margin of the flood plain is rimmed by
the tidal delta.
Owing to the silting up of distributary channels,
the tidal delta is cut off from the alluvial processes
and has assumed the form of a tidal mud flat.
Lower remnant of the distributaries have turned
into tidal creeks.
Immunity from floods has caused growth of
regular sandy beaches and a narrow zone of
coastal sand dunes.
The deltaic deposits mainly comprise interlayered
deposits of very fine sand, silt and clay.

The Thar Desert

Thar Desert is located on the eastern border of
Pakistan.
It extends beyond the border into India.
In Pakistan it covers an area of about 75,000 sq.km.
It is mainly comprised of longitudinal, transverse, and
barchan sand dunes, and also some forms of sand
dunes transitional between the above three types.
Based on the dune characteristics Thar Desert may be
divided into four zones which, from south to north, are
as follows:
a) Zone of stabilized longitudinal dunes
b) Zone of Barchan dunes
c) Zone of transverse sand ridges and mixed dunes
d) The Desert fringe zone
Zone of Stabilized Longitudinal Dunes

Continued: Thar Desert: Zone of

Stabilized Longitudinal Sand
Dunes

This zone covers the southern part of the Desert and is

comprised of NE trending, stabilized, 6-10km long sand
dunes forming ridges.
These ridges occur in en echelon fashion and coalesce
to form larger ridges up to 32 km long.
They are relatively narrow , being 200-250m wide.
They have steep slopes and a relief of 20-100m.
Between these dune ridges, there are small, elongated
flat depressions or basins covered by thin loamy sandy
soil.
Towards south playas occur between these dunes.
Zone of Barchan Dunes
Toward NE of the previous zone occurs a relatively
small zone of active and moving barchans.

Continued: The Thar Desert-The

Zone of Barchan Dunes
Swarms of Barchan sand dunes are arranged along
narrow sand riges.
Their relief varies from 3m-15m, and the larger ones are
30-65m wide.
Southwestward, these moving dunes are in direct
contact with the stabilized long dune ridges.
Zone of Transverse Sand Ridges and mixed dunes
This zone extends northeastward from near Nawabshah
to Bahawapur.
It is characterized by parallel ridges of transverse sand
dunes.
They have serrate appearance.
They have a long gentle windward slope and a narrow,
near vertical leeward slope.

Continued: The Thar Desert-Zone

of Transverse sand ridges

On the leeward side there are mud flats.

The ridges are 3-6km long and 3-16m high.
Most of the ridges are stabilized or in a state of stabilization.
The continuity of the ridges is broken by the influx of sand in
the form of barchan or small longitudinal dunes
The Desert Fringe
The Desert Fringe occupies a large area between the Desert
and the central alluvial plain.
It is the part of the flood plain which has been invaded by
the Desert in relatively recent times.
Hakra River near Fort Abbas (17th and 18the century).
In this region, the sand dunes occur in intermittent patches
and in between there are large irregularly shaped mud flats.
Fresh barchans are forming and moving into this region.

The Thal Desert

This is a relatively small desert that lies between the
Jhelum and Indus rivers (interfluve) south of the Salt
Range.
It is about 275km long and its maximum width is 100km.
It is largly comprised of low longitudinal sand ridges,
transverse ridges, barchan dunes and sands.

THE COAST AND THE OFFSHORE

The Seacoast
The Pakistan coastline stretches E-W for nearly 700 km.
East of Karachi 200 km of the crenulated deltaic coast is
cut by numerous tidal creeks.
Fringing the sub-aerial delta there is the narrow 10-15 km
wide subaqueous delta.
Near Karachi, the coasline bends sharply northwad.

The Coast and the Offshore-The Seacoast

After a short distance the coastline forms a 60 km loop
around Somiani Bay.
At the head of the Bay there is the Miani Hor Lagoon.
West of Somiani Bay the coastline is fairly regular,
though slightly indented at Ras Malan, followed by a
hammer-head shaped projection at Ormara (Ras Ormara).
Near Pasni it makes a small loop and encloses Pasni Bay.
Further to the west, there are more hammer head shaped
projections of the coast near Gawadar enclosing the
Gawadar east Bay and Gawadar West Bay and the
Gawadar Bay.
In this region of Makran there is an elevated 16-32km
wide coastal plain.
The Makran coast is comprised of 15-65m high rocky cliff.
This coast is punctuated with small scattered hills, ridges
and is extensively covered with sand dunes.

Continued: The Coast

Numerous small ephemeral streams drain the coastal
ranges and traverse the plain.
Uplifted coastal terraces
A number of isolated terraces, characterized by wave-cut
platforms occur along the coast from Karachi to Jiwani.
Some of these rise 260m above the coastal plain.
They are largely comprised of calcareous Chatti mudstone
covered with beach and near shore sediments including
dune deposits.
The sequence capping the terraces contain abundant
remains of corals, clams, oysters and other wave resistant
forms.
Some of these terraces capped by these Quaternary
deposits stand 500m above sea level.
This indicates recent uplift in the coastal area.

Continued: The Coast-Terraces

Besides uplifted marine terraces, the following 3
types of terraces are also present on the coast:
Structural terraces
These are flat uplands capped or protected by hard
resistand beds. These have been formed by
erosion.
Stream terraces :
A sequence of four fluvial terraces occurs above the
valley floors of the present streams.
Submarine terraces
These are offshore, submerged terraces which
resemble coastal terraces.
These are believed to have been formed either by
faulting or lowering of sea level.

Continued: The Coast-Terraces

The uplifted terraces have been dated to show that
transgression occurred 30,000 to 25,000 years ago when
the sea stood approximately at the present level.
It was followed by regression that reached its lowest
level (at least 90m lower than the present sea level)
about 20,000 to 17,000 years BP.
Oman Abyssal Plain And Submarine Ridges
The sea shelf is 130 km wide off the Indus Delta.
It narrows down to 20 km to 50 km along the Makran
coast.
The sea slope is 250 km wide off Indus Delta region.
It is 60-90 km wide along Makran coast.
The sea is characterized by some important
physiographic features

Continued: The Offshore-Oman Abyssal Plain

South of Makran coast there is a triangular, about
350 km long, 120 km wide, and 3,200m deep Gulf
of Oman Abyssal Plain.
The Oman promontory of the Arabian Shield forms
its western margin.
Eastward, it is bounded by the submarine Murray
Ridge.
This is slightly arcuate ridge which extends 750
km southwestward from near Karachi.
Its relief varies from 2000m to 3500m.
It consists of a series of ridges, seamounts, and
small basins arranged in a linear pattern.
Southward, the Murray links up with the Owen
Fracture Zone.

