List of faults in Pakistan explained

This is a list of faults in Pakistan.

Geology

See main article: Geology of Pakistan.

Chaman Fault

See main article: Chaman Fault. The Chaman Fault is a major, active geological fault in Pakistan and Afghanistan that runs for over 850 km.^[1] Tectonically, it is actually a system of related geologic faults that separates the Eurasian Plate from the Indo-Australian Plate. It is a terrestrial, primarily transform, left-lateral strike-slip fault. The slippage rate along the Chaman fault system as the Indo-Australian Plate moves northward (relative to the Eurasian Plate) has been estimated at 10 mm/yr or more.^[1] In addition to its primary transform aspect, the Chaman fault system has a compressional component as the Indian Plate is colliding with the Eurasian Plate. This type of plate boundary is sometimes called a transpressional boundary.^[2]

Shyok Suture Zone

The Shyok Suture Zone is a cretaceous-tertiary suture located in Gilgit-Baltistan which separates the Karakoram from the cretaceous Kohistan–Ladakh oceanic arc. In previously published interpretations, the Shyok Suture Zone marks either the site of subduction of a wide Tethys Ocean, or represents an early cretaceous intra-continental marginal basin along the southern margin of Asia. A sedimentological, structural and igneous geochemical study was made of a well-exposed traverse in Skardu. To the south of the Shyok Suture Zone in this area is the Ladakh Arc and its Late Cretaceous, mainly volcanogenic, sedimentary cover (Burje-La Formation). The Shyok Suture Zone extends northwards (ca. 30 km) to the late tertiary Main Karakoram Thrust that transported Asian, mainly high-grade metamorphic rocks southwards over the suture zone.^{[3] [4]}

Other faults

• Main Karakoram Thrust
• Riasi Thrust^[5]
• Salt Range Thrust
• Bannu Fault
• Quetta-Chiltan Fault^[6]
• Allah Bund Fault
• Hoshab Fault
• Makran Coastal Fault
• Main Mantle Thrust
• Main Frontal Thrust
• Jhelum Fault
• Kalabagh Fault
• Kurram Fault
• Ornach-Nal Transform Fault
• Kirthar Fault
• Kutch Mainland Fault
• Nagar Parkar Fault
• Nai Rud Fault
• Rawat Fault
• Raikot Fault
• Jhelum Fault (Punjab)
• Punjal-Khairabad Thrust (Punjab)
• Kurram Fault (KPK)
• Kirthar Fault (Sind)
• Pab Fault (Sind)

See also

• List of earthquakes in Pakistan
• Geology of Pakistan

Further reading

• 2013AGUFM.T11A2418B . The Shyok Suture Zone and Main Karakoram Thrust System in the Saltoro Range of Ladakh, Northwestern India . American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting . 11 . Borneman . N . Hodges . K. V . Wartho . J . 2013.
• 10.1007/s12517-014-1284-3 . An overview of tectonosedimentary framework of the Salt Range, northwestern Himalayan fold and thrust belt, Pakistan . Arabian Journal of Geosciences . 8 . 3 . 1635–51 . 2014 . Ghazi . Shahid . Ali . Syed Haroon . Sahraeyan . Mohammad . Hanif . Tanzila . 129093451 .
• 10.1080/13632460601031243 . Seismic Hazard Assessment of the NW Himalayan Fold-and-Thrust Belt, Pakistan, Using Probabilistic Approach . Journal of Earthquake Engineering . 11 . 2 . 257–301 . 2007 . Monalisa . Khwaja . Azam A . Jan . M. Qasim . 140142175 .

Notes and References

1. http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1685 "USGS Unveils How Earthquakes Pose Risks to Afghanistan"
2. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3027/pdf/FS07-3027_508.pdf "Earthquakes Pose a Serious Hazard in Afghanistan"
3. 10.1016/S1367-9120(01)00041-4 . Shyok Suture Zone, N Pakistan: Late Mesozoic–Tertiary evolution of a critical suture separating the oceanic Ladakh Arc from the Asian continental margin . Journal of Asian Earth Sciences . 20 . 3 . 309–51 . 2002 . Robertson . Alastair H.F . Collins . Alan S . 2002JAESc..20..309R .
4. 10.1080/09853111.1997.11105305 . Geology and metamorphism of the Ladakh Terrane and Shyok Suture Zone in the Chogo Lungma – Turmik area (northern Pakistan) . Geodinamica Acta . 10 . 5 . 251–70 . 2015 . Rolfo . Franco . Lombardo . Bruno . Compagnoni . Roberto . Le Fort . Patrick . Lemennicier . Yves . Pêcher . Arnaud . free .
5. 10.1130/B31281.1 . Shortening rate and Holocene surface rupture on the Riasi fault system in the Kashmir Himalaya: Active thrusting within the Northwest Himalayan orogenic wedge . Geological Society of America Bulletin . 128 . 7–8 . 1070 . 2016 . Gavillot . Y . Meigs . A . Yule . D . Heermance . R . Rittenour . T . Madugo . C . Malik . M . 2016GSAB..128.1070G .
   • Web site: May 18, 2016 . New study finds major earthquake threat from the Riasi fault in the Himalayas . Phys.org .
6. Web site: Archived copy . 2017-07-15 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170911033900/http://nceg.uop.edu.pk/GeologicalBulletin/Vol-13-1979/Vol-13-1979-Paper17.pdf . 2017-09-11 .