• Home
  • Geological constraints on the Western Kohat foreland basin, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Implication from 2D and 3D structural modelling

Share To

Article Url


Manuscript ID : IJES-1912-1420 (R4) Visit : 73 Page: 61 - 76

10.30495/ijes.2021.678954

Article Type: Original Research

Geological constraints on the Western Kohat foreland basin, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Implication from 2D and 3D structural modelling

Subject Areas : Mineralogy

Syed Ahsan  Gardezi 1 (Geological Survey of Pakistan, AJK Directorate, Muzaffarabad (13100), Azad Kashmir Pakistan)
Sajjad  Ahmad 2 (Department of Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar (25120), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
Nawaz  Ikram 3 (University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Muzaffarabad (13100), Azad Kashmir, Pakistan)
Gohar  Rehman 4 (Department of Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar (25120), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.)

Received: 2019-12-17 Accepted : 2020-10-29 Published : 2021-04-01

Keywords: Kohat Foreland Basin, Structural Modelling, Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

Abstract :

The Kohat Foreland Basin is an outcome of continental collision between Indian and Eurasian plates defining the southern edge of Himalayan Orogenic System in the north-western Pakistan. This study constrains the structural geometry and kinematics in 2-D and 3-D workflow, evaluation of the role of multiple detachments and the structural correlation between surface and sub-surface geology of the western Kohat Foreland Basin. The structural style of the western Kohat Foreland Basin evinces the thin skin deformation associated with a couple of structural detachments i.e.i) base-Eocene shale/ evaporite sequence ii) the upper interface of crystalline basement. These detachments separate the outcropping and buried stratigraphic sequence of the Kohat Foreland Basin into upper and lower structural-stratigraphic domains. The lower domain has a series of north-dipping or south-verging fold-thrust assemblages incorporating a rigid rock sequence of EoCambrian to Paleocene. The comparatively more ductile rocks of the upper domain comprising of Eocene to Pliocene are deformed into tight, overturned, doubly plunging and internally faulted anticlines intervened by broad synclines. The two domains dictate different deformational behaviour and structural style, deforming in total disharmony; hence the structural geometry of shallow units does not match the sub-surface rocks. The total 37% of shortening in the sedimentary cover was revealed by structural balancing in 2-D and 3-D kinematic modelling. Stress analysis of Gurguri Fault unveiled 40% failure susceptibility and recorded positive values of effective normal stress (σn) with an orientation of maximum principle stress (σ1) as N17°.

References:


