Structure and Shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun Reentrants, Sub
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Peter M. Powers for the degree of Master of Science in Geology presented on June 7. 1996. Title: Structure and Shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun Reentrants, Sub- Himalaya. India. Signature redacted for privacy. Abstract approved: Robert J. Lillie Surface-geology, oil-well, seismic-reflection, and magnetostratigraphic data are integrated to evaluate structural style and shortening rate at the Himalayan front (Sub- Himalaya) of northwest India. The Sub-Himalaya, between the Main Boundary thrust and the Himalayan Frontal fault, is the actively deforming front of the Himalaya. At certain locations, the Himalayan Frontal fault is a blind thrust beneath anticlines of Siwalik (Tertiary) molasse, parallel to the Himalayan arc. The Main Boundary thrust, in contrast, is sinuous, so that the width of the Sub-Himalaya ranges from 30 to 80 km. Where the Sub-Himalaya is narrow (Nahan salient), Tertiary rocks are exposed in imbricate thrust sheets; where the Sub-Himalaya is broad (Kangra and Dehra Dun reentrants), alluvium fills wide synclinal valleys (duns). Seismic-reflection data reveal that surface anticlines form in association with south-vergent thrusts that root in a d&ollement at the base of the Tertiary section. Reflection profiles and well data also indicate that the basement lithology changes northward from Precambrian crystalline rocks beneath the Indo-Gangetic plains to Precambrian and Cambrian metasedimentary rocks beneath the Sub-Himalaya. The Sub-Himalayan décollement dips 2.5° northward beneath the Kangra reentrant, but it is steeper at 6° beneath the Dehra Dun reentrant. The Kangra and Dehra Dun reentrants are characterized by fault-propagation folds with steep limbs in the north and by broad anticlines with gently north-dipping limbs in the south. A balanced cross section of the Kangra reentrant shows that a minimum of 23 km shortening has occurred since 1.9-1.5 Ma, yielding a shortening rate of 14±2 mm/yr. Shortening has occurred at a rate of 7-15 mm/yr across the Dehra Dun reentrant. These data compare with other published shortening rates and indicate that -25% of the total India-Eurasia convergence is accommodated within the Sub- Himalaya of northwest India. ©Copyright by Peter M. Powers June 7, 1996 All Rights Reserved Structure and Shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun Reentrants, Sub-Himalaya, India by Peter M. Powers A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Completed June 7, 1996 Commencement June 1997 Master of Science thesis of Peter M. Powers presented on June 7, 1996 APPROVED: Signature redacted for privaày. Major Professor, representing Geology Snatureredacted for privacy. Chair of Department of Geosciences Signature redacted for privacy. Dean of Gradu&School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Signature redacted for privacy. Peter M. Powers, Author ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was part of a collaborative project between Oregon State University and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Dehra Dun, India, which was made possible by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant EAR-9303577. I am grateful to the members of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation who made this project a success: Messrs. V.N. Misra, A.K. Srivastava, and G.C. Naik. I would also like to thank Bob Lillie for his input and guidance throughout the course of my stay in Corvallis. Special thanks are due to Bob Yeats, who gave me a wonderful introduction to India during the fall of 1994. Thanks are also in order for Firoze and Sucheta Dotiwala who taught me a great deal about Indian culture and life. Lastly, I thank my parents, who have been forever supportive of my interests and aspirations. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 TECTONIC AND STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK 5 STRATIGRAPHIC SETTING 9 STRUCTURAL CROSS SECTIONS 12 General structural divisions 12 Kangra reentrant (section A-A') 13 Southern structures 13 Central structures 15 Northern structures 17 Dehra Dun reentrant (section B-B') 19 Southern structures 19 Northern structures 19 RESTORED CROSS SECTIONS AND SHORTENING AMOUNTS 28 SHORTENING RATES 29 DISCUSSION 33 Basement lithology 33 Basement warps and offsets 35 Dip of décollement 36 Implication and Comparison of shortening rates 36 Mechanics of thrusting 39 Hydrocarbon prospects 41 Earthquake hazards 42 CONCLUSIONS 45 REFERENCES CITED 47 APPENDICES 52 Appendix A Velocity analysis 53 Appendix B Kangra reentrantnotes and seismic profiles 54 Appendix C Dehra Dun reentrantnotes 60 Appendix D Nahan salientnotes, seismic profile, and cross section 62 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Regional