GEOLOGY OF AFGHANISTAN

• Class Goals: Understand the Historical Geology of Afghanistan

• Understand Basic Stratigraphy, Structure, Tectonics and
Regional Setting of Afghanistan
• Understand the History of Each Major Tectonic Block in
Afghanistan
• Understand the History of Afghanistan’s Geology from the
Precambrian to the Present
• Class Format: Lectures, Homework and Map Exercise
Textbook: “Geology and Mineral Resources of Afghanistan” by Abdullah and
Chmyriov (2008 English Translation)
Instructor: Len Stitt
Email: Lstitt@eaglerockmining.com
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 Paleozoic of Afghanistan – Part 2
Middle Paleozoic
Paleozoic Rocks are found in all of the Blocks of
Afghanistan except for the Farah Block and the
Kandahar Trough.
• Silurian rocks have been distinguished in the
Central Pamir, Karakoram and Helmand Blocks
• Undifferentiated Silurian-Devonian rocks are
found in the North Afghanistan Platform, North
Pamir and Nuristan Blocks
• Devonian rocks are found in Karakoram, Central
Pamir, Band-I-Bayan and Helmand Blocks
• Undifferentiated Devonian-Lower Carboniferous
rocks are found in the Band-I-Bayan and Central
Pamir Blocks
Silurian of the Central Pamir Block
The Silurian of the Central Pamir Block
In the Central Pamir Block, Silurian deposits have
been found in the Shewa Zone in northern
Badakhshan.
• They are Early Silurian in age and are represented
by rhythmically interbedded limestones,
carbonate shales, calc-quartzose and quartzo-
feldspathic siltstones and sandstones. Most
abundant rocks are limestones.
• The sequence is 1,500m thick.
• No identifiable fossils were found in these rocks.
• The rocks were dated as Early Silurian by the
comparison with similar rocks from the Central
Pamir Block in Tajikistan.
Silurian of the Karakoram Block
 Silurian of the Karakoram Block
• In the Karakoram Block, Silurian deposits
are found in the Tashkuprok Zone.
• These rocks are a sequence of alternating
green-grey sericite-quartz-chlorite schist,
with quartz-biotite schists and dark
limestones.
• These Silurian rocks are 180-200m thick.
• Silurian rocks are conformable both with
the underlying Ordovician and overlying
Devonian rocks.
• No fossils were found in the rocks.
• The were dated as Silurian on the basis of
their stratigraphic position between
Ordovician and Devonian rocks.
Silurian of the Helmand Block
Silurian of the Helmand Block
In the Helmand Block, Silurian rocks are found, in the southeast, in the
Argandab Zone, and in the northeast, in the Logar Zone.
• In the Argandab Zone, there are two formations: The Lower Silurian
Dewolak Formation and the Upper Silurian Badokaly Formation.
• The Dewolak Formation is composed of light thick-bedded poorly-
sorted quartz sandstones enclosing lenses of gravelstone and small-
pebble conglomerates with pebbles of quartz and chert.
• The Dewolak Formation is 250-400m thick.
• Remains of wide-range Silurian-Devonian brachiopods were
collected in the middle of the formation.
• The formation is tentatively dated as Lower Silurian (Lower
Llandoverian) by its position in the succession.
• The Badokaly Formation consists of irregularly interbedded,
essentially dark and green-grey siltstones and sandstones with
limestone interbeds.
• The Badokaly Formation is 630m thick and lies conformably on the
Dewolak Beds.
• Remains of Llandoverian brachiopods and Late Llandoverian-
Wenlockian tabulate corals were collected 30m above the base of
the unit.
• Remains of Wenlock-Ludlovian brachiopods were found in the top
beds of the unit.
• Fossils indicate a Early Silurian age, but Soviet geologist suggested a
Late Silurian age based on stratigraphic position.
 Silurian of the Helmand Block
• Lower, Middle and Upper Units are distinguishable in
the Silurian from the Logar Zone.
• The Lower Unit is 120-140 m thick and is composed of
brown-grey and dark quartzo-feldspathic calcareous
sandstones and siltstones.
• Early Silurian (Middle Llandoverian-Wenlockian)
tabulate corals and Lower to Upper Silurian (Wenlock-
Ludlovian) tabulate corals were collected at the top of
the Lower Unit.
• The Middle Unit is 440 m thick and lies conformably on
the Lower Unit.
• It consists of grey and brown siltstones interbedded with
sandstones and sandy limestones.
• Orthoceratites fossils were found at the base, and
tabulate corals, tetracorals, brachiopods, crinoids and
