ABSTRACT
A four day field trip was arranged by Earth & Environmental
Sciences Department of Bahria University, Islamabad to Hazara Basin
which extended from 22nd of April 2011 to 25th of April 2011. Field
trip was arranged to conduct mapping and to study the rocks of
southern Hazara, which range in age from Pre-Cambrian to
Miocene.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is great satisfaction and we are grateful to Allah almighty
who is always with us and gave us the courage to complete this
fieldwork successfully. We are extremely thankful to our Holy
Prophet Muhammad (S. A. W), for being a perpetual source of
guidance for us in all aspects of life. We are grateful to our
teachers Prof. Dr. Sajjad Khan, Mr. Anwar Qadir and Mr. Hammad
Ghani (Lec. Department of earth and environmental sciences Bahria
university Islamabad) who were very kind and helpful to us at every
moment of our field work. Through their guidance and kind advice we
have completed this task successfully.We are thankful to Prof.
Dr.zafar, head of Department of earth and environmental sciences of
Bahria University for providing us the transport facility for our
field work.
CHAPTER 1:1.1) INTRODUCTION: The field trip was a four day field
excursion to the Hazara basin in vicinity of Abottabad
approximately 130 km away from Islamabad. We left for the trip at
09.30am from university on 22nd April 2011 and came back at 7.00pm
on 25th of April 2011. The areas which are under study are mainly
consists of Jabri area, Nathia Gali and Balakot Fault Region of the
Hazara district.1.2) PROCEDURE USED: We applied different
procedures in the field which are as follows:
a) Brunton compass was used for measuring dip and strike of
rocks and bearing of different formations in the field.b) Dilute
HCL was used to differentiate between dolomite and limestone as
limestone fizzes on applying HCL.c) Geological hammer was used for
collecting samples of different rocks.d) Hand lens was used for
studying fossils present in various rocks.e) Global positioning
system (GPS) was used to find the location of the area (latitude,
longitude and elevation).f) Measuring tape to measure bed
thickness.
1.3) OBJECTIVE: The field trip was held in order to observe
practically, theoretical work which we have studied so far in our
course subjects to get familiar with different lithologies of
different formations and sedimentary structures, how to take
bearing and make cross section of the exposed strata.
1.4) PREVIOUS WORK: The first publication of any significance on
the geology of Hazara is ALBERT VERCHERES paper read before Asiatic
Society in 1866. This gives a brief outline of the north eastern
end of the Sirban Mountain near Abbottabad. He recognized
Carboniferous limestone resting upon volcanic rocks the beds above
these he referred in a general way to the Jurassic Formation and
the highest strata to the Nummulitic Limestone.WAGGEN AND WAYNE in
1872 put an order for the first time to the structurally complex
rocks of monotonous similarity. They also produced a map of the
Sirban Mountain, on a scale of one inch to a mile covering an area
of 20 square miles. They suggested the presence of rocks from
Triassic to Eocene based on fossil evidence and found similarities
of some with those from the Cambrian of the Salt Range. This
information coupled with series of Papers during the late seventies
of the last century, is still considered the soundest basis of rock
classification in the area. MIDDLEMISS, 1896, pieced together all
the available information, published or unpublished, from all over
Hazara on a scale of inch to a mile, together with a detailed
account of geology. The present study was initially suggested, in
1956, by N.R. Martin, then a UNESCO advisor and Head of the Geology
Department, University of the Punjab, Lahore. A few roadside
reconnaissance trips were made by the author in his company during
the summer months of 1956, followed by a few independent trips in
1957. Following the footsteps of ALBERT VERCHERE, the Sirban
Mountain was selected as a starting point, and a beginning was made
in July, 1959. The main purpose of the study was to:a)Revise the
stratigraphy.b)Bring the unit names in line with modern
stratigraphic nomenclature. c)Produce a new geological map, on a
scale of one inch to a mile. Through some short publications to
advance the knowledge of geology of Hazara have recently appeared
from Lahore, this is the first of its kind since 1896, in
which;a)An attempt has been made to bring the rock units in order,
to suit the requirements of the stratigraphic nomenclature.b)Revise
the ages of units based on faunal assemblages. c)Correlate the
units with the adjoining areas. d)Produce a new map of the south
eastern Hazara, on a scale of one inch to one mile. Publication of
this map with short account of the stratigraphy marks the centenary
of the first investigations started in the area by ALBERT VERCHERE,
in 1986.
1.5) POPULATION: The population of the Hazara region was
estimated to be over 881,000 in 2008. The total area of Hazara is
969km2(760.2sqmi): See table below.
DistrictArea (km)Population(Millions)
Abbottabad18022
Batagram13101.5
Haripur17631
Kohistan75810.8
Mansehra59572.4
Table1: population and area of Hazara District.
1.6) GEOGRAPHY: Hazara is bounded on the north and east by
theNorthern AreasandAzad Kashmir. To the south are theIslamabad
Capital Territoryand the province ofPunjab, whilst to the west lies
the rest ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. The riverIndusruns through the
division in a north-south line, forming much of the western border
of the division. The total area of Hazara is 18,013km.
1.7) LOCATION OF THE AREA:
The area of field work is to the North East of Islamabad. The
area has high relief, which ranges from 610m above sea level near
Islamabad to 2982m at Miranjani near Nathiagali.
