OROGENIC BELTS

OF PAKISTAN

PREPARED BY: M. AMMAR HASHMI

REG NO.: 39154

SUBMITTED TO: SIR MEHRAB

Contents
OROGENY: .................................................................................................................................... 3
Collisional Orogens: .................................................................................................................... 3
Non-Collisional Orogens: ........................................................................................................... 3
Explanation: ................................................................................................................................ 4
OROGENIC CYCLE: ..................................................................................................................... 5
OROGENIC BELTS:...................................................................................................................... 6
OROGENIES IN PAKISTAN: ....................................................................................................... 9
The Himalayas: ........................................................................................................................... 9
Formation of Himalayas: ....................................................................................................... 10
Major Tectonic Subdivisions of the Himalaya: ..................................................................... 11
Karakoram Thrust and Fold Belt:.............................................................................................. 14
Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold Belt: ...................................................................................................... 16
Tectonic Setting: .................................................................................................................... 19
STRATIGRAPHY OF THE KIRTHAR FOLD BELT:........................................................ 19
OROGENY:
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a large structural
deformation of the Earth's lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle) due
to the interaction between tectonic plates. Orogens or orogenic belts
(Fold mountains) develop when a continental plate is crumpled and is
pushed upwards to form mountain ranges, and involve a great range of
geological processes collectively called orogenesis.
The word "orogeny" comes from the Greek ( oros for "mountain"
and genesis for "creation" or "origin"). Orogeny is the primary
mechanism by which mountains are built on continents.

There are two basic types of Orogenies occurs in geologic process and
those are as follow;
Collisional Orogens
Non-collisional Orogens

Collisional Orogens:
When formation of an orogen is accomplished in part by the tectonic
processes of Obduction, where convergence of two or more continental
plates occurs and a collisional boundary condition is met, this geological
process is call Collisional Orogens.

Non-Collisional Orogens:
When formation of an Accretionary orogen is accomplished in part by
the tectonic processes of subduction, where a continent rides forcefully
over an subducting intraoceanic plate due to the force produced by plate
movement, this geological process is called Non-Collisional Orogens.
Explanation:
Orogeny usually produces long arcuate (from arcuare, to bend like a
bow) structures, known as orogenic belts. Orogenic belts are associated
with subduction zones, which consume crust, produce volcanoes, and
build island arcs. These island arcs may be added to a continent during
an orogenic event.
The processes of orogeny can take tens of millions of years and build
mountains from plains or the ocean floor. The topographic height of
orogenic mountains is related to the principle of isostasy, that is, a
balance of the downward gravitational force upon an upthrust mountain
range (composed of light, continental crust material) and the buoyant
upward forces exerted by the dense underlying mantle.
Frequently, rock formations that undergo orogeny are severely deformed
and undergo metamorphism. During orogeny, deeply buried rocks may
be pushed to the surface. Sea bottom and near shore material may cover
some or all of the orogenic area. If the orogeny is due to two continents
colliding, the resulting mountains can be very high. For example,
Himalayas.
Orogeny produces an orogen, or (mountain) range-foreland basin
system. The foreland basin forms ahead of the orogen due mainly to
loading and resulting flexure of the lithosphere by the developing
mountain belt. A typical foreland basin is subdivided into a wedge-top
basin above the active orogenic wedge, the foredeep immediately
beyond the active front, a forebulge high of flexural origin and a back-
bulge area beyond, although not all of these are present in all foreland
basin systems. The basin migrates with the orogenic front and early
deposited foreland basin sediments become progressively involved in
folding and thrusting. Sediments deposited in the foreland basin are
mainly derived from the erosion of the actively uplifting rocks of the
mountain range, although some sediments are derived from the foreland.
The fill of many such basins shows a change in time from deepwater
marine (flysch-style) through shallow water to continental (molasse-
style) sediments.