  1. Abbasi IA, R McElroy (1991) Thrust kinematics of the Kohat Plateau, Trans Indus Salt Range, Pakistan, Journal of Structural Geology 13: 319-327.
    2.
  2. Ahmad N, Khan MR (2012) Evaluation of a Distinct Sub-Play for Enhanced Exploration in an Emerging Petroleum Province, Bannu-Kohat Sub-Basin, Pakistan, AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Search and Discovery Article: 10391.
    3.
  3. Ahmad S, Hamidullah S, Khan MI, Hirayama J (2004) Structural Transect of the Western Kohat Fold and Thrust Belt between Hangu and Basia Khel, NWFP, Pakistan, Proc. Ann. Tech. Conf. (ATC), Islamabad: 37-50.
    4.
  4. Bazoobandi MH, Arian MA, Emami MH, Tajbakhsh G, Yazdi A (2016) Petrology and Geochemistry of Dikes in the North of Saveh in Iran, Open journal of marine science 6(02): 210-222.
    5.
  5. Burnes A (1832) Some account of the salt mines of the Punjab: Asiatic Soc. Bengal Journal.  1: 145-147.
    6.
  6. Chen L, Khan SD (2009) Geomorphometric features and tectonic activities in western Himalayan Fold and Thrust Belt, Computers and Geosciences 35: 2011–2019.
    7.
  7. Coward M P, Windley BF, Broughton RD, Luff IW, Petterson MG, Pudsey CJ, Rex DC, Khan MA (1986) Collision tectonics in the NW Himalaya. In: Coward MP, Ries, AC (Eds.), Collision Tectonics, Geological Society Special Publication 19: 203-219.
    8.
  8. Davies LM (1930) the fossil fauna of the Samana Range and some neighbouring areas, Part 1, an introductory note” Geol. Surv. India Memoir, Paleot. Indica, New Series 15.
    9.
  9. Davis DM, Lillie RJ (1994) Changing mechanical response during continental collision: active examples from the foreland thrust belts of Pakistan, Journal of Structural Geology 16 (I): 21-34.
    10.
  10. Davis GH, Reynolds S J (1996) Structural Geology of Rocks and Region, Publisher John Willey & sons, Canada, second edition: 117-121.
    11.
  11. Fatmi AN (1973) Lithostratigraphic units of the Kohat-Potwar Province, Indus Basin, Pakistan, Geological Survey of Pakistan 10: 80.
    12.
  12. Fleming A (1853) On Salt Range in the Punjab, Geological Society of London Quaterly Journal 9 (1): 189-200.
    13.
  13. Fraser JE, Searle MP, Parrish RR, Noble SR (2001) Chronology of deformation, metamorphism and magmatism in the southern Karakorum Mountains, Geological Society of America 113: 1443-1455.
    14.
  14. Gansser A (1964) Geology of the Himalayas, Interscience Publishers London etc. (J.Wiley & Sons): 1-289.
    15.
  15. Gee ER (1945) The age of the Saline Series of the Punjab and of Kohat, National Academy of Sciences , Proc. Sec B. 14(6): 269-310.
    16.
  16. Ghaffari M, Rashidnejad-Omran N, Dabiri R, Santos JF, Mata J, Buchs D, McDonald I, Appel P, Garbe-Schönberg D (2015) Interaction between felsic and mafic magmas in the Salmas intrusive complex, Northwestern Iran: Constraints from petrography and geochemistry, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 111: 440-458. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2015.06.019
    17.
  17. Ghani H, Zeilinger G, Sobel ER, Heidarzadeh G (2018) Structural variation within the Himalayan fold and thrust belt: A case study from the Kohat-Potwar Fold Thrust Belt of Pakistan, Journal of Structural Geology, 116: 34-46
    18.
  18. Hauck ML, Nelson KD, Brown W, Zhao W, Ross AR (1998) Crustal structure of the Himalayan orogeny at ~90°E longitude from Project INDEPTH deep reflection profile les, Tectonics. 17: 481–500.
    19.
  19. Ikram N, Gardezi SAH, Ahmad S, Rehman G, Khalid A (2020) Two and Three-Dimensional Structural Modelling of Central Kohat Plateau, Northwestern Himalaya, Pakistan. In: Biswal T., Ray S., Grasemann B. (eds) Structural Geometry of Mobile Belts of the Indian Subcontinent. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham.
    20.
  20. Johnson BD, Powell CM, Veevers JJ (1976) Spreading history of the eastern Indian Ocean, and greater India’s northwards flight from Antarctica and Australia, Geological Society of America Bulletin 87: 1560-1566.
    21.