other fossils were collected at the top.
• The Upper Unit is 150m thick and consists of dolomitized
limestones that rest conformably on the Middle Unit.
• Late Silurian (Ludlovian) fossils were collected from
various areas in the Upper Unit.
• Fossils from the Three Units range in age from Early to
Late Silurian for the entire sequence in the Logar Zone.
Silurian-Devonian of the North Pamir Block and
North Afghanistan Platform
Silurian-Devonian of the North Pamir Block and North
Afghanistan Platform
Silurian-Devonian deposits occur in two types of sections, essentially
carbonate and terrigenous sections.
• Silurian-Devonian carbonate deposits are widespread over most of
the territory. The deposits are referred to as the Durumbak Series.
• The series is composed of dark and light grey bedded and massive
marmorized limestones and marbles enclosing single beds and
groups of beds of dark phyllites, siltstones and quartzalbite-mica
schists.
• The rocks lie conformably on the tentatively Ordovician Syandara
Series and are overlain disconformably by Carboniferous strata.
• The thickness of the Durumbak Series is 1,200-1,300m.
• Limestones in the middle of the Durumbak Series contain Early to
Middle Devonian amphipores.
• Rare fossils in the upper part of the Durumbak Series are mostly
poorly preserved.
• The Silurian age of the rocks is based on the findings of Favosites sp.
having a Silurian appearance; the Early-Middle Devonian age was
shown by Early-Middle Devonian crinoids, and tabulate corals found
in the above-mentioned limestones.
Silurian-Devonian of the North Pamir Block and North
Afghanistan Platform
Silurian-Devonian terrigenous deposits occur in North-West
Badakhshan.
• The strata are 3,000-3,500m thick, and composed of
various schists metamorphosed to the phyllite and
greenschist facies. Within the schists are interbeds and
lenses of sandstone and limestone.
• Some schists are products of greenschist transformation
of intermediate and basic volcanics.
• Sandstones are poorly sorted and made up of essentially
quartzose and quartzo-feldspathic, micaceous sandstones.
Limestones are marmorized.
• The boundaries of the rocks with the surrounding strata
run along faults.
• No identifiable fossils were found in the rocks, and the
Silurian-Devonian age was assigned to them by analogy
with the Shirgowat Formation from the Northern Pamir
Block of Tajikistan.
Silurian-Devonian of the Nuristan Block
 Silurian-Devonian of the Nuristan Block
In the Nuristan Block, the undifferentiated Silurian-
Devonian sequence is found in the Kunar Zone. The
deposits have not been studied very well.
• The Silurian-Devonian sequence in the Kunar Zone is
1,200-1,500m thick and composed chiefly of limestones
interbedded with schists.
• The rocks are believed to be underlain by the
Ordovician, and overlain by the Carboniferous.
• The contact with the Ordovician is regarded as
conformable, while that with the Carboniferous may be
either conformable or unconformable.
• Fossils found in these rocks are mostly of poor
preservation. Orthoceratites derived from a bed of
crinoidal limestone occurring in the schists served as
the reliable basis for dating the rocks as Upper Silurian.
• Overall, the Lower Silurian and Devonian are assumed
on the basis on their stratigraphic position.
Devonian of the Karakoram Block
 Devonian of the Karakoram Block
Within the Karakoram Block, the Lower-Middle Devonian
rocks occur in the Tashkuprok Zone.
• The Lower Devonian sequence is conformable with the
Silurian and Upper Devonian.
• Silurian schists are conformably overlain by a sequence
800m thick, consisting of alternating limestones,
siltstones, sandstones, shales and slates.
• Massive limestone beds contain Lower Devonian
tetracorals and tabulate corals.
• These Lower Devonian rocks are conformably overlain by
Upper Devonian (Frasnian) limestones with a 100-meter
horizon of phyllite-like slates. The rocks are 350 to 400m
thick.
• Limestones contain remains of Upper Devonian
(Frasnian) tetracorals and tabulate corals.
• They Upper Devonian rocks are overlain disconformably
by the Lower Carboniferous.
The Devonian of the Band-I-Bayan and Central Pamir
Blocks
The Devonian of the Band-I-Bayan and Central Pamir
Blocks
In the Band-I-Bayan Block Lower Devonian rocks are found in the Kohe
Taraqa and Kohe Qaftarkhan mountains.