Figure 1: location of study area
1.8) CLIMATE: At Abbottabad, annual rainfall averages around
1,200millimetres (47in) but has been as high as 1,800millimetres
(71in) , whilst in parts of Mansehra District such asBalakotthe
mean annual rainfall is as high as 1,750millimetres (69in) . Due to
its location on the boundary between the monsoonal summer rainfall
regime ofEast Asiaand the winter-dominantMediterranean climateof
West Asia, Hazara has an unusual bimodal rainfall regime, with one
peak in February or March associated with frontal southwest cloud
bands and another monsoonal peak in July and August. The driest
months are October to December, though in the wettest parts even
these months average around 40millimetres (1.6in) . Due to the high
altitude, temperatures in Hazara are cooler than on the plains,
though Abbottabad at 1,200m still has maxima around 32C (90F) with
high humidity in June and July. Further up, temperatures are
cooler, often cooler than theNorthern Areasvalleys due to the
cloudiness. In winter, temperatures are cold, with minima in
January around 0C (32F) and much lower in the high mountains.
Snowfalls are not uncommon even at lower levels.
1.9) ACCESSIBILITY: The area is accessible through a carpeted
road and is well known for tourism, so logistics and support are
well developed.
CHAPTER 22.1.1) REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL SETTINGS: The area under
discussion constitutes a part of the western Himalayas in Pakistan.
It has been formed due to collision of Indian and Eurasian plates.
Due to collision prominent regional structural elements have been
developed along the consuming plate boundaries. The geology and
structure of the western Himalayas has been well documented by
several workers. Mujtaba, G., (1991) has shown that in western
Himalayas, the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) bifurcates into two
structural zones, the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT) and the Main
Karakoram Thrust (MKT). These sutures surround the obducted
Kohistan Arc. The MKT, the northern suture, separates the intrusive
and high grade metamorphic rocks of Eurasian Plate from the
Kohistan Arc terrane. The Kohistan Arc terrane has, on the northern
edge, deformed gabbros, volcanics and greywacke (Rakaposhi
Volcanics Complex) that are intruded by tonalite, diorite and
pegmatite. To the south, the rocks are composed of a deformed,
layered igneous complex metamorphosed to granulite facies. The
southernmost rocks of the Kohistan Arc are metasediments,
amphibolites and granites. The MMT, the southern suture, separates
the Kohistan Arc from the metasediments on the northern edge of the
Indian Plate. It is the extension of the Indus-Tsangpo suture.
Figure 2: Regional Geological settings.The northern edge of the
MMT is marked by sporadic occurrences of ultramafic rocks. The
Indian Plate rocks are late Precambrian to early Paleozoic schists,
marbles, gneisses and granitic gneisses that have been thrust
southward over the Tertiary molasse sediments of the Rawalpindi and
Siwalik Groups. Southward thrusting continues within the molasse
sediments, which is the evidence of continued convergence of the
Indian and Eurasian plates. As a result of tectonic activities
several discontinuities in the stratigraphic record have been
recorded. Since Jurassic more than 670 m of marine sediments have
been deposited against more than 7500 m thick molasse from Miocene
onwards ( Sheikh, M. Iqbal et al., 1993). Since then intense
deformation, erosion and subsidence dominated and thick deposition
of coarse clastic continental sediments took place. During the
uplift and structural deformation for the last 1.5 million years
(Plio-Pleistocene), erosion remained more pronounced than
deposition, so the preserved sediments are thin and discontinuous
bodies of alluvium and Eolian silts are seen.
2.1.2) MAJOR STRUCTURAL FEATURES: Hazara fold-thrust belt is a
part of the Lower Himalayas and formed due to collision of
Indo-Pakistan Plate with the Asian Plate during post-Eocene
oroginic phase. Structurally, Hazara fold-Thrust belt represents a
mega-synclinorium which is, along the Murree-Abbottabad road, is
divisible into at least two synclinoria (Ghazanfar, 1990), i.e.,
the Nawashahr synclinorial complex towards Abbottabad and the much
larger Kuza Gali synclinorial complex towards Murree. The two
synclinorial complexes comprise a large number of NE-SW trending
smaller structures. On the Murree-Abbottabad road, the Kuza Gali
synclinorial complex bounded in the northwest by the Nathia Gali
fault against the Hazara slates near the locality of Kalabagh.
Rocks older than Mesozoic, however, are not exposed in the
south-east, suggesting that the depositional axis of the basin was
systematically shifting towards the southeast and southAs mentioned
earlier, Hazara fold-thrust belt is bounded by Punjal (Khairabad)
thrust fault in the north and that of Murree Fault in the south.
Along the Punjal fault Precambrian sequence has been pushed over
the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks; whereas, Murree faults abuts the
Mesozoic and earlier rocks against the Murree formation. To the
east and then north the two faults comes closer and finally
coalesce for a time near Balakot. Very little structural studies
have done in this part of northern Pakistan, due to generally thick
vegetation cover, high relief and lack of subsurface data.
STRATIGRAPHYOF HAZARA AREA
2.2.1) INTRODUCTION: Hazara range is the northern most extremity
of sedimentary succession of the North-western margin of the Indian
plate. It is bounded by its north by the Panjal thrust on its
southern side, by the main boundary thrust.The main highway from
Rawalpindi to Peshawar is the dividing line between western limit
of the Hazara range and the Kalachita Range.The staratigraphy of
the hazara range start form Precambrian age(hazara formation) and
ends at Miocene age (Murree formation). The stratigraphic
succession of Hazara fold-thrust belt ranges in age from
Eo-Cambrian to Pleistocene/Recent, interrupted by seven
unconformities, with major absence of Middle and Upper Paleozoic
sequence. Latif (1970) has divided the lithostratigraphic units
into seven groups, each separated by an unconformity. He has
further subdivided these groups into twenty one formations.