  21. Karsten CJB (1846) The salt mines of Kohat, in Lehrbuch der Salinenkunde: Berlin.
    22.
  22. Kazmi AH, Abbasi IA (2008) Stratigraphy & Historical Geology of Pakistan, National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan: 524.
    23.
  23. Kazmi AH, Jan M Q (1997) Geology & tectonics of Pakistan, Graphic Publishers, 5C, 6/10, Nazimabad, Karachi, Pakistan.
    24.
  24. Kazmi AH, Rana RA (1982) Tectonic map of Pakistan, Geological Survey of Pakistan, scale: 1:2,000,000.
    25.
  25. Khan AA, Najeeb-uz-Zaman M (2003) Stratigraphy and tectonic architecture of the north-western part of the Kohat Basin, NWFP, Pakistan, PAPG-SPE ATC 2003 proceedings: 145-163.
    26.
  26. Khan MA, Ahmed A, Raza HA, Kemal, A (1986) Geology of Petroleum in Kohat-Potwar Depression, Pakistan, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 70(4): 396-414.
    27.
  27. Khan MI, Qayyum A, Khan MR, Ahmad S (2012) Detachment Tectonics and Its Implication for the Hydrocarbon Exploration in Western Kohat Foreland Basin, Northwest Himalayas, Pakistan, AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Search and Discovery Article No. 50542.
    28.
  28. LeFort P (1975) Himalaya: the collided range, Present knowledge of the continental arc, American Journal of Science, 275A: 1-44.
    29.
  29. McDougall JW, Hussain A (1991) Fold and thrust propagation in the western Himalaya based on a balanced cross section of the Surghar Range and Kohat Plateau, Pakistan, American Association of Petroleum Geologist Bulletin 75: 463-476.
    30.
  30. McDougall JW, Khan SH (1990) Strike Slip faulting in a foreland fold thrust belt: The Kalabagh fault and western Salt Range Pakistan, Tectonics 9: 1061-1075.
    31.
  31. McKenzie DP, Sclater JG (1971) The evolution of the Indian Ocean, Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 25: 437-528.
    32.
  32. Meissner CR, Hussain M, Rashid MA, Sethi UB (1975) Geology of the Parachinar quadrangle, Pakistan, United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 76-F.
    33.
  33. Meissner CR, Master JM, Rashid MA, Hussain M (1974) Stratigraphy of the Kohat Quadrangle, Pakistan, United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 716- D: 30.
    34.
  34. Mollai H, Dabiri R, Torshizian HA, Pe-Piper G, Wang W (2019) Cadomian crust of Eastern Iran: evidence from the Tapeh Tagh granitic gneisses, International Geology Review 1-21.
    35.
  35. Molnar P, Tapponnier P (1975) Cenozoic tectonics of Asia: Effects of a continental collision, New York. Science 189: 419-426.
    36.
  36. MonaLisa, Khan SA, Khwaja AA (2004) Focal Mechanism Studies of North Potwar Deformed Zone, Pakistan, Acta Seismologica Sinica, China 17 (3): 255-261.
    37.
  37. MonaLisa, Khwaja AA, Qaiser M (2002) Focal Mechanism Studies of Kohat and Northern Potwar Deformed Zone, Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar 35: 85-95.
    38.
  38. MonaLisa, Khwaja AA, Qureshi SN (2005) Structural interpretation on the basis of focal mechanism studies in the area of Kohat Plateau, Bannu Basin and Western Extension of Salt Range, Pakistan Journal of Hydrocarbon Research 15: 43–51.
    39.
  39. Najman Y, et al., (2010) Timing of India-Asia collision: geological, biostratigraphic, and palaeomagnetic constraints, Journal of Geophysical Research 115: B12416.
    40.
  40. Najman Y, Pringle M, Godin L, Oliver G, (2001) Dating of the oldest continental sediments from the Himalayan foreland basin, Nature 410 (6825): 194.
    41.
  41. Paracha W, Kemal A, Abbasi F (2004) Kohat Duplex in Northern Potwar Deformed Zone, Pakistan, Geol. Surv. of Pakistan, Geologica 5: 99-107.
    42.
  42. Petterson MG, Windley BF (1985) Rb-Sr dating of the Kohistan arc Batholith in the Trans Himalaya of North Pakistan and tectonic implications, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 74: 54-75.
    43.
  43. Pivnik DA (1992) Depositional response to encroachment of Himalayan compressional and transpressional deformation on the north Pakistan foreland (Ph.D. thesis), Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College: 1-258.