Continued: The Offshore-Indus

Submarine Fan and the Indus
Canyon

East of Murray Ridge lies the vast Indus Submarine Fan, which
is the most pronounced feature off the coast of Pakistan.
It is the second largest submarine fan in the world after the
Ganges Fan.
It extends 1,500 km southward from the Indus Delta up to the
Carlsberg Ridge.
The chain of Chagos-Laccadive- Laxmi forms its eastern
boundary.
The water depths of the fan range from 1400-1600m in the
north to 4,500 m in the south near Carlsberg Ridge..
Off the Indus Delta in the shelf slope region of the fan there is
the Indus Canyon.
It is the spectacular offshore feature, 170 km long, and 8 km
wide.

Continued: Indus Submarine Fan

and the Indus Canyon
It commences from the water depth of 20-30m on the
shelf and ends at 1,400m depth at the foot of the
continental slope.
The Indus Canyon is 20 km wide at its distal end with
a relief of 325m.
Seismic surveys have revealed relicts of older canyons
west of the main present one.
Headwards, the canyons merge into one extensive
erosional zone, the Indus Trough.
Seawards, they lead into many channels in the upper
Indus Fan.
Three sedimentary basins separated by ridges exist in
the upper Indus Fan. These are: the Offshore Indus
Basin, the Eastern Basin and Western Basin.

GEOLOGY OF PAKISTAN &

THE ARABIAN SEA
REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL
SETTING

REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL SETTING

All the continents had drifted in the late Paleozoic time to
form a continuous land mass, the supercontinent of
Pangaea.
This landmass remained intact for 100 Ma.
It was surrounded by a universal ocean, the Pathalasa.
An arm of this ocean, the Tethys, wedged into Pangea to
form northern and southern parts of Pangaea.
By Late Triassic Pangaea had split into two supercontinentsLaurasia to the north and Gondwanaland to the south.
Eurasia is comprised of three broad geological divisions
from north to south: Laurasian, Tethyan, and Gondwanian
domains.
Also, it is recognized that Eurasia is comprised of many
crustal blocks of various sizes sutured along ophiolite belts.
Several of these blocks were accreted to the Lauasia since
the Carboniferous.

Continued: Regional Geological Setting

Most of these are fragments of
Gondwanaland------ Present day EurasiaLarasian domain and
Tethyan domain.
Southward this domain is followed by Arabian and
Indian shields, both of which have also been
detached from Gondwanaland and are the last
ones to be accreted to Eurasia
These two have been designated Gondwanian
domain.
Pakistan is located at the junction of the
Gondwanian and Tethyan domains.

TECTONIC FRAMEWORK OF PAKISTAN

Geodynamic Setting
The Indian ocean and the Himalayas surrounding the IndoPakistan subcontinent have a common origin.
Both are product of geodynamic processes of seafloor
spreading, continental drift and collision tectonics.
Propelled by the geodynamic forces, the Indian Plate
travelled 5000 km northward and finally collided with
Eurasia.
Closure of the Neotethys-formation of Indian ocean.
Collision formed the Himalayas and adjacent mountain
ranges
Northward Drift of India and Opening of Indian Ocean
Separation from Gondwanaland 130 million years ago.
Precise location of India within Gondwanaland is uncertain.
Indias pre-drift location vis--vis Australia, Antarctica and
Madagascar has remained problematic as-----------

Continued: Tectonic Framework

Topography of the Indian Ocean and its seafloor spreading
pattern is complex.
Magnetic lineation on the older parts of the ocean
between the continents are absent.
Thus, while fixing Indias position, together with
geological and bathymetric arguments, various
assumptions have been made concerning relative
positions of Madagascar, Chagos Trench, and the
Mauritius Fracture Zone, and the rotation of various
plates.
Magnetic Anomalies: Anomalies 33 and 32 are the earliest
ones on which reconstruction of the Indian ocean and the
relative positions of India and other continents are based.
It is believed that Chagos trench and the Mauritius
Fracture Zone were linked and a transform fault extended
along Ninety East ridge.

Continued: Opening of the Indian Ocean

The precursor of the Mid-Indian Ridge at the south of Sri
Lanka propelled India northward.
Chagos-Maritius and Ninety East transform faults on its
either side facilitated its northward movement.
Australia and Antarctica remained connected at this time
as a single continent.
Mada gascar, Africa, and South America had already
separated.
Between 130 ma and 85ma India moved northward at 3-5
cm per year. Thereafter, its rate of movement accelerated.
80 ma ago, India moved at an average rate of 16 cm/year
to cover a distance of 5,000 km between the matching set
of anomalies 21 and 32, relative to Antarctica and
Australia.
According to some this rate, before anomalies 22 (50 ma)
was between 15 and 25 km / year.

Continued: Indias Northward Drift

The movement was facilitated by the transform faulting in
the Proto Owen fracture zone and sea floor spreading along
the Mid-Indian ridge.
Extensive extrusion of Deccan Trap Basalt occurred between
60-65 Ma during fast northward movement of India.
The Neotethys began to shrink as the India started its
northward drift about 130 m.y. ago.
Intra oceanic subduction generated a series of island arcs,
e.g. Kohistan-ladakh, Nuristan ,Qandhar during the
Cretaceous.
Kohistan-Ladakh arc has been studied in detail.
The mafic/ultramafic arc sequence of this arc formed during
this stage.
This arc was intruded by granitoid 102 Ma prior to collision.
This was followed by intra-arc rifting and magmatism.
The magmatism continued for 40 m.y.

Continued: Kohistan-Ladakh Island Arc

After that the back-arc basin closed and the arc collided with
Eurasia along the southern margin of Karakoram plate.
After accretion the arc formed an Andean type continental
margin.
The time of collision estimated based on stratigraphy,
structure, and geochemistry of Kohistan-Karakoranm regionis
Turonian period (a Late Cretaceous age93.5-89.3 Ma).
India-Eurasia Collision and Himalayan Upheaval
Continued subduction of the Neo-Tethys beneath KohistanLadakh arc and Eurasia resulted in complete consumption of
the leading oceanic edge of the Indian plate.
This eventually resulted in the collision of Indian plate with
the Kohistan-Ladakh arc between 55 and 50 Ma.
The collision caused abrupt slowing down of indias
movement .

Continued: India-Eurasia Collision

The northward drift of India dramatically slowed down
at the time of anomaly 22 (50 Ma) due to collision
(Patriat and Achache, 1984).
Also, closure of Neotethys was completed at this time
in Tibet.
New paleomagnetic data from Ninety East indicates
slowing down of the movement from 18-19.5 cm to 4.5
cm / year occurred at 55+ Ma (klootwijk, 1992).
This agrees with the reduction of spreading rate along
the Mid-Indian Ridge at magnetic anomaly 24.
According to Klootwijik (1992) the initial contact of NW
Greater India with Asia was established at 65 Ma, when
it had crossed the equator.
It is noted that slowing down of Indias northward
movement coincided with separation of Australia and
Antarctica 45 Ma.

