Regional Tectonic Synthesis of Central Foldbelt and Indus Plain of Pakistan

John R. Everett, Orville R. Russell, Peter Dolan

A regional tectonic synthesis based on detailed interpretation of 32 Landsat images, review of literature and maps, and integration of a regional stratigraphic analysis reveals a great deal about the development and distribution of deformational features in Pakistan and indicates a number of oil and gas exploration opportunities that may have been overlooked. It appears that the original shape of the Indian and Eurasian plates and their convergence vector through time controlled the overall pattern of deformation resulting from their collision. The details of plate convergence history, distribution of previously existing structural features, distribution of lithologic units, and their mechanical properties profoundly influence the morphology and architecture of the ranges comprising the Central foldbelt and the effects of the collision in the Indus Plain. In particular, the distribution of low-viscosity units that act as detachment zones (e.g., the Infracambrian evaporite sequence, Cretaceous and Eocene shales and evaporites) control the location of folded thrust belts, thrust duplexes, and passive-roof complexes.

Taken together, the tectonic synthesis and regional stratigraphic analysis indicate a wide variety of untested exploration opportunities. These opportunities range from the obvious testing of undrilled structures within productive foldbelts such as the Potwar Plateau and Sulaiman Range to the pursuit of distal folds and the more obscure extension of foldbelts beneath the alluvial cover of the Indus Plain and delta.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91022©1989 AAPG Annual Convention, April 23-26, 1989, San Antonio, Texas.