Overview of the Geography, Geology, and Structure of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project Study Area, Northern Pakistan By Peter D. Warwick, U.S. Geological Survey Chapter A of Regional Studies of the Potwar Plateau Area, Northern Pakistan Edited by Peter D. Warwick and Bruce R. Wardlaw Prepared in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Pakistan, under the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, and the Government of Pakistan Bulletin 2078–A U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey iii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................A1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................1 Cultural and Physical Geography of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project Study Area .........................................................................................................................................1 Geology of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project Study Area ..................................4 Stratigraphy ...........................................................................................................................................4 Structure.................................................................................................................................................5 Overview of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project Studies .......................................7 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................................................7 References Cited............................................................................................................................................7 Plate [Plate is in pocket] A1. Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) image base map of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project study area, northern Pakistan. Figures A1. Index map showing location of Pakistan coal fields and Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project study area .........................................................................A2 A2. Map of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project study area showing physiographic features ................................................................................................3 A3. Generalized cross section across the western Potwar Plateau and the west- central Salt Range ........................................................................................................................5 A4. Structural map of the Kohat-Potwar Plateaus, northern Pakistan .......................................6 Table A1. Physiographic features and regions of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project study area ..............................................................................................A4 Overview of the Geography, Geology, and Structure of the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project Study Area, Northern Pakistan By Peter D. Warwick Abstract project, contained in chapters B through I of this volume, consist of a series of papers and maps addressing the regional A 32,000-square-kilometer area in northern Pakistan, geology, paleontology and carbonate geology, environments which includes the Salt Range and the Potwar Plateau, has of deposition for coal-bearing rocks, and energy and mineral been the subject of a multidisciplinary Regional Framework resources of the study area. A detailed environmental study of Assessment Project by the U.S. Geological Survey and the the capital area of Islamabad is also provided. These maps and Geological Survey of Pakistan. The framework project was studies will, the authors hope, provide a valuable data base for designed to produce a wide-ranging geologic data base for the further exploration and development. coal-producing areas in the Potwar area of northern Pakistan and will, the authors hope, serve as a model for other multi- Acknowledgments disciplinary geologic studies in Pakistan. The following eight chapters in this Bulletin contain a compilation of the regional Project management of the PRFAP was provided by geology and structure of the study area, studies of the biostra- A.H. Kazmi and Farhat Husain of the GSP and by E.A. Noble tigraphy and sedimentology of coal-bearing units, review of and M.J. Terman of the USGS. J.C. Thomas (USGS) helped the economic minerals, and environmental studies. prepare the Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) image These reports focus on a semiarid area that contains base map (pl. A1). V.S. Williams (USGS) and M.K. Pasha diverse physiographic features ranging from river flood plains to (GSP) assisted with the map of physiographic features for mountain ranges. Rocks exposed in the area range in age from the Potwar area (fig. A2). B.R. Wardlaw’s (USGS) review Precambrian to Holocene and are part of the active foreland of paleontological contributions for this volume is found in fold-and-thrust belt of the Himalayas of northern Pakistan. the “Overview of the Potwar Regional Framework Assess- ment Project Studies” section below. Funding was provided by USAID through Project 391–0478: Energy Planning and Introduction Development Project, Coal Resource Assessment Compo- nent 2a; Participating Agency Service Agreement (PASA) The purpose of this paper is to provide a geographic 1PK–0478–P–IC–5068–00. and geologic introduction to the Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project (PRFAP) study area. The papers in this volume are products of a cooperative program between the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and the U.S. Geologi- Cultural and Physical Geography cal Survey (USGS), sponsored by the Government of Pakistan of the Potwar Regional Framework and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The focus of the program, the Coal Resources Exploration and Assessment Project Study Area Assessment Program (COALREAP), is to explore and assess Pakistan’s indigenous coal resources. As part of COALREAP, The PRFAP study area covers approximately 32,000 GSP and USGS geologists, from 1988 to 1991, conducted square kilometers (km2) (fig. A1). The image base map (pl. regional geologic studies (PRFAP) of the coal-bearing areas in A1) used by the various groups in this study is a geometrically the Potwar region of northern Pakistan outlined by lats 32°22′ corrected mosaic of Landsat MSS scenes. Most of the area N. and 34° N. and longs 71°30′ E. and 73°30′ E. (figs. A1, A2). is within the Punjab; however, parts of the northwestern and The PRFAP was designed to provide training to GSP northeastern study area extend into the North-West Frontier geologists in various aspects of geology. The results of the Province (NWFP). The boundary for these two provinces A Regional Studies of the Potwar Plateau Area, Northern Pakistan generally follows the Indus River. The largest cities within the central part of the area; and Murree and Haripur in the north- study area are Rawalpindi, which is the second largest city ern part of the area (pl. A1). in Pakistan; Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan; and part of The major cities and smaller towns are connected by a Peshawar, the provincial capital of the NWFP. Other important complex network of roads, most of which are paved but not towns in the area are Khewra and Mianwali in the southern always in good repair. Rail lines connect the major cities. An part of the area; Kalabagh, Attock City, and Chakwal in the extensive network of irrigation canals provides water for agri- 60° 80° Tajikistan Turkmenistan CASPIAN Lines of control SEA H Uzbekistan im alaya C h i n a Jammu and Afghanistan Islamabad Kashmir M o unt a I r a n Study in area s Quetta r e v i La hore 30° R s ud nI Nepal P a k i s t a n Karachi I n d i a Oman 20° ARABIAN SEA INDIAN 1000 Km OCEAN 625 Mi 64° 72° North-West Northern Coal fields Frontier Areas 1 Sonda East 2 Sonda West 3 Meting-Jhimpir 25 Federally Lines of control 4 Lakhra Administered 21 5 Thar 24 Azad Tribal Areas 26 22 Kashmir 6 Dureji 23 7 Balgor Study 8 Sanni 20 area 32° 9 Johan 10 Mach-Ab E Gum 19 15 11 Abi Gul 16 18 14 17 Punjab 12 Margat 13 Pir Ismail Ziarat 11 13 12 14 Sor Range-Daghari 9 10 15 Kach 8 16 Khost-Sharig-Harnai 17 Duki Baluchistan 18 Chamalong 19 Badinzai Sindh 20 Makarwal-Kurd-Sho 21 Cherat 7 6 4 22 Choi 5 23 Salt Range 3 0 200 Km 1 24 Kotli 24° 2 0 200 Mi 25 Khilla Muzaffarabad 26 Hangu Figure A1. Location of Pakistan coal fields and occurrences. Box shows Potwar Regional Framework Assessment Project study area (after Schweinfurth and Hussain, 1988). Overview of the Geography, Geology, and Structure A culture in areas near the Indus and Jhelum Rivers. The central (m)) are 14.8°C and 28.9°C, respectively (Nyrop and others, part of the study area, which includes the Potwar Plateau, is 1975). Temperatures vary in the study area relative to elevation. not irrigated but is arable. The greatest elevation in the Potwar area is located in the The climate of most of the area is semiarid and has less Southern Hazara Range (fig. A2), where elevations commonly than 25 centimeters (cm) of rainfall per year. The higher eleva- exceed 1,200 m above sea level. The lowest elevations in the tions of the northern part of