Continued: India-Australia Plate

A combined Indian-Australian plate had started moving
away from Atarctica.
Motion ceased along the former plate boundary (Ninety
East).
Proto-Owen fracture remained no longer a transform fault.
It was reactivated later 20 m.y. ago.
The direction of relative motion between major plates
changed significantly resulting in complicated pattern of
various seafloor features.
Since 45 Ma India has steadily rotated counters clockwise.
Coupled with separation of Arabia from Africa 20 Ma, this
rotation has caused convergence in Balochistan, closure of
some of the smaller basins (Seistan, Katawaz), collision of
various crustal blotancks in Afghanis-Iran region.
This also gave rise to Balochistan fold and thrust belt.

Continued: India-Australia Plate

The India-Eurasia collision produced spectacular
Himalayas along uplifted and deformed 2,500 km
long Indo-Pakistan Plate margin.
Occurrence of ophiolites. Compression tectonics
began after deposition of Early Eocene
Nummulitic limestone.

GEOLOGY OF PAKISTAN &

THE ARABIAN SEA
TECTONIC ZONES OF
PAKISTAN

TECTONIC ZONES
Pakistan is located at the junction of the Gondwanian
and Tethyan domains.
Southeastern part of Pakistan belongs to
Gondwanian Domain and is comprised of IndoPakistan crustal plate.
The northernmost part and western regions of
Pakistan belong to Tethyan domain
On the basis of plate tectonic features, geological
structures, orogenic history and lithofacies Pakistan
may be divided into following broad tectonic zones:
1) Indus Platform and Foredeep
2) East Balochistan fold-and-thrust belt
3) Northwest Himalayan fold-and-thrust belt
4) Kohistan-Ladakh magmatic arc

Continued: Tectonic Zones

5) Karakoram Block
6) Kakar Khorasan flysch basin and Makran Accretionary
Zone
7) Chagai Magmatic Arc
8) Pakistan offshore
INDUS PLATFORM AND FOREDEEP
This zone extends over an area exceeding 25,000 sq.km in
southeastern Pakistan.
It includes the Indus plain and Thar-Cholistan deserts.
It hosts more than 80% of Pakistans population, extensive
coal deposits, valuable oil and gas fields, potential for
geothermal energy, and vast groundwater reservoirs.
Gravity and seismic surveys and limited borehole data
indicate that in eastern part Precambrian rocks form a
gentle westward dipping monocline.

Continued: Indus Platform and Foredeep

These Precambrian rocks are covered by a veneer of
Mesozoic to Cenozoic marine to deltaic sediments.
However, there are broad zones of upwarp and downwarp
which are well defined by gravity surveys.
The sedimentary cover is relatively thin in upwarp zones.
The downwarps contain a thick sedimentary pile,
particularly in the foredeep toward west, where
sedimentary cover is about 10,000m thick.
Main structural zones of the Indus Plain and Foredeep
Burried ridges
Sargodha-Shahpur ridge
Nagar Parkar ridge

Zone of upwarp
Mari-Khandkot high
Jacobabad Khairpur high

Continued: Indus Platform and Foredeep

-Thatta- Hyderabad high
-Tharparkar high
Zones of downwarp and platform slope
-Northern Punjab monocline
-Southern Punjab monocline
-Cholistan shelf
-Panno Aqil graben
-Nawabshah slop
-Lower Indus trough
-Nabisar slope
Foredeeps
-Sulaiman Foredeep
-Kirthar Foredeep

Continued: Indus Platform and Foredeep

The Jacobabad Khairpur high divides the Indus Platform
into two segments.
The lower segment is comprised of the Lower Indus
trough.
It is bound by Nawabshah and Nabisar slopes, which are
inturn flanked by Thatta-Hydterabad and Tharparkar highs.
The upper segment in Punjab is traversed by SargodhaShahpur ridge, splitting it into northern Punjab (KhushabGujranwala) monocline and southern Punjab (MianwaliBahawalpur) monocline and Cholistan shelf.
Westward, the Indus Platform sharply steepens to form the
Sulaiman and Kirthar foredeeps.

Basement Rocks and Structures

Rocks:Precambrian rocks (Kirana Group) crop out in the
form of small monadnocks in the Sargodha-Shahkot
region.

Continued: Basement rocks and Structures

These are the exposed summits of the buried
Sargodha-Shahpur ridge.
These are comprised of metasediments (phyllites,
quartzites) and metavolcanics.
Some of these rocks have given an isochron age of
870 Ma.
Precambrian igneous rocks crop our in the form of
small scattered hillocks in Nagarparkar area.
In the eastern part these rocks are shallow seated
and gently slope westward.
Structures
Geophysical surveys and remote sensing studies
indicate that the basement is extensively traversed
by NNE, NE, NNW, and E-W trending faults.

Continued: Basement rocks and Structures

Most of these faults are apparantly Late Cretaceous and
thus affect Mesozoic and earlier rocks.
In Sindh they are largely concealed beneath the Duccan
Trap basalts and younger sedimentary rocks.
Subsurface seismic profiles indicate that in the foredeep
zone and in Jacobabad-Kandhkot zone some of the faults
are likely to be post Eocene and post Miocene.
Most of the Cretaceous basement faults and rift structures
are likely to be associated with detachment of Indian
plate from Gondwanaland.
Tertiary faults may have resulted from bending of the
crustal plate due to collision and compression release.
Some of these faults are extensional features while others
are strike-slip faults.
The Cutch fault is an active fault that caused 1819
earthquake.

Continued: Basement Structures

The Punjab Seismic Zone is also comprised of buried
active faults.
The western margin of the Foredeep is also seismically
active and contains a number of active faults.

Sedimentary Cover
The Indus platform and Foredeep are covered by
unconsolidated Quaternary deposits with a maximum
thickness of up to 500m.
They constitute vast reservoir of groundwater.
They are underlain by Siwalik mollase in northern and
western part of the Indus platform and foredeep region.
South of Sargodha-Shahpur ridge and extending up to
Kadhkot-Mari high, the Quaternary deposits are
underlain by post Eocene, largely fluviatile deposits
(Nari and Murree Forfmations)

Continued: Sedimentary Cover

In the southern part of Platform, east of Indus, the
Quaternary deposits are underlain by Paleogene
marine and deltaic sedimentary rocks.
This shallow sedimentary sequence islikely to
contain secondary source of groundwater aquifers in
non-marine facies
Vast deposits of coal have already been discovered
in the Lower Paleogene sequence of Sindh.
The Precambrian and Paleozoic sequence is
restricted to Punjab part of the Platform and the
Sulaiman foredeep.
Structure
The sedimentary cover of the Indus Platform and
Foredeep is comprised of several large, gently

Continued: Sedimentary Cover

In the Panjab part of the Platform gas reserves have been forund
in Mesozoic sandstone at Nandapur and Panjpir.
In Kandhkot-Mari horst gas occurs in Eocene carbonates.
The Jacobabad-Khairpur horst gas occurs in Eocene carbonates
and in Jurassic and Triassic sandstones.
In Badin region of Sindh oil and gas occurs in sandstones of
Cretaceous Goru Formation in structural traps.
North and west of Indus Platform and foredeeps the sedimentary
cover has been deformed extensively by the collision of the
Indian plate with Eurasia.
It forms broad and extensive fold-and-thrust belt characterized
by fold festoons, arcuate and sinuous fold axis and intervening
syntaxial bends.
Sutures
The marginal fold-and-thrust belt is divided in two main parts,
the Himalayan fold-and-thrust belt in the north and the East
Blochistan fold-and-thrust belt in the west.
These two zones differ considerably in basement, structure, etc.