OROGENIC CYCLE:
Although orogeny involves plate tectonics, the tectonic forces result in a
variety of associated phenomena, including magmatism, metamorphism,
crustal melting, and crustal thickening. What exactly happens in a
specific orogen depends upon the strength and rheology of the
continental lithosphere, and how these properties change during
orogenesis.
In addition to orogeny, the orogen once formed is subject to other
processes, such as sedimentation and erosion. The sequence of repeated
cycles of sedimentation, deposition and erosion, followed by burial and
metamorphism, and then by formation of granitic batholiths and tectonic
uplift to form mountain chains, is called the orogenic cycle.
For example, the Caledonian Orogeny refers to the Silurian and
Devonian events that resulted from the collision of Laurentia with
Eastern Avalonia and other former fragments of Gondwana. The
Caledonian Orogen resulted from these events and various others that
are part of its peculiar orogenic cycle.
In summary, an orogeny is a long-lived deformational episode during
which many geological phenomena play a role. The orogeny of an
orogen is only part of the orogen's orogenic cycle.
OROGENIC BELTS:
Orogeny or Orogenesis is the building of continental mountains by
plate-tectonic processes that squeeze the lithosphere together. It may
also refer to a specific episode of orogeny during the geologic past. Even
though tall mountain peaks from ancient orogenies may erode away, the
exposed roots of those ancient mountains show the same orogenic
structures that are detected beneath modern mountain ranges.
Orogenic belts are long, commonly arcuate tracts of highly deformed
rock that develop during the creation of mountain ranges on the
continents. The process of building an orogen, or orogenesis, occurs at
convergent plate margins and involves intra-plate shortening, crustal
thickening, and topographic uplift.
Ancient orogens, whose topography has been reduced or eliminated by
erosion, mark the location of old, inactive plate margins and, thus,
provide important information on past plate movements .
The processes that control orogenesis vary considerably depending on
the tectonic setting and the type of lithosphere involved in the
deformation.
Non-collisional or Andean-type orogens, result from ocean
continent convergence where plate motions and other factors
controlling subduction lead to compression within the overriding
plate.
Collisional orogens develop where a continent or island arc
collides with a continental margin as a result of subduction.
The HimalayanTibetan belt and the European Alps represent orogens
that form by continentcontinent collision following the closure of a
major ocean basin. Another variety where continental collision is highly
oblique and did not involve ocean closure occurs in the Southern Alps of
New Zealand. Orogens that form by arccontinent collision include belts
in Taiwan and the TimorBanda arc region in the southwest Pacific.
The construction of mountain belts is best understood in the context of
plate tectonics theory. Earth's lithosphere is currently fragmented into at
least a dozen, more or less rigid plates that are separated by three kinds
of boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform. Plates move away
from each other at divergent boundaries. On the continents, these
boundaries are marked by rift systems such as those in East Africa; in
the ocean basins, they correspond to spreading centers, submarine
mountain chains (such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) where new oceanic
crust is produced to fill the gap left behind by plate divergence.
Transform boundaries are zones where plates slide past one another; a
familiar example on land is the San Andreas fault system. Orogenic belts
form at convergent boundaries, where lithosphere plates collide. See
also: Fault and fault structures; Mid-Oceanic Ridge; Plate tectonics; Rift
valley; Transform fault.
OROGENIES IN PAKISTAN:
Unlike other regions, Pakistan and central Asia have many vulnerable
geological and geographical features. One of the highest peaks of the
world are some of the most prominent mountains present here. Pakistan
is geologically present on the two most vulnerable continental plates in
the world that are Eurasian plate and Indian continental plate.
Due to the presence on the two main plate boundaries, Pakistan exhibits
almost all types of geological structures such as Thrust belts, fold
belts/folded mountains, plateaus, basins etc and all types of orogenic
belts. Some of the most important orogenic belts of Pakistan are as
follows:
The Himalayas (Orogenic belt).
Karakoram Thrust and fold belt.
Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold belt.
Kohat-Potwar Plateaue.
Marwat- Khisor thrust and fold belt.

The Himalayas:
The Himalayan Mountains are some of the most beautiful features of
nature and are today home to many different groups of people. The
mountains span the countries of India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet in
South Asia and are the location of the tallest mountains in the world.
The Himalayan Mountains, however, have not always been the natural
wonder that they are today. 100 Million years ago, in fact, the whole
Indian sub-continent, sans Himalayas, was its own island.

The Himalayas or Himalaya is a mountain range in the Indian

subcontinent, which separates the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Tibetan
Plateau. This range is home to nine of the ten highest peaks on Earth,
including the highest above sea level, Mount Everest. It is lifted by the
collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the
Himalayan range runs northwest to southeast in a 2,400-kilometre (1,500
mi)-long arc. The range varies in width from 400 kilometers (250 mi) in
the west to 150 kilometers (93 mi) in the east. Besides the Greater
Himalayas, there are several parallel lower ranges.