    44.
  44. Pivnik DA, Khan MJ (1996) Transition from foreland to piggyback basin deposition, Plio-Pleistocene Upper Siwalik Group, Shinghar Range, Northwest Pakistan, Sedimentology 43: 631-646.
    45.
  45. Pivnik DA, Sercombe WT (1993) Compression and Transpression-related Deformation in the Kohat Plateau, NWFP, Pakistan, In Treloar PT and Searle MP (eds), Himalayan Tectonics, Geological Society London Special Publications., Special Publ. 74: 559-580.
    46.
  46. Pivnik DA, Wells NA (1996) The Transition from Tethys to the Himalayas as recorded in northwest Pakistan, Geological Society of American Bulletin 108 (10): 1295-1373.
    47.
  47. Powell C, Mac A (1979) A speculative tectonic history of Pakistan and surroundings: some constraints from the Indian Ocean, In: Farah A, DeJong KA. (Eds.) Geodynamics of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta: 5-24.
    48.
  48. Powell C, Mac A, Conaghan PJ (1973) Plate tectonics and the Himalayas, Earth & Planetary Science Letters 20: 1-12.
    49.
  49.  Qasim M, Ding L, Khan MA, Jadoon IA, Haneef M, Baral U, Yue Y (2018) Tectonic implications of detrital zircon ages from lesser Himalayan Mesozoic-Cenozoic strata, Pakistan. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 19: 1636–1659.
    50.
  50. Raza HA, Iqbal MWI (1977) Mineral deposits, In: Shah SMI (Ed.) Stratigraphy of Pakistan, GSP, Mem. 12: 98-120.
    51.
  51. Rehman G, Ahmad S, Zahid M, Ali F (2009) Structural Geology of the Shakar Khel Area, Karak District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan, Pakistan Journal of Hydrocarbon Research 19: 11-17.
    52.
  52. Sameeni SJ, Haneef M, Rehman O, Lipps JH (2009) Paleogene biostratigraphy of Kohat area, Northern Pakistan, Geol. Bull. Punjab Univ. 44: 27-42.
    53.
  53. Searle MP (1991) Geology and Tectonics of the Karakorum mountains, John Wiley and Sons, New York: 358.
    54.
  54. Sercombe WJ, Pivnik DA, Stratton MA, Albertin M, Beck RA, Wilson WP, Roth BL (1994a) Wrench faulting in the northern Pakistan Foreland Region, The Leading Edge 13: 1107- 1110.
    55.
  55. Sercombe WJ, Pivnik DA, Stratton MA, Albertin M, Beck RA, Wilson WP, Roth BL, Nieuwenhuise RE (1994b) Wrench faulting in the northern Pakistan foreland region: rethinking a deformed belt (abs.), Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 3: 256.
    56.
  56. Sercombe WJ, Pivnik DA, Wilson WP, Albertin ML, Beck RA, Stratton MA (1998) Wrench faulting in the northern Pakistan foreland, AAPG. Bull. 82 (11): 2003-2030.
    57.
  57. Shah SMI (2009) Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey Memoir 22: 381.
    58.
  58. Treloar PJ, Izzat CN (1993) Tectonics of the Himalayan collision between the Indian Plate and the Afghan block: A synthesis in: Treloar PJ, Searle MP (Eds.), Himalayan Tectonics. Geological Society of London (Special publication) 74: 69-87.
    59.
  59. Verma RK, Chandrasekhar C (1986) Focal mechanism solutions and nature of plate movements in Pakistan, Geodynamics 5: 331-351.
    60.
  60. Wells NA (1984) Marine and Continental Sedimentation in the early Cenozoic Kohat basin and adjacent north-western Indo-Pakistan, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan.
    61.
  61. Wynne AB (1879) A geological reconnaissance from the Indus at the Khushalgharh to the Kurram at Thai on the Afghan Frontier, Records of the Geological Survey of India 12: 114-133.
    62.
  62. Yazdi A, Sharifi Teshnizi E (2021) Effects of contamination with gasoline on engineering properties of fine-grained silty soils with an emphasis on the duration of exposure, Springer, SN Applied Sciences 3:704. 
    63.
  63. Yazdi A, Ziaaldini S, Dabiri R (2015) Investigation on the Geochemical Distribution of REE and Heavy Metals in Western Part of Jalal-Abad Iron Ore Deposit, Zarand, SE of Iran, Open journal of ecology 5 (09): 460-476.
    64.

Related articles

The rights to this website are owned by the Raimag Press Management System.
Copyright © 2021-2024

Home| Login| About Us| Contact Us|
[فارسی] [العربية] [fa] [ar]