EAST BALOCHISTAN FOLD-ANDTHRUST BELT

This zone of fold-and-thrust belt is 60 km to 150 km
wide and 1250 km in the length along the strike.
It extends from Waziristan in the north through Loralai,
Bugti area, Quetta syntaxis, down south to Khuzdar,
Karachi and further down to Indus Delta and Arabian
Sea.
Sulaiman and Kirthat foredeep lie to the east of the fold
and-thrust belt.
On the west this belt is truncated by the ChamanOrnach-Nal and Gazabund faults.
Towards north it is truncated by E-W trending
Himalayan fold-and-thrust belt.
The East Balochistan fold-and-thrust belt is a product of
transpression and oblique collision of Indo-Pak Plate
with Eurasian plate (Afghan Block).

Continued: East Balochistan Foldand-thrust belt

This belt is underlain by a thinner transitional or
oceanic crust (Jadoon, 1989, 1996)
The basement is covered by a 10 km thick
Phanerozoic sedimentary cover.
Towards the hinterland this zone consists of a
thrust belt characterized by schuppen structures,
nappes, klippes of ophiolites and melanges.
Inwards, there is a broad folded zone with narrow
anticlinal hills and wide synclinal valleys.
Magmatism is restricted to basic dikes and sills in
the Mesozoic sequence.
Metamorphism is seen only in the ophiolite
sequence present in the belt.

Continued: East Balochistan foldand-thrust Belt

The East Balochistan forld-and-thrust belt contains more
than 10 km thick sequence of Permian to Mesozoic shelf
carbonates, netritic shale and volcanics, Paleogene
shallow-water interlayered marine and continental
deposits and Neogene molasse.
Since the India-Eurasia collision, the deposition centres
and the deformation have migrated to south and
eastward towards the foreland.
The outer part of East Balochistan fold-and-thrust,
towards the west, is comprised of over 550 km long and
20 to 40 km wide imbricate zone of thrusts and nappes
and melanges.
This belt is in two parts: the Zhob ophiolites-and-thrust
belt in the north and Bela ophiolite- and-thrust belt in
the south.

Bela Ophiolite-and-Thrust Belt

The Belt
From the sea coast the Belt extends northward for about
320 km to terminate against Khuzdar knot.
It is bounded on the east and west by Pab and OrnachNal faults respectively.
It is composed of thick, broken, and faulted sequence of
Early Mesozoic to Neogene rocks.
Above the Sembar/Parh Formation, there is stratigraphic
break indicated by erosion, lava flows and volcanic
boulder conglomerates.
The Kanar Melangre and Bela ophiolites tectonically
overlie sembar and Parh Formations.
Shirinab Formation is intensely deformed into tight and
steep isoclinal folds derived from pre-Himalayan orogeny.
A region of deformation, magmatism, uplift, erosion and
sedimentation since Early Mesozoic.

Continued: Bela Ophiolites

Cotinental collision and Himalayan orogeny..
Two different types of basalt in Bela belt.
Emplacement of ophiolites was preceded by continental
volcanism
Continental basalt of Porali volcanics---a hotspot activity
According to Sarwar and De Jong, Bela ophiolites formed
along a leaky transform fault or fracture zone.
Structure
The general structure of the Bela thrust-and ophiolite
belt includes nappes, thrust slices of ophiolites, and
intense faulting.
Reverse, normal and tear faults are common.
The region is characterized by short, tight, and steeply
dipping, isoclinal complex folds.
Adjacent fold axes are offset or truncated by faults.

Continued: Bela Ophiolites

The Kanar Melange
The Kanar Melange that is thrust over Parh ls. is
composed of clasts derived both from the oceanic
crust and continental rocks.
It contains huge blocks of ophiolites, Shirinab and
Sembar Formation (hundreds of meters in
dimentsion)
The ophilite suite in melange includes scattered
fragments and blocks of serpentinite, diabase,
gabbro and massive pillowed lavas.
Exotic blocks of Porali Volcanic Conglomerate,
biogenic limestone, schists, brachiopod bearing ls.,
grey and pink granite also occur in Kanar melange.
According to Dejong and Subhani, whole Bela
ophiolite belt may be considered a megamelange.

Continued: Bela Ophiolites

It occurs as a tectonic wedge.
I t is thought of as part of a volcanic island arc
sequence on continental crust.
The Mor intrusives form sill and dikes in the Shirinab
and Sembar Formations; their petrology and
geochemistry is similar to the Porali Volcanic clasts.
Ophiolites
According to Dejong and Sarwar, Bela ophiolites are
largely composed of 3-5km thick sequence of pillow
basalt, interflow cherts, argillites, limestones, and
gabbro-diabase sills.
Small bodies of granite and oceanic plagiogranite occur
as intrusive bodies within ophiolites near Khuzdar.
The age of ophiolites determined on the basis of fauna
is Aptian-Early Maestrichtian (Sarwar, 1979).

Zhob Ophiolite-and thrust belt

It lies 20 to 40km to the north of the northern edge of
Bela ophiolite belt.
Neogene to Recent deposits between them.
NNW trending Hund River Fault
Anjira-Ghazan fault that separates Khuzdar knot from
the Kalat Plateau.
The Zhob Fault and Bhall Dhor Fault define the
northern and western margins of the Zhob-ophioliteand-thrust belt.
A series of thrust faults, such as Kurram fault, Murgha
Kibzai Fault zone, Chiltan Fault, Saran Tangi Fault, etc.
demarcate its eastern and southern limits.
This belt is largely comprised of small nappes, thrust
sheets and foult blocks containing outcrops of
Mesozoic to Neogene sediments and obducted masses
of melanges of ophiolites.

Continued: Zhob Ophiolite-and-thrust Belt

The belt extends NW from west of Nal through Quetta
syntaxis to Zhob and Kurram agency
The Belt terminates against the Sarobi Fault and the MBT.
The Belt between Mashkai and Quetta largely consists of
thrust blocks and slices of highly deformed Shirinab
Formation faulted against Sember and Parh Formations.
Between Quetta and Zhob this Belt finds its widest and
best expression with thick imbricates of Mesozoic rocks,
enormous slabs of obducted melanges and ophiolites and
small nappes of Cretaceous to Paleogene sedimentary
rocks.
These tectonites are uncomformably overlain by Eocene
Ghazij Formation and Nisai Ls. and Neogene molasse.
The Zhob Ophiolites occurs as tectonic clippe and thrust
sheets overlying the Mesozoic sequence or slices within
the imbricated Mesozoic blocks.

