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Petrography, provenance, diaganesis and depositional environment of Murree Formation in Jhelum Valley, Sub Himalayas, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

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Abstract

The clastic sediments of the Murree Formation of Miocene age are exposed in Jhelum valley areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan. Field observations revealed the cyclic deposition in the Murree Formation. The sandstone, siltstone, and shale constitute a single cycle within the formation. This single unit is divided into five different lithofacies which constitute the Bouma sequence in the Murree Formation. The Murree Formation shows faulted contacts with Panjal Formation and Nagri Formation in the study area. The modal mineralogy data obtained from the petrography of sandstone indicates that sandstone is litharenite and lithic greywacke. The mineralogical and textural data suggests that sandstone is compositionally mature and poorly to moderately sorted. The dominantly angular to sub angular quartz grains show nearness of the source area. Fractured and sutured quartz grain reveals tectonodiagentic changes that occurred in Murree Formation. The sandstone experienced diagenetic changes. The pressure solution and cementation reduced the primary porosity of sandstone. However, alteration of feldspar and fractures in grains have produced secondary porosity. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the shale samples indicates that shale of the Murree Formation is argillaceous and dominated by illite clay mineral. The illite crystallinity values indicate very low grade metamorphism of Murree Formation in core of Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis. The petrographic data suggests that the provenance of sandstone is recycled orogen. Quartz is of igneous and metamorphic origin. Feldspar (albite and microcline) composition suggests its derivation from acidic igneous rocks. The rock fragments of volcanics, slate, phyllite, and schist suggest igneous and metamorphic provenance. The petrographic data suggests that at the time of deposition of Murree Formation, igneous and low grade metamorphic rocks were exposed. However, presence of some clasts of carbonates indicates that sedimentary rocks were also exposed in the source region. The quartz content and clay minerals in the shale revealed that source region was igneous and metamorphic rocks. Cyclic deposition, lithofacies, and various sedimentary structures like cross bedding, ripple marks, and calcite concretions suggest that deposition of Murree Formation occurred in fluviatile environment by meandering river system having decreasing turbidity current.

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Acknowledgements

All the praises and thanks to the Almighty Allah, who enable me for that kind of research work. I am thankful to institute of geology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad for providing an environment for research and also providing laboratory facility for thin section analysis. I feel highly privileged in taking opportunity to express my deepest gratitude and sincerest thanks to Professor Dr. Muhammad Sabir Khan for his kind help, proper guidance, valuable suggestions and inspiration throughout the research work. I am also thankful to honorable Mr. Saleem Mughal (Lecturer) for their affectionate attitude, constant help, advises, cooperation and sincerest support during the research work. I am very thankful to Geo Science Advance Research Laboratories Islamabad and Department of Chemistry Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad of their timely contribution for the preparation of thin sections and XRD analysis. I am also thankful to all my friends especially Mr. Noman Abbasi for their cooperation during my research work. I am also thankful to my parents and my whole family members whose invaluable prayers and encouraging attitude kept my spirit alive to work hard for the knowledge and integrity which enable me to reach that milestone. May Allah bless all these people with all of his blessings (Ameen).

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  1. Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, 13100, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

    Muhammad Zaheer, Muhammad Sabir Khan, Muhammad Saleem Mughal & Noman Abbasi

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  1. Muhammad Zaheer
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  2. Muhammad Sabir Khan
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  3. Muhammad Saleem Mughal
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  4. Noman Abbasi
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Correspondence to Muhammad Zaheer.

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Zaheer, M., Khan, M.S., Mughal, M.S. et al. Petrography, provenance, diaganesis and depositional environment of Murree Formation in Jhelum Valley, Sub Himalayas, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Arab J Geosci 10, 514 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-3277-5

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