• It consists of interbedded grey and dark limestones and dolomites,
which alternate with sandstones. The deposits are 260m thick.
• There is an erosion surface (discomformity) at the contact with the
underlying Cambrian deposits. The relations with the Middle Devonian
remain obscure.
• The Limestones contain brachiopod and bryozoan fossils of Lower
Devonian appearance.
In the Central Pamir Block, Middle Devonian rocks are found in the Kohe
Safed and Kohe Pud ridges.
• Their relationship with Lower Devonian rocks remain uncertain since
they were nowhere found in normal continuous succession.
• The rocks are overlain disconformably by the Upper Devonian.
• The Middle Devonian consists of two units: a Lower Unit of thick-
bedded dolomite that is 200-300m thick; and an Upper Unit of massive
limestone that is 100-1,500m thick.
• No fossils were found in these rocks. They are dated as Middle
Devonian on the basis of their stratigraphic position.
Devonian of the Helmand Block
Devonian of the Helmand Block
In the Helmand Block, Lower, Middle and Upper
Devonian rocks are found in the Argandab and Logar
Zones, while only Upper Devonian rocks are found in
the Tirin zone.
• The undifferentiated Lower-Middle Devonian is a
compositionally and facially variable sequence of
terrigenous rocks with a subordinate amount of
limestones known as the Kolan Deh Formation,
whose upper beds are dated as Earliest Late
Devonian (Lower Frasnian).
• The rocks rest conformably on the Silurian, and are
overlain disconformably by the Upper Frasnian
beds. The rocks vary in thickness from 465-615m.
• The Limestones contain Devonian, Hexacrinites
fossils, as well as tabulate corals and Middle
Devonian (Eifelian) brachiopods and crinoids and
Middle to Late (Givetian-Frasnian) tabulate Corals,
tetracorals and brachiopods.
• A reef limestone that contains Upper Devonian
(Frasnian) tetracorals; with the beds above the
reef limestone containing Early Frasnian
brachiopods.
 Devonian of the Helmand Block
• An intra-Frasnian erosional surface separates the
Upper Devonian sequence into two units: the Lower
Frasnian and the Upper Frasnian-Famennian.
• The Upper Devonian (Lower Frasnian) unit is related
to the underlying Middle Devonian beds, described
above as part of the Kolan Deh Formation.
• The Upper Devonian (Frasnian-Famennian) unit is
known as the Kundalan Formation.
• The Kundalan Formation is composed
predominantly of sandstones with limestone
interbeds. The thickness varies from 100 to 800m.
• The Kundalan Formation rests on the eroded surface
of the Lower Frasnian beds, but with no angular
unconformity.
• It lies unconformably on Lower and Middle
Devonian beds.
• It is conformably overlain by Carboniferous strata.
• Brachiopod fossils are found in the Kundalan
Formation. They are mostly of Late Devonian
(Frasnian) age. Only the uppermost beds belong to
the Late Devonian Famennian.
 Devonian of the Helmand Block
• In the Logar Zone, the Lower-Middle Devonian is represented
by a sequence of rocks variable in composition and color.
• On the northwestern edge of the zone the section is
composed of shallow water carbonate-terrigenous
sediments.
• In the south-eastern direction, closer to the axial part of the
zone, it is made up of the sediments deposited in a deeper
sea, and occasionally include carbonate reef-type members.
The oldest beds are exposed in the axial part of the zone
while in the periphery the section starts with younger beds.
• The rocks lie disconformably on the Ordovician-Silurian, and
are conformably overlain by the Upper Devonian.
• The thickness of the deposits varies from 500 to 2,300m.
• Lower beds of the section (Lower-Middle Devonian) consist of
calcareous quartz sandstones and shales enclosing interbeds
and lenses of conglomerates and sandy limestone. Lower
Devonian (Gedinnian) brachiopods were collected from the
lower 250 meters.
• The upper part of the section is Upper Devonian (Givetian)
and consists of grey and red limestones interbedded with
shales and quartzites. At the base of limestones,
conglomerates containing pebbles of the underlying rocks.
• The beds contain abundant brachiopod and conodont fossils.
• The rocks are conformably overlain by Upper Devonian beds.
 Devonian of the Helmand Block
• In the Logar Zone, the Upper Devonian sequence
in this consists of carbonate-terrigenous
deposits. Their thickness varies from 210 to
