JASIM KHAN AFRIDI

DEPARTMENT OF
GEOLOGY, BKUC

FIELD REPORT ON
Salt Range

SUBMITTED TO:
Mr.Taqweem uI
Haq
Mr.Rafeeq

SUBMITTED BY :

Jasim Khan Afridi BS

Geology
Class No. 53

1
Jasim Khan Afridi
Department Of Geology,
BKUC.

. INTRODUCTION

The name of Salt Range was first use by ELPHISTON in 1813. The name is
derived from the fact that area contains huge reserve of the common table salt.
The East-West trending fold belt compises the low rolling hills and valleys of the
uplifted Kohat-Potwar Plateau, The Salt Range and its Westward extensions. It is 85 km
wide and extends for about 200 km. It is a discrete structural zone bounded in the north
by the north-dipping Main Boundary Thrust (Sarwar et al. 1979; Yeats et al. 1984; Coward
et al. 1985). Southward the Salt Range Thrust, Kalabagh Fault and the Surghar Thrust
from its southern boundary. West and eastward it is terminated by the N-S oriented
KurramThrust and Jehlum Fault respectively (Kazmi and Raza 1982).
The Salt range is mainly divided into two parts. The area to the east of the river
Indus Main Salt range or Cis-Indus Salt range and the area to the west of river Indus
is called Trans-Indus Salt range. The main Salt range is further divided into three parts:

Western Salt Range

Central Salt Range
Eastern Salt range.

Eastern Salt range is about 16km and its height about the sea level is 760m. The
western range is widens westward to the width of about 32km with highest attitude of
1422m at Sakesar. Similarly central Salt range is more wider than eastern and western Salt
range.
The rocks in the Salt ranges are generally folded and are typically marked by large
and small scale faulting as well as local over-thrusting with movements towards south. A
sedimentary sequence ranging from Pre-Cambrian to Recent is exposed in the Salt Range.
It is also marked by several unconformities.
The Salt Range is essentially a complex salt anticlinorium. The Eocambrian
evaporites are exposed in some of the over-folded and faulted anticlines. Along its
southern margin, the Salt Range Thrust has pushed the older rocks of the Salt Range over
2
the less deformed Tertiary sequence of the south-lying Jehlum plain. Subsurface geo-
physical data shows that the Salt Range and Potwar Plateau are underlain by a decollement
 Jasim Khan Afridi
Department Of Geology,
BKUC.

STRATIGRAPHY OF THE REGION

The Salt Range rocks stratigraphic unit range in the age from Pre-Cambrian to the
Tertiary with the marked absence of Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous
age throughout the region.
Locally a given stratigraphic rock sequence pinches out laterally to the point of
vanishing e.g Mesozoic sequence is well developed in the western salt range and Trans-
Indus ranges but the Triassic and Jurassic and perhaps all the cretaceous formations are
conspicuously absent in the most of the central and eastern Salt range.
We have visited the following three Gorges in the Salt range during our field to
Zaluch Nala (Western Salt range)
that region:
The description and Stratigraphy of the above three Gorges are explained as:
Khewra Gorge (Eastern Salt range)
Nammal Gorge (Western Salt range)

3
Jasim Khan Afridi Department
Of Geology,BKUC.

4
Jasim Khan Afridi Department
Of Geology, BKUC.

VARIUOS GROUPS OF FORMATIONS THAT WE HAVE STUDIED IN

THE SALT RANGE.
JEHLUM GROUP NILA WAHAN
Age : Cambrian GROUP
Formations: Age : Early Permain
Baghanwala Fm. Formations :
Jutana Fm. Sardhai Clays.
Kussak Fm. Warcha S.St.
Khewra S.St. DandotFm.
Tobra Fm.

ZALUCH GROUP MUSA KHEL GROUP

Age : Late Permian Age : Triassic
Formations : Formations :
Chiddru Fm. Kingriali Fm.
Wargal L.St. Tredian Fm.
Amb Fm. Mianwali Fm.

SUR GHAR GROUP MAKARWAL GROUP

Age : Jurassic- Age : Paleocene
Cretaceous Formations :
Formations : Patala Fm.
Lumshiwal Fm. Lockhart Fm
Chichali Fm. Hangu Fm
BAROUCH GROUP :
Samana Suk Fm. RAWALPINDI GROUP
Shinwari Fm. Age: Miocene 5
Datta Fm. Formations:
al.

l version.

ase purchase the program