Continued: Zhob Ophiolites

The melange contains clasts with Maechtrichtian fossils
and is overlain by Eocene limestone.
It is inferred that they were obducted during Paleocene
and Early Eocene.
Large bodies of ophiolites occur only in Zhob-Waziristan
region.
In Muslimbagh area, thrust sheets of ophiolites overlie
the melanges which in turn have thrust over the
Mesozoic sequence.
The Zhob Melange sequence is comprised of an upper
thrust sheet of ophiolitic melange with blocks of
serpentinites, gabbro, basalt, radiolarite and marble.
It is underlain by another older melange comprised of
shaly matrix with large blocks of tuffs, pillow lavas,
serpentinites, pelagic carbonates and large olistholiths
of various types.

Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold Belt

Introduction
It is 1250 km long and 75 km wide structurally complex
zone.
It has faulted contacts with fold and thrust belts in the
north and west.
Towards south and east folds gradually lose amplitude to
merge with foredeeps.
It is comprised of up to 10 km thick Jurassic to Recent
sequence of sedimentary rocks.
The sequence forms relatively broad upright or
asymmetrical folds.
Based on tectonic style and surface structures the
Sulaiman and Kirthar fold belt may be divided into a
number of tectonostratigraphic zones.

Continued: Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold Belt

Sulaiman Arc
This is comprised of East-west trending arcuate, convex
to south folds.
This is Jurassic to Recent sedimentary / stratigraphic
sequence
There is a widespread unconformity between Paleocene
Dungan Limestone and the Cretaceous Parh Limestone.
This is marked by a thick band of laterite cropped out
between Loralai and Kuch.
Protolith of laterite?
Intrusion near Loralai
Volcano near Kohllu?
Folds are open, upright, parallel, sub-parallel and
enechelon.

Continued: Sulaiman Arc

Northward, topographic relief is accentuated, folds
become tighter and asymmetrical.
The folds are cut by various types of faults (normal,
reverse, thrust, tear).
In the northern and central part of the belt, there are
extensive, high angle reverse faults, e.g. Ziarat, Khalifat,
Mekhtar, Kohku, and Barkan faults.
There are several large NW and NNW trending strike-slip
faults along its eastern and western margin respectively,
e.g. Harnai, Tatra, Kingri, Sulaiman, Moghalkot faults, etc.
These strike-slip faults are important components of the
syntaxis
It is believed that the lobate geomentry has resulted from
southward translation of the deformation front along a
decollement bounded by tear faults.

Continued: Sulaiman Fold Belt

Seismic reflection data has shown the presence of
duplex bounded by a passive roof thrust in Cretaceous
shale and a floor thrust above the crystalline basement.
The sedimentary wedge is more than 10 km.
Seismic profiles show that there Eocambrian evaporites
may not be present in this area.
There may be a basal decollement in the pelitic rocks or
fine carbonates above the crystalline basement at a
depth of 14 km.
At this depth temperatures may be in the range of 350
o C, which is sufficient to make the sediments ductile.
Forward propagating duplexes of massive Jurassic
limestone are seen in a section.
Jadoon has shown sequential development of structures
in the area.

Continued: Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold Belt: Sibi Trough

Sibi trough is bounded by the Sulaiman arc and
Kirthar fold belt on the east and west.
Zhob thrust belt and Kirthar fold belt bound it to the
north and south.
In this trough, a 15 km thick sequence of Triassic to
Recent sedimentary rocks lies above the basement.
The upper 7,000m is Siwalik molasse.
In the northern part, Siwaliks is overlain by 1600m
thick Plio-Pleistocene Urak Conglomerate caps the
Zarghun range.
This is the loftiest mountain in Balochistan (3562m).
Fan fold type anticlinal structures traverse the Sibi
Trough in a NE to E-W direction.
Orienntation of fold axes change from north to south.

Continued: Sibi Trough

Folds vary greatly in size and their axes become
sinuous at places.
According to Kazmi, the Sibi Trough lies over a
decollement in the thick incompetent Ghazij shale.
It appears that the Sibi Trough is wedged in between
duplex sequences of Sulaiman arc and Kirthat fold belt.
KIRTHAR FOLD BELT
This fold belt is 380 km long and 50 to 70 km wide,
north-south trending folded zone between Quetta and
Karachi.
It is bounded by Bela-Zhob ophiolite belt to the
northand west.
It is bounded by the Sibi Trouh and Kirthar foredeep
and Indus Platform to the east.

Continued: Kirthar fold belt

Stratigraphic sequence in this belt consists of Jurassic to
Recent sedimentary rocks
Based on the varous tectonic styles and stratigraphy, the
belt may be divided into a number of smaller structural
units that are as follows:
Kalat Anticlinorium
It forms the northernmost part of this belt.
It is largely comprised of thick to massive Jurassic
limestone
It consists of 20-50 km long NNE trending, paralles or
enechelon, doubly plunging anticlinal hill ranges.
These include some of the tallest peaks in Balochistan.
The anticlines are broad, relatively steep limbs and flatter
crests.
Several normal and reverse faults cut these folds.

Continued: Kalat
Anticlinorium
The anticlinal hills are separated by equally wide
synclinal valleys.
Valleys are covered by alluvium underlain by Cretaceous
and Paleogene shale and limestone.
Westward this zone is separated from the Zhob thrust
belt by the Sariab-Saran Tangi Thrust Fault
Eastward, it is faulted against the Zarghun basin of the
Sibi Trough and the fold belt of Nagau Range.
Kalat Plateau
This lies to the south of Kalat anticlinorium.
I t has thrust contacts with Zhob thrust belt and the
folded zone of Nagau Range to the west and east
respectively.

Continued: Kalat Plateau

It is apparently a subsided block or depression filled
with Eocene Kirthar limestone.
This depression forms a gently undulating synclinorium
with small folds.
Reverse and tear faults are common.
Westward, this Limestone is faulted against the rocks of
Triassic to cretaceous age.
Eastward, this overlies Lower Eocene Ghazij and
Paleocene Dungan Formations.
Northward, the anticlinal hill ranges are composed of
massive Jurassic Chiltan Limestone
Structures in the south do not correspond with those of
the north.
It is believed that in the south Paeogene sequence sits
on a decollement based in the thick plastic Ghazij shale.

Continued: Kalat Plateau

Southward, the left-lateral Anjira-Ghazan fault
separates mildly deformed Paleogene Kalat Plateau
from intensely deformed Mesozoic sequence of
Khuzdar Knot.
Khuzdar Knot
It is an enigmatic and an irregular shaped structural
feature.
It is 70 km long and 50 km wide.
It is bounded by faults to north, east and west.
It is an intensely deformed zone but the intensity
decreases towards south.
Thick massive Jurassic sequence forms scattered,
irregularly oriented, tightly folded anticlinal hills
separated by narrow small valleys and basins.

Continued: Khuzdar Knot

These basins are filled with tightly folded Cretaceous shale
and thin limestone, uncomformably overlain by less deformed
Kirthar Limestone.
The anticlinal axes trend in almost every direction from NE, NS
to NW.
They are invariably curved, wiggly or even form U shaped
bends.
The synclines are narrow, branching structures making
valleys.
The general structural trend around the knot is N-S, NNE, and
NNW, but within the Knot it is chaotic. Folding is disharmonic.
It is suspected that the Khuzdar Knot lies over a decollement
in the evaporite sequence above the basement.
This feature coupled with transpressional and compressional
tectonics gave rise to the caotic structure of Khuzdar Knot.

Khude Rang Fold Belt

The Belt is 200 km long, about 10 to 30 km wide,
situated south of Khuzdar Knot.
Along the western margin, it is separated from the
Bela ophiolite-and-thrust belt by the Pab fault.
On the eastern side it is separated from the NagauKirthar fold belt by the Kirthar Thrust fault.
Its western part is covered by Paleogene
sedimentary rocks which fill a narrow elongated
synclinal trough.
The eastern part comprises a number of parallel or
enechelon anticlinal folds with Jurassic to Cretaceous
rocks exposed in the cores.
In the Khude belt the folds are simple, linear features
with a NNW trend. Soutward, they swing to the SW.

Nagau-Kirthar Fold Belt

It forms the inner and eastern part of the Kirthar fold
belt.
It covers the Nagau and Kirthar Ranges.
It forms 10-30 km wide belt.
It consists of shallow marine to deltaic and estuarine
Paleogene sequence.
This forms high hill ranges in the western part.
Thick Neogene molasse forms relatively low ranges in
the eastern part.
Folds are tight, doubly plunging, N-S trending, parallel
to subparalles and enechelon oriented.
Reverse and tear faults are common.
The western margin of the belt is truncated by reverse
or thrust faults, such as Nagau, Zardak, Kirthar and
Hub faults.

Continued: Nagau-Kirthar Fold Belt

Eastern side of the belt is characterised by steeply
dipping anticlinal folds of Eocene Lumestone.
This Limestone forms the steep frontal culmination
wall of the passive roof thrust of a duplex.
Karachi Embayment Zone
(Karachi synclinorium of HSC,1960)
This zone is the southward culmination of the Kirthat
fold belt.
It is largely covered by Miocene to Recent sediments.
These sediments form well defined broad, SSW
trending folds.

Sanbakh-Lakhra Uplift Zone

Previously referred to as Hyderabad anticlinorium
or Hderabad arc (HSC, 1960).
It lies to the east of Karachi embayment zone and
forms the southeastern part of the Kirthar fold belt.
It is covered by Paleogene and Neogene
sedimentary sequence with many unconformities.
This seqence forms broad, doubly plunging, low
dipping, N-S trending folds.
These folds are intersected by numerous normal
and reverse faults.
It is a zone of 6-8 km thick pile of sediments in
which 3 km is Mesozoic alone.
The unusually frequent stratigraphic
unconformities indicate that it is a structural high.

Kakar Khorasan Flysch Basin

This basin lies to the north of Zhob ophiolite-andthrust belt.
The other names are Pishin basin and Pishin rear
Depression.
Stocklin and Trelor consider it as part of larger
Katawaz Basin which extends southward from
Kabul to Zhob and links up with Makran flysch
basin.

NORTHWEST HIMALAYAN FOLD-ANDTHRUST BELT

It is about 560 km long and 250 km wide mountain range.
It is irregularly shaped and stretches from Afghanistan near
Parachinar to Kashmir Basin.
The Hazara-kashmir syntaxis and Nanga Parbat makes its
eastern margin.
In the N-S direction, all the territory between MMT in the north
and the Salt Range Thrust in the south is included in it.
This includes mountain ranges of Nanga Parbat, HazaraKashmir Syntaxis, southern Kohistan, Swat, Margalla,
Kalachitta, Sufaid Koh, Kohat, Salt Range and its western
extensions.
A major thrust fault, the Panjal-Khairabad fault divides the NW
Himalayan sequence into a deformed southern zone, the
external or foreland zone and a deformed and
metamorphosed northern zone, the hinterland zone.

Continued: Himalayan Fold-and

Thrust Belt
The Foreland zone is comprised of Hazara-Kashmir syntaxis,
the Salt Range, Kohat-Potwar fold belt and the KurramCherat-Margalla thrust belt whereas the hinterland
comprises the Himalayan crystalline nappe-and-thrust belt.
The Himalayan Crystalline belt
It is comprised of the exposed northern margin of the IndoPakistan crustal plate.
It is characterized by intensely deformed, tightly folded and
imbricated PreCambrian to Early Mesozoic metamorphic and
igneous rocks.
Southward, these crystalline rocks have been thrust over
the Kurram-Cherat-Margalla thrust belt.
The latter belt is comprised of several thrust sheets of
largely unmetamorphosed Precambrian to Paleogene rocks.

Continued: Himalayan fold-andthrust belt

Further south, the latter sequence is emplaced over
the Kohat-Potwar fold belt.
This latter belt terminates against the Salt Range and
Trans Indus ranges. Precambrian to Neogene rocks are
exposed in these ranges.
The Kohat-Potwar region is characterised by
Precambrian and Paleogene evaporites.
These evaporites decouple the sediments from the
basement and control the tectonics of this belt through
formation of decollement zones and thrusts having
upto 100 km of southward translation.
The eastern margin of NW Himalayan fold-and-thrust
belt in Pakistan cmprises the N-S trending HazaraKashmir ayntaxis.

Continued: NW Himalayan fold-andthrust belt

Further to the NE the end of this belt joins the Nanga
Parbat-Haramosh massif.
These syntaxes separate this fold belt from the central
Himalayan fold-and-thrust belt of India.
They apparently comprise a major tectonic divide
because structures on either side have been truncated.
There is a broad equivalence between Sub- Himalayan
and Kohat-Potwar fold belt; the Lesser Himalayas and
Kurram-Cherat-Margalla fold-and-thrust belt; and
between High Himalayas and Nanga Parbat Haramosh
massif.
The southern part of Swat-Hazara belt with its well
developed Paleozoic sequence may be correlated with
Tethyan Himalayas.

Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis
In the northern corner of Pakistan between Mirpur and
Muzaffarabad, the geological formations and broader
structures of the Himalayas make a hairpin bend.
This structural feature of Himalayas was first studied
in detail by Wadia (1931). NW Himalayan Syntaxis.
Tectonostratigraphic setting
Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis is a complex tectonic zone.
Its axial zone is well defined by the stack of thrust
faults which form a loop around its axis.
Precambrian to Neogene sedimentary, volcanic, and
metamorphosed rocks and Cambrian or earlier
granites are exposed in its syntaxial zone and vicinity.
NNW orientation and largely covered by Murree
Foramtion

Continued: Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis

of Oligocene to Miocene age.
The Formation comprises red siltstone and shale and is
1700m thick.
Near Muzaffarabad, Precambrian to Cambrian and
Paleocene rocks are exposed in an anticline, which is
cross-folded and overturned and thrust along
Muzaffarabad fault.
Northeastward, the Syntaxis bends NE and continues
into Kaghan and beyond into the Nanga ParbatHaramosh region.
Clockwise rotation.
On the western side of the Syntaxis, there are several,
arcuate, south-verging thrust faults which terminate in
the Jhelum Fault at an acute angle between Balakot and
Kohala.

MBT (Murree Thrust)

A hairpin shaped system of faults truncates the Murree
Formation on the east, north and west.
It abuts the Mesozoic and earlier rocks against the
Murree Formation.
West and north of this fault zone, within a short
distance there is a parallel thrust fault along which
Precambrian sequence has been pushed over the
Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks.
These two faults were named as Murree and Punjal
thrusts respectively by Wadia (1931).
Later, the Murree Thrust on both limbs of the Syntaxis
came to be known as Main Boundary Thrust (MBT).
This Fault continues northwestward, turns westward
near the apex of the syntaxis and then turns southward
towards Balakot.

Continued: MBT
The MBT (Murree Fault) dips 50 to 70 degrees E
northwest of Muzaffarabad.
Locally it is vertical.
Vertical stratigraphic displacement is about 3300
m.
The Murree Fault runs in an E-W direction south of
Margallah hills.
Westward, it apparently links up with Parachinar
Fault.
Most of the present workers now refer to the
Mrree Parachinar Faul as MBT.

Jhelum Fault
The left-lateral strike-slip fault running along the
western margin of the axial zone of the Syntaxis
was named Jhelum Fault by Kazmi (1977).
Along this fault, Murree, Abbotabad, and Hazara
Formations are highly deformed between Balakot
and Muzaffarabad.
A left-lateral offset of about 31 km is indicated on
the western limb of the Syntaxis.
The Jhelum Fault apparently dislocates the MBT and
thus indicates that it is the youngest major tectonic
feature in the syntaxial zone.
A number of E-W trending faults join the Jhelum fault
at an acute angle pointed northward, indicating a
relative left-lateral strike-slip movement.

Panjal Thrust (Khairabad Fault)

The Panjal Thrust runs parallel to MBT on the
eastern limb of the Syntaxis.
The two faults curve around the apex of the syntaxis
and then bend southward.
The two faults join about 5 km north of Balakot.
The Panjal Thrust probably separates from MBT 6
km south of Balakot.
It continues beneath Kunhar valley alluvium up to
Garhi Habibullah. It then swings SW and is exposed.
From the point of bifurcation the MBT rakes a SE
course up to Muzaffarabad, and then southward up
to Kohala.
The name Mansehra Thrust has been used for the
western side of the Panjal Thrust by Greco.

Continued: Panjal Thrust

Towards the east: Precambrian Salkhala
Formation overlies Permian Panjal volcanics along
the Panjal thrust.
Towards west: Precambrian Tanawal Foramtion
overlies Precambrian to Cambrian Abbotabad
Group and Jurassic to Cretaceous rocks.
Panjal Thrust in Hazara area has been referred to
as Abbotabad thrust by some.
Westward, the Panjal Thrust apparently links up
with Khairabad Thrust.
It has also been named Khairabad-Panjal Thrust
or Khairabad Fault.

The Salt Range and Kohat-Potwar Fold Belt

The Salt Range

The Range is a complex salt anticlinorium with a series
of salt anticlines.
It is widest in the central part (between Khewra and
Warcha).
Here it has the best exposures of Paleozoic and
Eocambrian sequence.
Northward, the structures consists of simple, broad,
shallow folds.
Southward the folds are tighter and faulted.
Along the southern scarp, structures are more
complicated; consists of east-west trending faults and
overfolds.
Eocambrian evaporites are exposed in some of these
over folded and faulted anticlines.
General trend is E-W; some trend N-S, plunging noses.

Continued: The Salt Range

Eastward, the Salt Range looses its stature and
bifurcates into two, narrow NE trending ridges-the
Diljabba and the Chambal-Jogi Tilla.
Southward, the Salt Range takes a bend in the NW
direction near Warcha.
It is separated by the Kalabagh Fault from the TransIndus ranges.
Southward, this truncated by the Salt Range Thrust.

Salt Range Thrust

This Thrust runs along the southern margin of the
Salt Range between Jhelum and Indus rivers.
The thrust has pushed the older rocks of the Salt
Range over the less deformed Tertiary rocks of south
Jhelum plain.

Continued: Salt Range Thrust

The thrust zone is largely covered by Recent
fanglomerates.
At places (e.g. near Jalalpur and Kalabagh) the Thrust
is exposed showing Paleozoic rocks overlying the
Neogene and Quaternary deposits of Jhelum Plain.
Seismic data show that Salt Range and Potwar
Plateau are underlain by a decollement zone wi.thin
Eocambrian evaporites.
The effective decoupling sediments from the
basement along salt layeers has lead to the
southward transport of the Salt Range and Potwar
Plateau in the form of a slab over the Jhelum plain.
The Salt Range is thus the surface expression of the
leading edge of a decollement thrust.

Kalabagh Fault
This fault forms the western margin of the Salt Range.
It extends NNW from near Mianwali to about 120 km.
It is an active dextral wrench fault associated with
several recorded earthquakes.
It has a long southward continuation.
It cuts several folds and faults in the Eocambrian to
Quaternary rocks.
In its northern part the Kalabagh fault affects the
Quaternary deposits as indicated by uplifted stream
terraces, tectonic blocks of evaporites and limestone
and truncated alluvial fans.
Younger deposits have not been affected by the fault.
16-19 km strike-slip movement along the fault has been
determined by the offset in the Quaternary deposits.

Continued: Kalabagh Fault

Southward the Kalabagh Fault displaces the Salt
Range Thrust.
At its southern end near Khairabad, the Fault
splays out into two subparallel, the Dinghot and
Ainwan faults.
Near its northern end the Kalabagh fault turns
westward and branches out into a number of
smaller thrust faults.
West of Kalabagh Fault there is another rightlateral strike-slip fault which has dislocated the
Surghar Range.

Trans-Indus Ranges and Bannu Plain

This region is composed of the Sughar, Marwat, Khisor,
Pezu, and Manzai ranges.
These ranges form S-shaped double reenterant and
surround the Bannu Depression.
The exposed stratigraphic sequence is similar to that of
western Salt Range except the Rawalpindi Group
(Miocene), which is missing in the southern part of this
region.
Also, the Siwalik Group unconformably overlies the
Cretaceous rocks here.
The Surghar and Khisor Ranges are asymmetrical and
overturned anticlines in which Permian rocks are exposed
in the cores that are overlain by Mesozoic and Paleogene
rocks.
Marwat Range is an anticlinal feature covered by
Siwaliks.