530m.
• As with the Lower-Middle Devonian, the Upper
Devonian shows the same transition from
shallow-water carbonate terrigenous sediments
in the north-western periphery of the zone with
while in the south-east, there are deep-sea,
predominantly fine terrigenous sediments,
which enclose limestone, including reef
limestone beds at the base.
• Upper Devonian (Frasnian) beds lie conformably
on the Middle Devonian strata and are
composed of gray and red limestones enclosing
quartzose and calcareous-quartzose sandstone
beds. The beds are 370m thick.
• Upper Devonian (Famennian) beds lie
conformably on the Upper Devonian Frasnian
and consist of grey limestone with quartzose
sandstone interbeds. They are 160m thick.
 Devonian of the Helmand Block
• In the Tirin Zone, only Upper Devonian rocks are
found. They are composed of terrigenous or
carbonate-terrigenous rocks lying strongly
unconformably on the folded Proterozoic. The beds
are conformably overlain by the Lower
Carboniferous. Their thickness is 150 to 225m.
• The Upper Devonian rocks show a gradual
transgression from south-east to north-west.
• The lowest strata are Sandstone, white, quartzose,
grading to conglomerate consisting of pebbles are
quartz and black chert These are overlain by 100m
of dolomite and limestone containing Upper
Devonian (Frasnian) fossils.
• Overlying the lower strata are limestones, yellow
and sandy with red quartz sandstone interbed.
These limestones are 100m thick and and contain
Upper Devonian (Famennian) brachiopods.
• At the top of the section are 15m of white, quatzose
sandstone and gray-green shale. These clastic rocks
may be Uppermost Devonian in age (Famennian).
• The beds are conformably overlain by Carboniferous
(Tournaisian) limestones.
The Devonian-Carboniferous of the Band-I-Bayan and
Central Pamir Blocks
 The Devonian-Carboniferous of the Band-I-Bayan and
Central Pamir Blocks
• Undifferentiated Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous deposits are
mapped in the Band-I-Bayan and Central Pamir Blocks.
• These rocks occur in the Kohe Taraqa and Kohe Qaftarkhan mountains,
in the upper reaches of the Tagaw-i-Takcah River, in Kohe Pud and Kohe
Safad mountains, in the Gok River’s drainage basin, in the upper
reaches of the Torbulak River, near Kirmoq-i-Kotal, Sato, Kotale and
Hajigak passes, and in the Turkman, Shewa and other drainage basins.
• They are known in literature as the Rabat-i-Poy, Hajigak and Zindajan
series.
• The sequence is composed of grey and black inequibedded clayey and
clastic-detrital organogenic limestones interbedded with sandstones,
siltstones, marls and dolomites.
• Their thickness varies from 180m in the Kohe Pud Mountains to 800m
in the Gok River drainage basin. The beds lie transgressively on Middle
Devonian deposits and are transgressively overlapped by Permian
beds.
• The best studied are the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous sections
from Kohe Pud and Shewa river drainage basins. The sections exhibit
somewhat different features.
 The Devonian-Carboniferous of the Band-I-Bayan and
Central Pamir Blocks
In the Kohe Pud area of the Band-I-Bayan Block, the section is most complete.
The Middle Devonian limestones are overlain disconformably by the following
succession of beds:
• Upper Devonian sandstone, inequigranular, quartzose, enclosing limestone
lenses. These conatain Upper Devonian (Frasnian) faunatabulate corals, and
stromatopores.
• Next are limestones interbedded with siltstones and sandstones and
enclosing a 1.5m bed of red iron-bearing oolitic limestone 10 meters above
the base. They contain Upper Devonian (Frasnian) brachiopods, tetracorals,
tabulate corals and crinoids.
• Next is a limestone that is red (ferriferous) at the base (15 m) and yellow-
grey at the top (10 m). The limestone contains Upper Devonian (Famennian)
brachiopods.
• Next is a Lower Carboniferous limestone, medium-bedded, carrying chert
nodules. Fossils are Carboniferous (Late Tournaisian-Early Visean)
brachiopods.
• Next is a thick-bedded limestone. Fossils include Carboniferous (Late Visean-
Namurian) brachiopods and Visean-Namurian tetracorals.
• At the top is a limestone, thick-bedded, with Carboniferous brachiopods.
• The beds are overlain disconformably by Permian quartz sandstones.
The Devonian-Carboniferous of the Band-I-Bayan and
Central Pamir Blocks

