Chapter No 02

2.1

Geology
The general approach to this side of the seismic criteria development is to

review relevant and available geological information in order to locate and

characterize active and potentially active geologic structures, i.e., faults or segments
of faults which may represent a potential seismic source that could influence the
seismic hazard at the site. The other main factor is the soil packing, thickness, grain
size etc which are majorly responsible for local site effect.
There is a continuous chain of mountains in the north and northwest of
Pakistan; Himalayas are in the north, Hindukush and Suleman mountains in the
northwest. Pakistan, as the surrounding countries, is seismically active and there is a
history of large earthquakes.
The dominant factor controlling the geology of the Islamabad area is the
convergence of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and the collision between the
plates that began about 20 million years ago. This process produced complex
structure and stratigraphy in the Islamabad.
2.2

Rock Units
The sedimentary rocks of the Islamabad area record a long period of gentle

geologic fluctuations and slow deposition while the Pakistan-India tectonic plate
drifted northward across the Indian Ocean, followed by much more vigorous tectonic
processes and rapid deposition in the shorter period since the Pakistan-India and
Eurasian plates converged. Consequently, the 150-million-years period from
deposition of the Samana Suk Formation (Middle Jurassic) to the beginning of
deposition of the Murree Formation (lower Miocene) is represented by only about 675
m of primarily marine sedimentary rocks, whereas the last 20 million years are
represented by more than 7,572 m of continental sedimentary rock. During the uplift
and structural deformation of the last 1.5 m.y., erosion has dominated over
deposition, so that the only sediments preserved are thin, discontinuous bodies of
alluvium and eolian silt.

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2.3

Surghar Group (Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous)

2.3.1 Samana Suk Formation:

Lithology: Fossiliferous limestone and subordinate marl.
Colour and features: limestone is dark gray, brownish gray, and mottled yellowish
orange medium to thick bedded micritic to oolitic and pelletal and at places Shelly it
has dolomitic and sandy beds. The marl is light olive gray to greenish gray, laminated,
thinly bedded, and splintery. The unit forms escarpments and steep slopes.
Thickness: ranges from 200 to 250 m.
Contact: with the overlying Chichali Formation is unconformable. The base is not
exposed.
2.3.2 Chichali Formation:
Lithology: Shale and sandstone.
Colours and Features: The shale is dark gray, brownish gray, and dark olive gray
splintery ,thinly bedded, and calcareous,contains ferruginous and phosphatic nodules.
The sandstone is dull greenish gray, thin to medium bedded, fine grained, and
glauconitic. Subordinate thin limestone bands are dark gray. The unit contains
belemnites and ammonoids.
Contact: The unit conformably underlies the Lumshiwal Formation.
Thickness: The measured thickness is 3450 m.
2.3.3 Lumshiwal Formation :
Lithology: Marine sandstone and subordinate limestone and shale.
Colours: The sandstone is dark brown and greenish gray, is thin to thick bedded,
and consists of quartz and glauconite. The shale is silty and glauconitic. The
limestone is yellowish orange, arenaceous, shelly, thinly bedded, and hard and
contains ammonoids and brachiopods. The limestone is intercalated with marl in
places.

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Contacts: T unconformably underlies the Hangu Formation. The Upper contact is
Cretaceous Kawagarh

Formation, which

overlies the

Lumshiwal Formation

immediately north of the map boundary, was eroded from the map area before
deposition of the Hangu Formation. The Lumshiwal erodes into steep slopes and
escarpments.
Thickness: The thickness is 1050 m.
2.4

Makarwal Group (Paleocene)