Formation of Himalayas:
The Himalayan mountain range and Tibetan plateau have formed as a
result of the collision between the Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate which
began 50 million years ago and continues today. 225 million years ago
(Ma) India was a large island situated off the Australian coast and
separated from Asia by the Tethys Ocean. The supercontinent Pangea
began to break up 200 Ma and India started a northward drift towards
Asia. 80 Ma India was 6,400 km south of the Asian continent but
moving towards it at a rate of between 9 and 16 cm per year. At this time
Tethys Ocean floor would have been subducting northwards beneath
Asia and the plate margin would have been a Convergent oceanic-
continental one just like the Andes today.

Between 40 and 20 Ma the rate of northward drift slowed as the two

continental plates collided and the former Tethys Ocean closed. Neither
continental plate

could be subducted due to their low density/buoyancy. This caused the

continental crust to thicken due to folding and faulting by compressional
forces. The continental crust here is twice the average thickness at
around 75 km. The thickening of the continental crust marked the end of
volcanic activity in the region as any magma moving upwards would
solidify before it could reach the surface.
The Himalayas are still rising by more than 1 cm per year as India
continues to move northwards into Asia, which explains the occurrence
of shallow focus earthquakes in the region today. However the forces of
weathering and erosion are lowering the Himalayas at about the same
rate. The Himalayas and Tibetan plateau trend east-west and extend for
2,900 km, reaching the maximum elevation of 8,848 meters (Mount
Everest).

Major Tectonic Subdivisions of the Himalaya:

The Himlayas is tectonically divided into some of main feature zones,
these tectonic subdivision of Himalayas are of about more or less 300km
long in length from South to North. It can be represented in an order
from south to north as follows:
 The Sub-Himalaya: It forms the foothills of the Himalayan Range
and is essentially composed of Miocene to Pleistocene molassic
sediments derived from the erosion of the Himalaya. These
molasse deposits, known as the Muree and Siwaliks Formations,
are internally folded and imbricated. The Sub-Himalaya is thrust
along the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) over the Quaternary
alluvium deposited by the rivers coming from the Himalaya
(Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra and others), which demonstrates that
the Himalaya is still a very active orogen.

The Lesser Himalaya: It is mainly formed by Upper Proterozoic

to lower Cambrian detrital sediments from the passive Indian
margin intercalated with some granites and acid volcanics. These
sediments are thrust over the Sub-himalaya along the Main
Boundary Thrust (MBT). The Lesser Himalaya often appears in
tectonic windows (Kishtwar or Larji-Kulu-Rampur windows)
within the High Himalaya Crystalline Sequence.

The Central Himalayan Domain or High Himalaya: It forms

the backbone of the Himalayan orogen and encompasses the areas
with the highest topographic relief. It is commonly separated into
four zones.

The High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence: the most frequently

found equivalents are Greater Himalayan Sequence, Tibetan Slab
and High Himalayan Crystalline) is a 30-km-thick, medium- to
high-grade metamorphic sequence of metasedimentary rocks
which are intruded in many places by granites of Ordovician (c.
500 Ma) and early Miocene (c. 22 Ma) age. It is now generally
accepted that the metasediments of the HHCS represent the
metamorphic equivalents of the sedimentary series forming the
base of the overlying Tethys Himalaya. The HHCS forms a major
 nappe which is thrust over the Lesser Himalaya along the Main
Central Thrust (MCT).

The Tethys Himalaya (TH): It is an approximately 100-km-wide

synclinorium formed by strongly folded and imbricated, weakly
metamorphosed sedimentary series. Several nappes, termed North
Himalayan Nappes[16] have also been described within this unit.
An almost complete stratigraphic record ranging from the Upper
Proterozoic to the Eocene is preserved within the sediments of the
TH. Stratigraphic analysis of these sediments yields important
indications on the geological history of the northern continental
margin of the Indian sub-continent from its Gondwanian evolution
to its continental collision with Eurasia. The Indus Suture Zone
(ISZ) (or Indus-Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone) defines the zone of
collision between the Indian Plate and the Ladakh Batholith (also
Transhimalaya or Karakoram-Lhasa Block) to the north. This
suture zone is formed by:

The Indus Suture Zone: It represents the northern limit of the

Himalaya. Further to the North is the so-called Transhimalaya, or
more locally Ladakh Batholith, which corresponds essentially to an
active margin of Andean type. Widespread volcanism in this
volcanic arc was caused by the melting of the mantle at the base of
the Tibetan bloc, triggered by the dehydration of the subducting
Indian oceanic crust.
Karakoram Thrust and Fold Belt:
The Karakoram is a large mountain range spanning the borders between
Pakistan, India, China and Afghanistan, located in the regions of Gilgit
Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), southern Xinjiang (China) and the
northeastern frontier of the
Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan). A part of the complex of ranges from
the Hindu Kush to the Himalayan Range. it is one of the Greater Ranges
of Asia. The Karakoram is home to the highest concentration of peaks
over 8000m in height to be found anywhere on earth, including K2, the
second highest peak in the world at 8,611 m (28,251 ft).
The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length, and is the most heavily
glaciated part of the world outside the polar regions. The Siachen
Glacier at 76 kilometers (47 mi) and the Biafo Glacier at 63 kilometers
(39 mi) rank as the world's second and third longest glaciers outside the
polar regions.

The Karakoram is bounded on the northeast by the edge of the Tibetan

Plateau, and on the north by the Pamir Mountains. The southern
boundary of the Karakoram is formed, west to east, by the Gilgit, Indus,
and Shyok Rivers, which separate the range from the northwestern end
of the Himalaya range proper as these rivers converge southwestward
towards the plains of Pakistan.
The Karakoram is in one of the world's most geologically active areas, at
the plate boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian
plate. A significant part, 28-50% of the Karakoram Range is glaciated,
compared to the Himalaya (8-12%) and Alps (2.2%). Mountain glaciers
may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding
with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation. Karakoram
glaciers are mostly stagnating or enlarging, because, unlike in the
Himalayas, many Karakoram glaciers are covered in a layer of rubble
which insulates the ice from the warmth of the sun. Where there is no
such insulation, the rate of retreat is high.

Sulaiman-Kirthar Fold Belt:

The Sulaiman Mountain Ranges have a lobate shape as a multistrand
garland comprised of arcuate, parallel to sub parallel and en echelon
ranges a few tens of kilometers to over 300 km long. Their relief varies
from a few hundred meters to nearly 3,600 m.

The most conspicuous mountain of the sulaiman system of ranges,

however, is the north-south trending Sulaiman Range itself. It comprises
the eastern margin of the Sulaiman lobe and continues from South
Waziristan to a point west of Rajanpur, a distance of nearly 400 km
(Photo. 12). It is 20-25 km wide and its altitude ranges from about 3,440
m in the north to about 1,600 m in the south. This range is traversed by
narrow, deep gorges and defiles of the Zhob, Drazinda, Domanda,
Razanni, Vehowa, Luni, Kaha and Chachar Rivers. A slightly arcuate and
disjointed chain of hills, the Drazinda-Pirkoh Range, flanks the Sulaiman
Range on the east.
Tectonic Setting:
The area is located within the central and southern Kirthar Fold Belt south
of the Quetta Syntaxis. Upper Cretaceous succession (Pab and Mughal
Kot formations) has achieved great thickness in Kirthar Fold Belt within
West Pakistan Fold Belt. The succession was deposited on northwestern
passive margin of the Indian Plate, which has been subdivided into the
Sulaiman and Kirther blocks based on their structural style observed on
satellite images. The West Pakistan Fold Belt (comprising the Sulaiman
and Kirther Fold belts), Bela Zhob-Waziristan Ophiolite Belt, Markran-
Khojak-Pishin Flysch belt and Indus Basin are important tectono-
stratigraphic belts of the region. The West Pakistan Fold Belt and the
associated syntaxial belt, including the Kirthar Fold Belt, comprises the
sedimentary cover of the Indian Plate, which deformed during the
collision process when the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate.
It consists of continuous range of foldthrust belts. The Kirthar Fold Belt
forms the southern NS trending part of the West Pakistan Fold Belt, which
is located adjacent to the present day western strike slip margin of the
Indian Plate. The belt is 350 kilometers long and generally northsouth.

STRATIGRAPHY OF THE KIRTHAR FOLD BELT:

The study area is composed of sedimentary rocks which range in age
from Triassic to Holocene. Detailed stratigraphy of the area is behind the
scope of the present study. Lithological characters of various rock units
were noted briefly, however, the Upper Cretaceous succession was
studied in detail. Early researchers have used various stratigraphic
nomenclatures for the rock succession, but in this thesis nomenclature of
the Hunting Survey Corporation (1960), Shah (1977), Fatmi et al. (1986,
1990), Anwar et al. (1991) and Smewing et al., (2002), pertaining to
different localities of the study area has been used. Details of the various
groups and formations of the study area are as under: