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Detrital mode and whole-rock geochemistry of the Miocene-Pliocene fluvial succession, Pishin Belt, Pakistan: implications on provenance and source area weathering in peripheral foreland basins

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Abstract

Detrital mode and geochemical composition of sandstones and mudstones of the Miocene Dasht Murgha Group (DMG) and Pliocene Malthanai Formation (MF) of the Pishin Belt, northwestern Pakistan, have been examined to identify their provenance and source area weathering. Sandstones of the Dasht Murgha Group and Malthanai Formation are lithic to sublitharenites, rich in quartz, and metamorphic and sedimentary lithic fragments, indicating a recycled orogenic source. LmLvLs plots show that the Dasht Murgha Group is rich in sedimentary and metamorphic lithic fragments (Lm35Lv18Ls47), while samples of the Malthanai Formation are overwhelmingly rich in sedimentary fragments (Lm14Lv10Ls76). Eocene Nisai Formation and Oligocene Khojak Formation within the Pishin Belt were mainly providing the sedimentary/metasedimentary detritus. High content of monocrystalline quartz (DMG 28.21 %; MF 30.7) and higher SiO2/Al2O3 ratios in sandstones (DMG 9.86; MF 11.98) also indicate high maturity of sandstones due to recycling of source terrain in collision orogens. High Cr/Ni (DMG 5.23; MF 6.17) and moderate Cr/V (DMG 3.96; MF 3.88) ratios suggest significant contributions from mafic and ultramafic detritus derived from Muslim Bagh-Zhob Ophiolite. Malthanai Formation has higher CIA and CIW values (68.96 and 77.53) than Dasht Murgha Group (63.87 and 70.93); however, they both indicate low to moderate weathering intensities. Dasht Murgha Group and Malthanai Formation have higher ICV values which indicate abundance of aluminous silicates, hence, showing moderate weathering of the source area. In A-CN-K diagrams, the samples make linear trend towards illite which suggests that the sediments were derived from a tectonically active source going through non-steady-state weathering, where the detritus has been derived from different zones of weathering profiles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Higher Education Commission Pakistan for providing funds and to the Centre of Excellence in Mineralogy, University of Balochistan, Pakistan, for the logistical support. Thanks are also due to the laboratory staff at Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Denmark, for their service during sample preparation and analysis. The journal reviewers are thanked for thorough and very constructive reviews which have improved the manuscript significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Excellence in Mineralogy, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan

    Aimal Khan Kasi & Muhammad Ishaq Kakar

  2. Department of Geology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan

    Akhtar Muhammad Kassi & Mohibullah Mohibullah

  3. Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Henrik Friis

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Umar

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  1. Aimal Khan Kasi
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Correspondence to Henrik Friis.

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Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H. et al. Detrital mode and whole-rock geochemistry of the Miocene-Pliocene fluvial succession, Pishin Belt, Pakistan: implications on provenance and source area weathering in peripheral foreland basins. Arab J Geosci 9, 401 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2415-9

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