In the Central Pamir Block, the Lower Carboniferous has

been found in the Shewa River drainage basin only in two
isolated fault wedges, at the Wuranshor and Gulzary
passes.
• Carboniferous (Upper Tournaisian) beds (100-150 m) are
found at the Wuranshor Pass and consist of ash-grey
bedded clayey limestones with brachiopod and coral
fossils.
• At the Gulzary Pass, Carboniferous (Visean-Namurian or
only Visean) beds outcrop. They are composed of dark
grey clayey limestones (50-100 m) with shale interbeds
and remains of tetracorals.
• Thickness of the Carboniferous (Upper Tournaisian and
Visean-Namurian) deposits in the Shewa River drainage
basin is 150-250m, the overall thickness of these and the
Upper Devonian strata being 650 to 750m.
 Paleogeography of the Silurian of Afghanistan

North Pamir -North Afghanistan Platform

n cea

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Tethy
ProtoT

Paleo
Other Afghanistan Blocks???

In the Silurian, Most of the Blocks of Afghanistan Were Part of Gondwana, Although the
Exact Location is not Known. The North Pamir – North Afghanistan Platform Blocks Were
Probably Located Close to the South China and Tarim Cratons, Between the Closing
ProtoTethys Ocean and Initial Opening of the PaleoTethys Ocean.
 Paleogeography of the Devonian of Afghanistan

North Pamir -North Afghanistan Platform

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Oc
Teth

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to
Pro

oTe
Pale
Other Afghanistan Blocks???

In the Devonian, Most of the Blocks of Afghanistan Were Part of Gondwana, Although the
Exact Location is not Known. The North Pamir – North Afghanistan Platform Blocks Were
Probably Located Close to the South China and Tarim Cratons, Between the Closing
ProtoTethys Ocean and Initial Opening of the PaleoTethys Ocean.