JAMMU UNIVERSITY GEOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

NEWS

KASHMIR GEOLOGY

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway cuts across three major tectonic zones viz., the Outer Himalaya, the Lesser Himalayan and the Kashmir Tethyan Himalaya.  The MBT, Murree- and the Panjal Thrusts are the major tectonic planes of regional importance which cut across the highway between Udhampur and Ramsu. Besides these major thrusts Makarkote fault marked by myllonite and phyllonite is a prominent structural feature located near Makarkote village.  Most of the rock types have a regional strike of NW-SE to WNW-ESE with moderate to steep dips either towards north or the south.

 

The Outer Himalayan (Foreland Basin): In this belt Siwalik and Murree Groups are overlying the buried peneplained surface of the northern fringe of the Indian shield.  Lithologically these sediments constitute semi-consolidated to consolidated sandstones, shales, conglomerates and clay beds.  Structurally these rocks display broad anticlines and synclines, e.g., Jhajjar-Suruin-Mastgarh anticline (wrench faulted) and Udhampur syncline.  A series of thrusts characterise the foreland strata. The most prominent among them are Main Boundary Fault (MBF) which delimits the Siwalik from the Murree strata in Jammu region.  The Lower Murree strata display tight isoclines and overfolds with repeated local faults. Whereas, the Upper Murree represent broad open Siwalik type of folds.

 

The Lesser Himalayan is tectonically bounded by the Murree Thrust in the south and by the Panjal thrust in the north.  Lithologically this belt comprises mainly of slates, quartzites, volcanics, phyllites and subordinate metamorphic and sedimentary strata in the sector.

 
The Tethyan Himalaya represents sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous to Early Jurassic age which are exposed from Banihal to Qazigund.  These strata document excellent faunal record of these periods.  The famous Jawahar Tunnel lies in this sector around Banihal Pass area which pierces through the Panjal Volcanics and Zewan Formation intersecting two local faults through its length.

TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC SUCCESSION ALONG NH-1A FROM KASHMIR TO JAMMU

Karewa                 Gravels, silts, loams                                         Pliocene to Pleistocene

Wuhmuh              Sandstone, slate, limestone                           Jurassic                       

Khrew and           Dolomite,micrite,limestone,                            Undifferentiated

Wuyan                  quartzite                                                               Middle-Upper Triassic

Khunamuh          Limestone, shale, slate                                    Lower Triassic

Zewan                  siltstone, sandstone, limestone                     Upper Permian

Mamal                  Tuffaceous shale, conglomerate                    Lower Permian

Panjal                   Basaltic and andesitic                                      Early Permian     

Volcanics             flows, vesicular and    
                               massive at places

Agglomeratic       Slate, phyllites, quartzite with                          Early Permian to         

Slate                      angular fragments and                                    Late Carboniferous
                                rounded clasts in slates
                              

Fenestella            Shales and phyllites                                        Visean to Serpukhovian

Shales                   containing Fenestella,                                    (Early Carboniferous)    
                          brachiopods, corals;  quartzite,  
                pebbly sandstone beds and dark grey shales

Syringothyris        Grey to dark grey,                                               Early Carboniferous     
Limestone            brownish                                                             (Tournaisian)                 
                                Limestones and Sandstones,  
                                shales/clays and marl  

--------------------------------------------------- Unconformity --------------------------------------

Chamalwas          Greenish-grey slates,                                      (?) Cambrian-Silurian 

Formation             sandstones, siltstones and shales.

Ramsu                  Pyritiferous slate,                                               (?)Late  Precambrian
                                shale, crystalline limestone
                                pebbly phyllite and  basic intrusives         

------------------------------------------------ Unconformity ------------------------------------------

Salkhala                phyllite, phyllonite, ,                                           (?) Precambrian 
                                quartzite, schist, gneiss 
                                with granodiorite intrusives

------------------------------------------------- Panjal Thrust ------------------------------------------

Sincha                   Quartzite, dolomite, limestone,                        Late Precambrian
                                phyllite, slate,    pebbly phyllite                    

----------------------------------------------------  Thrust -------------------------------------------------

Baila and              Carbonaceous grey                                            (?) Precambrian
Gamir                    phyllites, grey and
                                whitish limestone, brecciated quartzite                      -----                      

Volcanics              Foliated and massive

---------------------------------------------------- Panjal Thrust --------------------------------------

Murree                   Sandstone, claystones, shale                           Early Miocene to  

siltstone                                                               Oligocene (?)

Lower Siwalik     Sandstone, mudstones                                       Late Miocene to
                              and conglomerates                                               Middle Miocene

Middle Siwalik     Sandstones with interbedded                            Late Miocene 
                                mudstones

Upper Siwalik     Sandstones, mudstones,                                     Pleistocene to
                                pebble beds and boulder                                   Pliocene
                                conglomerate