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Geochemical attributes of Pliocene Dhok Pathan Formation, Eastern Sulaiman Fold and Thrust Belt, Pakistan: implications for provenance, paleoenvironmental, and tectonic settings

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Abstract

The Late Miocene-Pliocene Dhok Pathan Formation (DPF) fluvial sequence of Eastern Sulaiman Foldbelt and Thrust Belt (SFTB) has different lithofacies of sandstone and mudstone deposited in the Himalayan foredeep basin. The present study deals with detailed geochemical analyses of DPF to deduce its provenance, weathering, and tectonic settings. The geochemical data of major oxides plot on scatter diagram shows that the sandstones of DPF are predominantly Arkose-Subarkose and Litharenite-Sublitharenite which were mainly sourced from granitic composition and deposited in fluvial conditions under semi-arid to arid climate. The low elemental ratios of Ni/Co and Cu/Zn indicate oxic conditions during deposition. The mudstone’s ICV values are 1.44 indicating that the source area was influenced by moderate to high weathering. The geochemical analysis indicates lower values of Zr, Nb, Y, and Y/Ni ratio in studied area which point out the existence of ultramafic/mafic sequence in source area. The tectonic discrimination diagrams depict active continental margin tectonic settings for provenance of DPF with partial influx from Continental and Oceanic Island Arc. The present study concludes that clastic rocks of DPF were mainly sourced from Himalayan orogeny with partial influx of Kohistan-Ladakh arc and subsequent deposition in Himalayan foredeep basin which coincides with regional tectonic scenario. Interpretation of paleoenvironments and basin tectonics by geochemical analysis will help to delineate the poorly understood uplift and denudation history in SFTB.

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source regimes of sandstone and mudstone samples of Dhok Pathan Formation (Upper Litra) a mainly granite and Alkali granite in Al2O3-TiO2 plot of Schieber (1992); b felsic, intermediate, and quartzose sedimentary provenance by using DF-1 vs. DF-2 (after Roser and Korsch 1988); c TiO2-Zr bivariate plot (after Hayashi et al. 1997) as felsic source terrain

Fig. 11

source composition (mafic and felsic) and recycling effect (after McLennan et al. 1993). Both plots exhibit the sandstone and mudstone samples and are plotted near UCC with rare recycling effect; c TiO2 vs. Ni diagram showing studied samples (Floyd et al. 1989), most of the samples plotted close to acidic provenance; d La/Th-Hf diagram of Floyd and Leveridge (1987) shows that the sediments were sourced mainly from felsic island arc sources

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Acknowledgements

I thankfully acknowledge Mr. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Mr. Arshad Ali Faroqi, Mr. Khalid Javed Bhatti, Mr. Muhammad Abbas Qureshi, Syed Abbas Sultan, and Mr. Khalid Pervaiz in indispensable technical as well as administrative support.

I am also very grateful to Mr. Ahsan Amin Bhatti for his help in carrying out analysis with XRF and ICP. The geochemical analysis was carried out in the Chemistry Laboratory of AEMC, Lahore.

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  1. Atomic Energy Minerals Centre, Lahore, 54600, Pakistan

    Syed Irfan Ali Zaidi

  2. Institute of Geology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Naveed Ahsan & Saif Ur Rehman

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Zaidi, S.I.A., Ahsan, N. & Rehman, S.U. Geochemical attributes of Pliocene Dhok Pathan Formation, Eastern Sulaiman Fold and Thrust Belt, Pakistan: implications for provenance, paleoenvironmental, and tectonic settings. Arab J Geosci 14, 2252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08657-0

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