(Mujtaba, 2010)
Table 2: Stratigraphic Sequence in lower Hazara as described by
various authors (Abbasi, 2008)
Table 3: Generalized Stratigraphic Column of Hazara Area, NWFP,
Pakistan (Iqbal, et al., 2007)
2.2.2) PREVIOUS WORK: The project area has remained a site of
deep interest for the geologists working on stratigraphy and
tectonics since a long time. A brief summary of the previous workis
given below: Lydekker (1876, 1883) and Middlemiss (1896) carried
out their workin Kashmir and Hazara. They established the broad
outline of the geology in this region and named some of the rock
units. Wadia (1931) explained the syntaxis of the northwest
Himalaya on the basis of geosynclinals group of deposits laid down
on the bed of Tethys against the northern shores of Gondwana land.
Qureshi and Imam (1960) did the geological mapping of the area for
iron and manganese ore deposits. Calkins, Offield, Abdullah and Ali
(1975) mapped Balakot area at 1:125,000 and discussed its geology.
They delt the stratigraphyand structure of a sequence of rocks that
rangein age from Precambrian to Miocene. Structurally the area lies
on the western flank of the HazaraKashmir Syntaxis and contains
iron, manganese, high alumina, clays, gypsum, dolomite and
graphite. This workwas done jointly by the Geological survey of
Pakistan and U.S. Geological Survey. The main interest of field of
Thakur and Gupta (1983) was the regional staratigraphy,
paleontology and structure of Kashmir and Ladakh Himalayas. The
Swiss geologists Bossart, Dorthe, Dietrich, Greco, Ottiger and
Ramsay (1984) in collaboration with Institute of Geology Azad
Jammu& Kashmir University described the lithological,
Stratigraphic and structural features of HazaraKashmir Syntaxis.
Ottiger (1986) did his work on the geology of Hazara-Kashmir
Syntaxis. He reviewed the lithological Formations and rhythmic
sedimentation in Lower Murree Formation in detail. Ghazanfar,
Chuadry and Latif (1987) established three different sets of
Stratigraphic sequences which occur close together in the region of
Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis.
PRE-CAMBRIAN Formations
Following formations belongs to Precambrian age in hazara
range:(1) Hazara Formation(2)Tanawal Formation
2.2.3) HAZARA FORMATION: The name Hazara Formation has been
formalized by Calkin and Ali (1969) for the slate series of Hazara
of Middlemiss (1896), and Hazara Slates Formation of Marks (1961),
and Attok slates of Waagen and Wynne (1872) , and Hazara Group of
Latif (1970). The Formation has its type locality near Hazara
District. Exposure around Baragali along Abbottabad-Nathiagali Road
can be regarded as its type section.Lithology: The Formation
consists of slate, phyllite and shale with minor occurrences of
limestone and graphite layers. Slate and phyllite are green to dark
green and black in color.
Figure 3: Hazara Slates.
Thickness: Limestone beds with maximum thickness of 150 m and
calcareous phyllite gypsum from 30 to 120m thick are found in
southern most Hazara.Fossils: Latif (1970) has reported fossils
from the Formation similar to Protobolella. Age: Calkin (1969)
correlated the Formation with Dogra Slates and assigned a late
Precambrian age to Hazara Formation. Latif (1970) reported fossils
showing that it may be lower Paleozoic in age. Crawford and Davies
(1975) determined the age of the Formation by the Rb-Sr method.
This age determination places the Formation in the Precambrian.
2.2.4) TANAWAL FORMATION: Wynne (1878) used the name Tanol group
for the rocks of this formation. Middlemiss (1896) called them
Tanol quartzite. Marks and Ali (1962) and Latif (1970) named them
Tanol formation Calkins, Offield and Ali (1969) used the name
Tanawal formation for this unit of rocks. The formation is well
exposed in the north and south of Mansehra granite.
Lithology: The formation consists of Quartoze schist, quartzite
and schistose conglomerate. The south of Mansehra granite the
formation consists of medium grained quartzite and fine grained
mica-quartz schist. To the north of Mansehra granite the formation
mainly consists of granite and biotite muscovite-quartz schist.
Thickness: Ali (1962) estimated the thickness as 1666 m.
Contacts: Tanawal formation underlies Abbotabad formation and
overlies Hazara formation in the area between Abottabad and Indus
river. The upper contact with Abottabad formation in this area is
unconformable. In the area between Abottabad and Garhi Habibullah
the lower contact of the Tanawal formation with the Hazara
formation is gradational.
Age: The presence of Tanaki conglomerate between Tanawal and
Abottabad formation shows that the age of Tanawal formation is late
Precambrian.
CAMBRIAN FORMATIONS2.2.5) ABBOTABAD FORMATION: Waagen and Wynne
(1872) used the name below the trias for this unit of rocks.
Middlemiss called it infra-trias. Latif (1970) named this unit as
Abbottabad Group. Calkin, offield and Ali suggested the name
Abbottabad Formation. Type locality of the formation is near
Abbottabad town. Lithology: The Formation mainly consists of
dolomite, quartzite and phyllite, with many lithologic changes from
place to place. In Abbottabad area the formation contains beds of
thick marble with phosphate deposit. Contacts: In Sherwan area the
Formation has an unconformable lower contact with Tanawal Formation
marked by the presence of a boulder bed or by lithologic change.