tectonic map of the western Himalaya, showing the principal structural elements of the collision 2 Schematic crustal-scale section of the Himalayan collision zone 3 Geologic map of the Potwar Plateau region, showing locations of balanced cross sections used to constrain shortening rates in the Pakistan foreland 7 Geologic map of part of the Sub-Himalaya, showing balanced sections, seismic profiles, and drill holes 8 Generalized stratigraphy of the Himalayan foreland in India 10 Balanced and restored structural cross section (line A-A') 14 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Kangra-2 16 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Kangra-4 18 Balanced and restored structural cross section (line B-B') 20 Migrated seismic-reflection profile Doon-S 21 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Doon-N 24 Magnetic-polarity stratigraphy used to constrain an average sedimentation rate at the southern margin of the Himalayan foreland 30 Long-term sedimentation rates (in m/kyr) from the foreland of India and Pakistan, derived from magnetic-polarity stratigraphic correlations 31 Map showing structure contours of the décollement beneath the Sub- Himalaya of northwest India 34 Diagram comparing shortening rates determined by various methods 37 Diagram showing velocity vectors of the Indian plate 40 Plot of well pressures vs. depth from reported mudweights 43 LIST OF APPENDIX FIGURES Figure Page Geologic map of the Sub-Himalaya of northwest India showing location of seismic lines and structure sections discussed in text and appendices 55 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Kangra-1 56 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Kangra-3 57 Diagram illustrating the complications of projecting exploratory wells in zones of complex structure 58 Unmigrated seismic-reflection profile Nahan-1 63 Structural cross section c-c' across the Nahan salient 66 STRUCTURE AND SHORTENING OF THE KANGRA AND DEHRA DUN REENTRANTS, SUB-HIMALAYA, INDIA INTRODUCTION The Himalayan foreland fold-and-thrust belt (Sub-Himalaya) delineates a zone of structural deformation that reflects the ongoing convergence of India and Eurasia (Fig. 1). Numerous moderate(5.5 7) and a few great (M 8) thrust earthquakes have occurred in the region, but the distribution of seismic activity is not well constrained, because accurate data have only been collected since the 1960s (Molnar, 1984). Records for the past 2 centuries, although not precise by modern standards, delineate seismic gaps where earthquakes have not occurred (Seeber et al., 1981; Yeats et al., 1992). Given the consistent structural style of the Himalayan front between the eastern and western syntaxes in India, the long-term slip rate on faults along the front should be roughly equal over an extended period of time, such as the late Neogene. Therefore, the seismic gaps of the Himalayan front are interpreted as regions where accumulated strain has yet to be released in the form of one or more great earthquakes. When earthquakes do occur on the plate-boundary décollement (Main Himalayan thrust, Fig. 2), they are expressed as shortening in the Sub-Himalaya. In order to evaluate potential hazards from such earthquakes, knowledge of the long-term slip rate on the décollement is necessary. To this end, seismic-reflection, exploratory- well, and surface-geologic data were used to construct balanced cross sections of the Kangra and Dehra Dun structural reentrants of northwest India. The reentrants are ideal for balanced sections because they record the largest amount of late Neogene shortening in the Sub-Himalaya. Outside the reentrants, where imbricate thrusting predominates, only minimum hanging-wall cutoffs can be identified, resulting in poorly constrained section restorations. The reentrants also provide indirect evidence for the position of the Main Himalayan thrust (terminology of Zhao et al., 1993) beneath the Lesser Himalaya, where no direct evidence exists other than the depth to earthquake hypocenters. Specific structural problems addressed include (1) the changing décollement depth beneath deformed Sub-Himalayan strata; (2) features on the basement surface, such as warps and offsets; (3) the configuration of structures within the overlyingstrata, HimalayanFigure 1. Regional Frontal tectonicfault crops map out of discontinuouslythe western Himalaya, along theshowing southern the marginprincipal of structural the Sub-Himalaya elements of(stippled the collision. pattern). The press,Nagrota,MagnetostratigraphicMMT=MainThe map and PH=Pabbiareas Yeats Mantle for et Figs.al., Hills, thrust, section 1992). 3 andPU=Parmandal-Utterbeni, PP=Potwar results 4 are highlightedused Plateau, in this bystudySRT=Salt boxes. R=Rohtas, (filled MBT=Main Range circles): SM=Samba-Mansar thrust, H=Haritalyangar, Boundary ITSZ=Indus-Tsangpo