SPATIAL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF NW PAKISTAN A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geology By Naseer Ahmed Shafique Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2001 Dissertation Director: Dr. Brian S. Currie MIAMI UNIVERSITY - THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CERTIFICATE FOR APPROVING THE DISSERTATION We hereby approve the dissertation of Naseer A. Shafique Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy _________________________________ Dr. Brian S. Currie, Advisor _________________________________ Dr. Richard Beck, External Reviewer _________________________________ Dr. Mark Boardman, Internal Reviewer _________________________________ Dr. Yildirim Dilek, Internal Reviewer _________________________________ Dr. A. S. Montagu, Graduate School Representative ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All praises to Almighty God, whose mercy enabled me to complete this study. The author wishes to thank Miami University who provided stipend and laboratory space in support of my studies, Geological Society of America for providing funds for additional sampling of the critical stratigraphic horizons. The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan provided logistical support. Amoco Production Company and Reservoirs Incorporated furnished unpublished petrographic and stratigraphic data. Thanks are due to Dr. Richard A. Beck, whose marvelous interest in the Himalayan Geology provided me the opportunity to come in USA and complete the work on Waziristan biostratigraphy. In the final stages of this work, unfortunately Dr. Beck had to leave Miami University, but thanks to Dr. Brian Currie who spent a lot of time to review the manusript and by virtue of that I am being able to complete this dissertation. This dissertation is dedicated to my beloved parents, especially to my mother who could not wait for the completion and left this world for good. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments........................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 10 1. CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................ 12 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 13 Previous Work............................................................................................................... 14 2. CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................ 16 Introduction ...................................................................................................................17 Regional Structural/Stratigraphic Framework .............................................................. 17 Tectonostratigraphic Units ............................................................................................ 20 Triassic to Cretaceous parautochthonous Indo-Pakistani shelf strata ....................... 20 Ophiolitic Complex Nappes...................................................................................... 23 Deep marine sedimentary allochthons ...................................................................... 23 Early Tertiary strata................................................................................................... 23 Late Tertiary non-marine foreland basin strata......................................................... 23 Objectives and Methods................................................................................................ 23 Identification of Microfossils.................................................................................... 24 Zonal Scheme............................................................................................................ 24 Chronobiostratigraphy............................................................................................... 24 Generalized Lithostratigraphy and Biostratigraphy ...................................................... 26 Triassic-Cretaceous Indo-Pakistani shelf strata ........................................................ 26 Triassic strata............................................................................................................. 26 Jurassic strata............................................................................................................. 30 Cretaceous strata ....................................................................................................... 36 Waziristan Ophiolite Complex..................................................................................39 Allochthonous Deep Water Strata............................................................................. 40 Early Tertiary Strata.................................................................................................. 48 Eocene Strata............................................................................................................. 52 Summary of Biostratigraphic Zones ............................................................................. 58 Jurassic Strata............................................................................................................ 58 Cretaceous Strata....................................................................................................... 59 Paleocene Strata ........................................................................................................ 62 Eocene Strata............................................................................................................. 64 Tectonic Contrls on Basin Development ...................................................................... 67 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 79 3. CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................ 80 Introduction ...................................................................................................................81 Regional Tectonic Framework.................................................................................. 82 Methods and Data.......................................................................................................... 82 Biostratigraphic Methods .......................................................................................... 82 Sample Preparation ................................................................................................... 82 Identification of Microfossils.................................................................................... 82 Zonal Scheme............................................................................................................ 85 Chronobiostratigraphy............................................................................................... 85 Paleoenvironment...................................................................................................... 85 Stratigraphy of the Mughal Kot Gorge ..................................................................... 87 Sembar Formation:.................................................................................................... 87 Radiometric Constraints on the Ophiolites ............................................................... 90 Results ........................................................................................................................... 90 Biostratigraphic Data................................................................................................. 90 Biozones.................................................................................................................... 90 Bioevents................................................................................................................... 94 Paleoenvironment and Bathymetric Distribution...................................................... 94 Summary of Biostratigraphic Events ........................................................................ 95 Interpretation ........................................................................................................... 101 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 101 4. CHAPTER 4 .......................................................................................................... 102 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 103 Method and Data ......................................................................................................... 104 Overview ................................................................................................................. 104 Building a Spatial Database .................................................................................... 105 Attributes of Geological & Analytical Data............................................................ 105 Digitization of Previous Maps................................................................................. 105 Remote Sensing and Image Processing................................................................... 107 Data Processing......................................................................................................