Thickness: The thickness of the Formation is about 660 m at the
type locality, 900 m in Tanol area, 833 m in Muzaffarabad area and
100 to 130 m in Garhi Habibullah syncline. Fossils: Calkin (1969)
examined the fauna of carboniferous to Permian age from the
formation. Recently Ikramuddin Ali and David examined the fossils
of Hyolithes spp. in the formation which has been reported from the
Cambrian of North America, Sweden and Russia. Age: According to
Calkin (1969) the formation is carboniferous to Permian in age. On
the basis of Hyolithes spp the formation placed in lower
Cambrian.
JURASSIC FORMATIONS2.2.6) SAMANA SUK FORMATION: Middlemiss
(1896) proposed the name Kioto limestone for the rocks of Samana
Suk Formation in Hazara range.Lithology: In Hazara area the
limestone of the formation is thin to thick-bedded and includes
some dolomitic, ferruginous, sandy and oolitic beds.Thickness: The
thickness of the formation is 366 m in Bagnotar section of Hazara
area. Contacts: The lower contact is transitional with Shinawari
Formation and upper contact is disconformable with Chichali
Formation.Fossils: Calkins (1968) reported fossils of gastropods
from northern Hazara. Latif (1970) reported fossils of Stylina sp.,
Corbula sp., Nucula sp. and Protocardia sp. from different parts of
Hazara. Age: Age of the formation is Middle Jurassic indicated by
its fauna.
Cretaceous formations2.2.7) KAWAGARH FORMATION: The name
Kawagarh Formation was approved by Stratigraphic committee of
Pakistan, against the older name Kawagarh Marls. Sattu Limestone of
Calkines and Matin (1968) and Chanali Limestone of Latif (1970) in
Hazara Area were formalized into Kawagarh Formation.
Lithology: The Nara sandstone member in the upper part is grey,
brownish grey to dark grey, thick bedded, calcareous sandstone with
some limestone interbeds. In northern Hazara Nara member was not
developed and Kawagarh formation consists of grey, olive grey,
light grey sublithlogic limestone with subordinate marl and
calcareous shale.
Figure 4: Kawagarh Limestone.
Thickness: In Hazara the thickness of the formation varies from
45 m to 200 m, south to middle area.
Contacts: The formation has disconformable contact with
overlying Hungu Formation of Paleocene age and underlying Lumshiwal
formation of mainly Early Cretaceous.
Fossils: Latif (1970) has reported following foraminifers from
southern Hazara: Globotruncana lapparenti, G.fornicata, G.
concavata carinata, G. etc.
Age: On the basis of fauna the age of formation is regarded as
Late Cretaceous
2.2.8) LUMSHIWAL FORMATION: The name Giumal Sandstone was given
to the rocks of Lumshiwal Formation in Hazara area by Middlemiss
(1896). Cotter (1933) used the name Main Sandstone Series for the
same rocks. Wuch Khwar section in Nizampur area and Jhamiri village
on Haripur Jabrian Road in Hazara are the reference sections of
Lumshiwal Formation.
Lithology: In Hazara area the formation is mostly of marine
origin consisting of quartose, ferruginous sandstone and dark rusty
brown sandy limestone.
Thickness: In southern Hazara its thickness is 50m in northern
Hazara its thickness varies from 20m to 10m.
Contacts: The lower contact with Chichali formation is
transitional and upper contact with Kawagarh formation of upper
cretaceous is disconformable.
Fossils: The upper most part of formation in northern Hazara has
abundant fossil casts of brachiopods, gastropods and Ammonoids.
Age: The age of the formation in Hazara area is lower
cretaceous.
2.2.9) CHICHALI FORMATION: Middlemiss (1896) called the rocks of
Chichali Formation as Spiti Shale in Hazara. In southern Hazara the
Formation is divided into three folds with almost type section
lithology.
Lithology: In the lower part it consists of glauconitic
sandstone with nodular silty, calcareous, phosphatic base. In the
middle part it consists of glauconitic, sandy shale and dark
pyritic unfossiliferous shale in the upper part. In northern Hazara
the formation shows a facies change consisting of dark silty shale
with some ferruginous calcareous and phosphatic nodules and is
similar to Spiti Shale of Himalayas.
Figure 5: Belmenites
Thickness: In southern Hazara it is 33m thick while in northern
Hazara its thickness is 34m to 64m.
Contacts: The lower contact with Samana Suk Formation is
disconformable while the upper contact with Lumshiwal Formation is
gradational.
Fossils: Ammonoids and belemnites of late Jurassic age have been
recorded from Chichali Formation in Hazara area.
Age: In northern Hazara the age of the formation is Late
Jurassic while in southern Hazara the age of the formation is Late
Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.
Paleocene Formations:2.2.10) PATALA SHALES: The term Patala
formation was formalized by Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan for
the Patala Shale of Davies and Pinfold (1937) and its usage was
extended to other parts of the Kohat-Potwar and Hazara areas.
Lithology: It contains shale of brown and green color with
interbeds of nodular limestone and carbonaceous material in Hazara
area.
Figure 6: Patala Shale
Thickness: The thickness of formation is 182 m in Hazara
area.
Contacts: Throughout its extent Patala Formation conformably
overlies Lockhart Limestone. Patala Formation has shale with
grayish color having thin beds of limestone. Contact between
Margalla hill limestone and Patala Formation has been marked along
Changla Gali road section.
Fossils: Latif 1970 reported smaller foraminifers from Hazara
which includes Globorotalia elongata, Globigerina primitive,
Triloculina trigonula. The larger foraminifers recorded by Raza and
Cheema includes Assilinadandotica, a.granulosa, a. Spinosa.
Age: The age of formation is late paleocene in Hazara area.
2.2.11) LOCKHART LIMESTONE: Davies (1930) introduced the term
Lockhart limestone for a Paleocene limestone unit in Kohat area and
usage has been extended by Stratigraphic committee of Pakistan to
similar units in Hazara area.
Lithology: In the Hazara area limestone is dark grey and black
in color and contains intercalation of shale and marl. The
limestone is generally bituminous and gives feted smell on fresh
surface.
Figure 7: Nodular Lokhart Limestone.
Thickness: The thickness of unit is 242m in Hazara area.
Contacts: The formation conformably and transitionally overlies
and underlies the Hungu Formation and Patala Formation
respectively. The contact between Lockhart Limestone and Patala
Formation has been marked in Changla Gali road section.
Fossils: Raza (1967), Cheema (1968), and Latif (1970) have
reported a number of foraminifer from Hazara area including
Lockhartia, Conditi, Globorotalia uncinata, Globigerina
tringularis, Texularia sinithvillensis etc.
Age: The above mentioned fossils indicated Paleocene age of
unit.
Eocene Formations2.2.12) MARGALLA HILL LIMESTONE: The term
Margalla Hill Limestone of Latif has been formally accepted by
Stratigraphic committee of Pakistan for the Nimmulitic formation of
Waagen and Wynee (1872), the upper part of Hill limestone of
Wynne(1873) and Cotter (1933), and part of Nummlitic Series of
Middlemiss .The name is derived from the Margala Hills in Hazara.
Lithology: The formation consists of limestone with subordinate
marl and shale. The limestone is grey, weathering pale grey, fine
medium grained, nodular, medium to thick bedded and rarely massive.
The marl is grey to brownish grey while the shale is greenish brown
to brown in color. Contacts: The lower and upper contacts with the
Patala Formation and Chorgali Formation are conformable. Fossils:
Foraminiferas, mollusks and echinoids are common in the formation.
Raza (1967), Cheema (1968) and Latif (1970) recorded number of
foraminifers from the formation, including Assilina graulosa,
A.laminosa, A.Lokhartia Conditi, L.Opercoloia jiwani, O.etc Age:
The above listed Foraminiferes indicate the Early Eocene Age of the
formation
2.2.13) CHORGALI FORMATION: The term Chorgalibeds of Pascoe
(1920)has been formalized as Chorgali formation by
theStratigraphicCommitteeof Pakistan.Latif (1970) used thenameLora
Formation for the rocksof Chorgali formation inthe Hazara
area.Lithology: In Hazara area theformation is composedof
thinlyinter-bedded limestone and marl which are light to pale grey
and weather light yellow tocream. Inthe KalaChitta, the formation
consists thin to mediumbed grey limestone with subordinate marl.
The limestone is light lynodular and contains chert lenses.Fossils:
A richfossil assemblagesincludingforaminiferas, mollusks
andostracodes hasbeenReported by Davies and Pin fold(1 9 37
),Eames(1 9 5 2),Gill(1953)and Latif (1970c).
Age: The age ofthe formation is Early Eocene 2.2.14) KULDANA
FORMATION: Middlemiss (1896) used the name Kuldana series, Latif
called Kuldana beds to the rocks of Kuldana formation. Type
section: The type section is near Kuldana village in Hazara
District.Lithology: The formation is composed of shale and marl
with occasional beds of sandstone, limestone, conglomerate and
bleached dolomite. In Hazara area shale and marl are dominant. The
shale is brown, gypsiferous and arenaceous. The marl is brown with
few beds of fibrous gypsum. Thickness: The thickness of the
formation is 150 m in Hazara area.
Contacts: In Hazara area the Formation has a conformable contact
with underlying Chorgali Formation and upper contact with Murree
Formation is disconformable.
Fossils: Remains of foraminifers, gastropods, bivalves have been
reported from the formation.
Age: The age of the formation is Middle Eocene. Miocene
FORMATIONs
2.2.15) MURREE FORMATION: The name Murree formation has been
formalized by the Stratigraphic committee of Pakistan for the Mari
group of Wynne (1974)and Murree beds of Lydekker (1876). A type
section has been designated to the north of Dhok maiki in the
Campbellpur Distric.
Lithology: The formation is composed of a monotonous sequence of
dark red clay and grey sandstone with subordinate intraformational
conglomerate. Calcareous sandstone is present at the base of the
formation. This section has been designated as fatehjang member,
after the fatehjang zone" of pilgrim (1918). Thickness: The
formation is 180 to600 m thick in the northern salt range. It is
3,030 m thick in northern potwar. Contacts: The lower contact of
the formation is with various formations of the Eocene age. The
upper contact is transitional with Kumlial formation.
Fossils: The formation is poorly fossiliferous and contains only
few plant remains but from the fatehjang member fossils of mammals
are recorded. Age: The age the formation is early Miocene on the
basis of above mentioned fossils
CHAPTER 3GENERAL STRUCTURES:3.1) FOLDS: The termfoldis used
ingeologywhen one or a stack of originally flat and planar
surfaces, such assedimentarystrata, are bent or curved as a result
of permanentdeformation. Folds are commonly formed by shortening of
existing layers, but may also be formed as a result of displacement
on a non-planar fault (fault bend fold), at the tip of a
propagating fault (fault propagation fold), by differential 3.2)
FOLD TERMINOLOGY IN TWO DIMENSIONS: Looking at a fold surface in
profile the fold can be divided intohingeandlimbportions. The limbs
are the flanks of the fold and the hinge is where the flanks join
together. The hinge point is the point of minimum radius
ofcurvaturefor a fold. Thecrestof the fold is the highest point of
the fold surface, and thetroughis the lowest point. Theinflection
pointof a fold is the point on a limb at which
theconcavityreverses, on regular folds this is the mid-point of the
limb.
3.3) FOLD TERMINOLOGY IN THREE DIMENSIONS: The hinge points
along an entire folded surface form a hinge line, which can be
either acrest lineor atrough line. Thetrend and plungeof a linear
hinge line gives you information about the orientation of the fold.
To more completely describe the orientation of a fold, one must
describe theaxial surface. The axial surface is the surface defined
by connecting all the hinge lines of stacked folding surfaces. If
the axial surface is a planar surface then it is called theaxial
planeand can be described by thestrike and dipof the plane. Anaxial
traceis the line of intersection of the axial surface with any
other surface (ground, side of mountain, geological
cross-section).A fold axis is the closest approximation to a
straight line that when parallel to itself moved, generates the
form of the fold. (Davis and Reynolds, 1996 after Donath and
Parker, 1964; Ramsay 1967). A fold that can be generated by a fold
axis is called acylindrical fold.
Figure 8: terminologies of fold.3.4) FOLD SHAPE: It is necessary
to convey a sense of the shape of the fold. A fold can be shaped as
achevron, with planar limbs meeting at an angular axis,
ascuspatewith curved limbs, ascircularwith a curved axis, or as
elliptical with unequalwavelength
Figure 9: Cylindrical fold with axial surface not plane.3.5)
FOLD TYPES: Anticline: linear, strata normally dip away from axial
center,oldeststrata in center.
Figure 10: Anticline. Syncline: linear, strata normally dip
toward axial center,youngeststrata in center.
Figure 11: Syncline. Chevron: angular fold with straight limbs
and small hinges Recumbent: linear, fold axial plane oriented at
low angle resulting in overturned strata in one limb of the fold.
Parasitic: short wavelength folds formed within a larger wavelength
fold structure - normally associated with differences in bed
thickness Disharmonic: Folds in adjacent layers with different
wavelengths and shapesZ-FOLD:
Z-foldIn aparasitic fold, an asymmetric fold whose profile is
Z-shaped, reflecting its location on the respective limb of a major
fold
Figure 12: Z and S fold.
S-FOLD: An asymmetricalparasitic foldwhose approximately
S-shaped profile, when observed down theplungeof thefold axis,
indicates its position on the right limb of the majoranticline, but
not on thesyncline.
Figure 13: some types of folds.
3.6) FAULT: Ingeology, afaultis a planarfractureor discontinuity
in a volume ofrock, across which there has been significant
displacement. Large faults within the Earth'scrustresult from the
action oftectonicforces. Energy release associated with rapid
movement onactive faultsis the cause of mostearthquakes. Afault
lineis the surface trace of a fault, the line of intersection
between the fault plane and the Earth's surface. The two sides of a
non-vertical fault are known as thehanging wallandfootwall. By
definition, the hanging wall occurs above the fault and the
footwall occurs below the fault.
Figure 14: hanging wall and foot wall.3.7) FAULT TYPES:
Geologists can categorize faults into three groups based on the
sense of slip:DIP SLIP FAULT: Dip-slip faultscan occur either as
"reverse" or as "normal" faults. A normal fault occurs when the
crust is extended. Alternatively such a fault can be called
anextensional fault. The hanging wall, which got its name from
miners hanging their lanterns on this wall, moves downward,
relative to the footwall, which gets its name from the miners who
walk on this wall. A downthrown block between two normal faults
dipping towards each other is called agraben. An upthrown block
between two normal faults dipping away from each other is called
ahorst. Low-angle normal faults with regionaltectonicsignificance
may be designateddetachment faults.
Figure 15: Dip slip fault.
REVERSE FAULT: A reverse fault is the opposite of a normal fault
the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall. Reverse faults
indicate shortening of the crust. Thedipof a reverse fault is
relatively steep, greater than 45.NORMAL FAULT: Fault in which the
hanging wall has moved downward relative to the footwall.
Figure 16: Normal and reverse fault.
STRIKE SLIP FAULTS: The fault surface is usually near vertical
and the footwall moves either left or right or laterally with very
little vertical motion.Strike-slip faultswith left-lateral motion
are also known assinistralfaults. Those with right-lateral motion
are also known asdextralfaults.
Figure 17: Schematic illustration of strike slip fault.
OBLIQUE SLIP FAULTS: A fault which has a component of dip-slip
and a component of strike-slip is termed anoblique-slip fault.
Nearly all faults will have some component of both dip-slip and
strike-slip, so defining a fault as oblique requires both dip and
strike components to be measurable and significant.