Continued: Trans-Indus Ranges

The Bhittani and Manzai ranges are also anticlinal
features and are entirely covered by Siwaliks.
The Bhittani anticline is faulted.
Bannu Plain is covered by alluvium. It has been
indicated by the seismic surveys that it is
underlain by the same sedimentary rocks as
those of the surrounding hills.
A north-dipping thrust, the Surghar Thrust, is
located along the southern margin of the Surghar
Range. It is probably the western extension of the
Salt Range Thrust.

Potwar Plateau
The Plateau is bounded by the Jhelum and Indus rivers
on the east and west respectively.
It is bounded by Kalachitta and Margalla hills to the
north and by the Salt Range to the south.
It is covered by the Siwaliks sequence, but at places
Eocene shale and limestone crop out in the folded
inliers.
Its northern part is more intensely deformed and is
known as North Potwar Deformed Zone (NPDZ).
It consists of E-W trending tight and complex folds
overturned to south and sheared by the steep angle
faults.
NPDZ is followed to the south by a broad, wide and
asymmetrical Soan Syncline.
This Syncline has a gently northward dipping southern
flank along the Salt Range.

Continued: The Potwar Plateau

It has a steeply dipping northern flank along NPDZ.
In the western part this basin is comprised of E-W trending
broad and gentle folds
In the eastern part the strike changes to NE and the folds
are tight anticlines and broad synclines.
Faulting of the anticlines is rare.
The east to west difference of structural styles is attributed
to the reduced thickness of evaporites and lesser basement
sope toward east underlyin Potwar Plateau and Salt Range.
Seismic reflection, gravity, and drill hole data together
suggest that the Salt Range and Potwar is underlain by a
gently northward dipping (1-4o) basement with an upward
convexity.
The basement is traversed by northward dipping normal
faults.

Continued: Potwar Plateau

Abve the basement there is a decollement zone in the
Eocambrian evaporites which are overlain by an overthrust
wedge.
This decollement zone has been an effective zone of
decoupling allowing thrusting to extend more than 100 km
south of MBT without involving the basement.
The Salt Range is the topographic expression of this great
thrust sheet riding up a basement fault.
This fault with 1 km offset is located to the north of the Salt
Range that has functioned as the thrust ramp.
In Central and western Potwar, the thrust wedge has been
transported southward as a coherent slab with little internal
defomation and less than I km shortening between NPDZ
and Salt Range.
In the eastern Potwar the deforamtion has been telescoped
due

Continued: Potwar Plateau

to increased basal traction and faults cut upsection
producing faults, folds, triangles, and pop-up zones.
In this region 24 km of shortening has occurred.
Kohat Plateau
West of Potwar, the Kohat Plateau is comprised of
Eocene and younger sedimentary rocks deposited in
a restricted basin.
The Eocene sequence contains evaporites
(Bahadurkhel salt and Jatta gypsum), which are
restricted to the southern part of the Plateau.
On the surface these rocks form E-W trending,
gently to steeply dipping, doubly plunging
overturned folds tens of km long.

Continued: Kohat Plateau

The structures in the northern part are different from
those in the southern part.
The northern part is characterized by the tight,
commonly overturned folds and several thrust faults.
Some of the low-angle thrust faults have been folded
and constitute a distinct thrust belt.
It is compression related, thin skined thrust belt.
The Eocene evaporite sequence is greatly reduced or
missing from the northern part.
Instead, Panoba shale is exposed in the cores of
anticlines.
In the southern part of the Kohat Plateau E-W trending
folds and north and south dipping reverse faults are
common.
Most of the faults form fault propagation folds.

Continued: Kohat Plateau

The Bahadurkhel salt is exposed in the anticlinal cores,
whereas the Jatta gypsum is imbricated and folded.
In this region the lower Eocene rocks are thrust over the
Miocene molasse at several places.
Hukni fault.
Passive-roof duplex geometries.
The Precambrian evaporites have not been identified in
this region.
The Kohat basement is traversed by high angle
conjugate reverse faults with throw of up to 500 meters.
This shows significant wrench faulting and positive
flower structures. Thus, geometries of structures in
Kohat Plateau are the product of both compressional
and transpressional tectonics

KURRAM-CHERAT-MRGALLA FOLD-AND-THRUST
BELT
The arcuateand narrow (20 to 30 km wide) thrust belt
lies to the north of kohat-Potwar belt.
From near Balakot (Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis) it extends
SW through Margalla hills, Attock-Cherat and Kalachitta
Ranges to the Sufaid koh Range on Afghanistan border,
adistance of 350 km.
It is intensely deformed and tectonized belt with
isoclinal folds and several south-verging thrust sheets.
Eastward, it has been cut by Jhelum Fault.
Southward, it has thrust over the Kohat-Potwar fold belt.
This thrust zone is now referred to MBT.
Tectonostratigraphic setting
The Panjal Thrust and its western continuation, the
Khairabad Fault forms its northern limit.

Continued: Cherat-Margalla-----belt
South of the Thrust, Tanawal Formation is missing and
there is a wide hiatus in the Paleozoic sequence.
North of the Thrust, Precambrian Tanawal Foramtion crops
out extensively.
The Paleozoic sequence is more complete; the region is
dominated by metamorphic, intrusive and magmatic rokcs.
The stratigraphic sequence in various thrust blocks ranges
from Proterozoic to Neogene; Ordovician to Permian is
missing.
The Proterzoic unfossiliferous rocks (Hazara Formation) are
mainly comprised of flysch type deposits of dark grey
slate, phyllite, quartzite, and subordinate limestone.
These rocks show low grade metamorphism and are
intruded by basic sills and dikes.
The Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks consist of platform type
shallow marine to non-marine sequence.

Geological structure & Deformation

The faults in the southern part bring strongly deformed
Mesozoic and Early Tertiary rocks to the surface.
Faults in the north bring up Precambrian and Paleozoic
sequences
Westward, in the Sufaid koh some of thrursts merge and
pass into the active right-lateral Sarobi Fault.
Various types of data indicate that the Kurram-CheratMargalla fold-and-thrust belt has gone through at least 6
periods of deformation during Precambrian, PermoTriassic, Late Cretaceous, Pre-Pliocene, Pliocene, and
Quaternary.
In the Attock-Cherat Range, there is an angular
unconformity between Paleocene Lockhart Limestone
and the Precambrian sequence. In the Kalachitta Range,
this limestone unconformably overlies Cretaceous and
Earlier rocks.

Continued: Geological Structure &

deformation
During the Pre-Pliocene deformation the
Miocene Murree Formation was involved in
folding, imbricate thrusting, and development
of slaty cleavage.
This was followed by uplift of the Kalachitta
Range and thrusting and ramping on the MBT
between 2.1 and 1.9 Ma.
The latest deformation occurred during Late
Quaternary after deposition of Peshawar
basin-fill.