Figure 18: Oblique slip fault.CHAPTER 4:Day 1, stop 1:4.1.1)
INTRODUCTION: On the first day of our trip we went to the Jabri
area of Hazara. We were standing at the lesser Himalayas. There we
observe the Hazara slates of Pre Cambrian age. The main Hazara
thrust fault is passing through the area. We were standing on the
fault zone. The road was in between the fault zone. Fault is moving
from north. The movement of fault is in both horizontal and
vertical directions.Here we observed the Hazara slates which is
discussed above in the portion of stratigraphy.4.1.2) FAULT ZONE
INDICATION: Breccia Intense fracturing Drag foldThere the rocks of
Eocene age were present and the rock of Paleocene, Cretaceous and
Jurrasic age were missing.PresentEocene
MissingPaleocene
MissingCretaceous
MissingJurassic
Then we draw the rough diagrams of the outcrop. We observe
faults and folds there which are attached with the report.
4.2.1) Day 2nd On this day we observe the following
formations.FormationsDescription
Kuldana FormationShale with Gypsum with inter-beds of
limestone
Chorgali FormationLimestone with inter-layers of shale/marl
Margala Hills LimestoneLimestone with shale/marl inter-beds
Patalla ShalMarly shale with few thin limestone beds
Lockhart FormationLimestone with occasional marl/shale
layers
Kawagarh FormationLimestone, wilt shale in lower part
Lumshiwal FormationSand, siltstone with shale inter-layers
Chichali FormationShale beds
Samana suk FormationLimestone with intra-formational
conglomerate
The overall details of the formations are mentioned in the
portion of stratigraphy.
4.2.2) GET A BEARING: A bearing is a measurement of direction
between two points. Bearings are generally given in one of two
formats, an azimuth bearing or a quadrant bearing.An azimuth
bearing uses all 360 of a compass to indicate direction. The
compass is numbered clockwise with north as 0, east 90, south 180,
and west 270. So a bearing of 42 would be northeast and a bearing
of 200 would be southwest, and so on.For quadrant bearings the
compass is divided into four sections, each containing 90. The two
quadrants in the northern half of the compass are numbered from 0
to 90 away from north (clockwise in the east, counterclockwise in
the west). In the southern half of the compass, the two quadrants
are numbered away from south (counterclockwise in the east,
clockwise in the west).
Figure 19: Quadrant Bearing.Quadrant bearings are given in the
format of N 40E (northeast), S 26W (southwest), etc. Whenever you
measure a quadrant bearing, it should always be recorded with north
or south listed first, followed by the number of degreesaway from
north or south, and the direction (east or west) away from north or
south. In other words, you would never give a quadrant bearing as E
40N or W 24S.Your compass may be an azimuth compass or it may be
divided into quadrants. If you have an azimuth compass and are
given a quadrant bearing, youll have to divide it into quadrants in
your head, and the same goes for quadrant compasses if you are
given an azimuth bearing.4.2.3) MEASURING A BEARING: So, youre in
the field with your map at point A and want to get to point Bhow do
you accomplish this? The first thing you need to do is determine
the bearing from point A to point B. There are two ways to go about
this.The easiest way, is to carry a protractor with you when youre
in the field. If you have a protractor with you, place it on the
map so it is oriented parallel to a north-south gridline, with the
center of the protractor on point A (or on a line drawn between
points A and B). Once you have done this, you can simply read the
bearing you need to go off of the protractor.If you dont happen to
have a protractor with you, you can determine the bearing you need
using your compass. To do this, place your compass on the map so
that the edge of your compass is oriented parallel to a north-south
gridline and the center of your compass is on the line between
points A and B.
Figure 20: Map Bearing.
Now rotate the map and compass together until the north arrow on
the compass points to 0 on the graduated circle. You can then
approximate the bearing you need by estimating where the line
between A and B crosses the graduated circle.It is probably at
about this point that, if you are using a Brunton compass (and some
others as well), you are probably noticing that the east label is
on the wrong side of the compass (west of north).
Day 3rd, Stop 1:4.3.1) INTRODUCTION: Here we observed the
extension of Mansehra granites. They had a uniform texture and
represented Augen gneisses of quartz and feldspar composition. Some
of it was converted to milonite and represented shear zone. The
gneissosity was shown by gneiss banding.
Figure 19: Mansehra granites fine grained with light colored
augen gneissesHere we observed Dolerite dykes intrusion. White
feldspar. Quartzite intrudes in the granite.
4.3.2) Stop 2:INTRODUCTION: Here on one side of the road, we
could see all variety of schists. On the other side, it was a
landscape. On the back side of the mountain, there was Balakot Bagh
fault where there was a displacement of 5 m in 2005 Earthquake. The
red colored formation was Murree Formation on top and white color
formation showed Abbottabad formation. Also there were some fault
scars which were the geomorphic indicators of the faults.
Murree formationAbbotabad formation Figure 20: Murree and
Abbotabad formationsIn the foot of the mountains, there were
Alluvial fans in which finer particles were at the top and coarser
are at the bottom.
Figure 21: Alluvial fan..kunhar river.4.3.3) Stop 3: Then we
went to the balakot area. There we observe the Balakot Fault
zone.BALAKOT FAULT REGION: Balakot tectonic ridge lie on the active
hanging wall (anticline) imbigrated between southern and northern
segments of muzafarabad thrust.this active anticline is form
because of the active folding of the hanging wall of muzaffarabad
fault.the Holocene terraces is tilted,uplifted and folded in andi
anticline and also in balakot hanging wall anticline.COORDINATES:
34 33 27N 73 21 22E.Fault is in NS trend. Fault is vertical steeply
dipping. In the north there is red valley stuff. On the west lies
the Hanging wall which is the older rocks (shale, clay)In the east
lies the foot wall there the rocks are carbonate rocks.
DAY 4
4.4.1) RESISTIVITY SURVEY INTRODUCTION:
The purpose of electrical surveys is to determine the subsurface
resistivity distribution by making measurements on the ground
surface. From these measurements, the true resistivity of the
subsurface can be estimated. The ground resistivity is related to
various geological parameters such as the mineral and fluid
content, porosity and degree of water saturation in the rock.
Electrical resistivity surveys have been used for many decades in
hydrogeological, mining and geotechnical investigations. More
recently, it has been used for environmental surveys. The
resistivity measurements are normally made by injecting current
into the groundthrough two current electrodes (C1 and C2 in Figure
1), and measuring the resulting voltagedifference at two potential
electrodes (P1 and P2). From the current (I) and voltage (V)values,
an apparent resistivity (pa) value is calculated.pa = k V / I
Figure 22: Resistivity method
Figure 23: concept of Resistivity Measurement.
where k is the geometric factor which depends on the arrangement
of the four electrodes. In a later section, we will examine the
advantages and disadvantages of some of these arrays. Resistivity
meters normally give a resistance value, R = V/I, so in practice
the apparent resistivity value is calculated bypa = k RThe
calculated resistivity value is not the true resistivity of the
subsurface, but an apparentValue which is the resistivity of a
homogeneous ground which will give the same resistance Value for
the same electrode arrangement. The relationship between the
apparent resistivity and the true resistivity is a complex
relationship. To determine the true subsurface resistivity, an
inversion of the measured apparent resistivity values using a
computer program must be carried out. The distance between two
current and potential electrodes is changed and readings are
taken.
4.4.2) TRADITIONAL RESISTIVITY SURVEYS: The resistivity method
has its origin in the 1920s due to the work of the Schlumberger
brothers. For approximately the next 60 years, for quantitative
interpretation, conventional sounding surveys (Koefoed 1979) were
normally used. In this method, the centre point of the electrode
array remains fixed, but the spacing between the electrodes is
increased to obtain more information about the deeper sections of
the subsurface.
Figure 24: the Conventional four electrode array
The measured apparent resistivity values are normally plotted on
a log-log graph paper. To interpret the data from such a survey, it
is normally assumed that the subsurface consists of horizontal
layers. In this case, the subsurface resistivity changes only with
depth, but does not change in the horizontal direction. A
one-dimensional model of the subsurface is used to interpret the
measurements. Despite this limitation, this method has given useful
results for geological situations (such the water-table) where the
one dimensional model is approximately true. The most severe
limitation of the resistivity sounding method is that horizontal
(or lateral) changes in the subsurface resistivity are commonly
found. Lateral changes in the subsurface resistivity will cause
changes in the apparent resistivity values that might be, and
frequently are, misinterpreted as changes with depth in the
subsurface resistivity. In many engineering and environmental
studies, the subsurface geology is very complex where the
resistivity can change rapidly over short distances. The
resistivity sounding method might not be sufficiently accurate for
such situations. Despite its obvious limitations, there are two
main reasons why 1-D resistivity sounding surveys are common. The
first reason was the lack of proper field equipment to Copyright
(1999) M.H.Loke carry out the more data intensive 2-D and 3-D
surveys. The second reason was the lack of practical computer
interpretation tools to handle the more complex 2-D and 3-D models.
However, 2-D and even 3-D electrical surveys are now practical
commercial techniques with the relatively recent development of
multi-electrode resistivity surveying instruments (Griffiths et al.
1990) and fast computer inversion software (Loke 1994).
4.4.3) APPLICATIONS:
Electrical resistivity of soils and rocks correlates with other
soil/ rock properties which are of interest to the geologist,
hydrogeologist, geotechnical engineer and/or quarry operator.
Several geologic parameters which affect earth resistivity (and its
reciprocal, conductivity) include: clay content, groundwater
conductivity, soil or formation porosity, Degree of water
saturation.
4.4.4) READINGS COLLECTED IN FIELD:currentpotential
AB/2MN/2Resistivity(ohm.m)Standard Deviation
5121.4390.157%
10119.6400.178%
10219.7700.077%
15217.8920.563%
20219.1320.414%
25520.7640.823%
4.4.5) STOP 1: The first stop we made was at a place called
Khota Kabr. It has now been renamed to Muslimabad. Mainly we
observed Hazara slates, dark brown in color. Hazara formation is
oldest sequence and is equivalent to salt range formation in age.
It consisted of Precambrian and Paleozoic sequences.Medium-corse
grained sandstone especially of the greywacke variety was also
seen. Other lithologies present were phyllites, schists, argillite,
clays and metasediments.
Figure 25: Hazara slates. Moving further we saw a sequence
showing chaotic channel fill deposits which were overlain by
uniform sediments. The top of the uniform sequence marked the
terrace which represented the maximum level of the stream at the
time of formation. The uniform sequence was formed in a fluvial
environment and the chaotic fill indicated hill slope deposits with
no internal organization.
Then we observed Tannaki boulder bed which marked a major
unconformity and was at the base of Abottabad formation.
Tannaki boulder bed consisted of conglomerates at the base and
massive boulders at top. The conglomerates were blackish in color
and both clast supported and matrix supported variety was observed.
There was no consistency in grain size.
Hazara SlatesTanaki boulder bed Figure 26: Hazara slates over
lain by Tannaki boulder bed
1