2.4.1 Hangu Formation:

Lithology: Continental claystone, sandstone, and intercalated shale
Colour and features: The claystone and shale are red, brown, and greenish
gray,thinly laminated to thin bedded; silty,sandy,hematitic and bauxitic. The sandstone
is reddish brown and grayish black, thin to thick bedded, brittle, oolitic, ferruginous,
and quartzitic. The Hangu Formation consists of highly weathered sediments
deposited in a humid, tropical, continental environment.
Thickness: The thickness ranges from 2 to 8 m.
Contact: The unit conformably underlies the marine Lockhart Limestone.
2.4.2 Lockhart Limestone:
Lithology: Marine limestone and subordinate marl and shale.
Colour and features: The limestone is pale gray to dark gray, medium grained, thick
bedded, in part nodular, hard, bituminous, and fossiliferous. The marl is grayish black
and fossiliferous. The shale is olive gray to greenish gray and has weakly developed
cleavage.
Thickness: The thickness ranges from 70 to 280 m.
Contact: conformably underlies the Patala Formation.
2.4.3 Patala Formation:
Lithology: Shale and subordinate limestone and marl.

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Colours and features: The shale is greenish gray to brownish gray, thinly laminated,
splintery, and calcareous; it grades into siltstone and sandstone. The limestone is
gray to light gray, thinly bedded, and fossiliferous. The marl is dark gray and
fossiliferous. The Patala Formation represents primarily marine deposition.
Thickness: The measured thickness is 7080 m.
Contact: conformable with the overlying Margala Hill Limestone.
2.5

Cherat Group (Lower Eocene)

2.5.1 Margala Hill Limestone:

Lithology: Marine limestone and subordinate marl and shale.
Colour and features: The limestone is dark gray to pale gray, medium to thick
bedded, nodular, and fossiliferous. The marl is gray to brownish gray and hard. The
shale is greenish gray and reddish brown and splintery.
Thickness: The measured thickness ranges from 60 to 90 m.
Contact: The unit is conformable with the overlying Chorgali Formation.
2.5.2 Chorgali Formation:
Lithology: Marine shale, limestone and marl.
Colours and Features: The formation is divisible into lower and upper parts. The
lower part consists of shale that is olive green and greenish orange; splintery; and
intercalated with lenticular thin limestone beds and coquina beds composed of large
foraminifers. The upper part consists of limestone that is gray to light gray and white
to grayish yellow, thin to medium bedded, flaggy, cherty, and fossiliferous. The marl is
light gray to gray and thinly bedded.
Thickness: The measured thickness ranges from 30 to 120 m.
Contact: The unit is conformable with the overlying Kuldana Formation.
2.5.3 Kuldana Formation:
Lithology: Marine and continental claystone, marl, limestone and minor sandstone.
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Colour and Features: The claystone is variegated in colour and has gypsum
intercalations. The marl is pale gray to brownish gray, is thin to medium bedded, and
contains fibrous gypsum. The limestone is white to very pale brown. The sandstone is
brownish gray, fine grained, and calcareous.
Thickness: The measured thickness is 60120 m.
Contact: The unit unconformably underlies the Murree Formation.
2.6

Rawalpindi Group (Miocene)

2.6.1 Murree Formation:

Lithology: Continental sandstone and claystone.
Colours and Features: The sandstone is reddish gray to purple gray, fine to medium
grained, thick bedded, micaceous, crossbedded, jointed, and calcareous. The
claystone is purple to dark red and contains mottled lenses of pseudoconglomerate.
Epidote is common in the sandstone of the Murree Formation.
Thickness: The measured thickness ranges from 2,000 to 2,895 m in the area.
Contact: The contact with the overlying Kamlial Formation is conformable.
2.6.2 Kamlial Formation
Lithology: Sandstone and claystone.
Colours and Features: The sandstone is purple, gray, and dark brick red; medium to
coarse grained; thick bedded; micaceous; jointed; and calcareous. The Kamlial
Formation contains interbeds of hard purple claystone; some claystone beds are
weathered and have yellow mottles. These weathered beds resemble conglomerate.
The unit is distinguished from the underlying Murree Formation by its spheroidal
weathering.
Thickness: Measured thicknesses range from 1,200 to 1,600 m.
Contact: The upper contact beneath the Chinji Formation is conformable.

2.7

Siwalik Group (Neogene and Pleistocene)

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2.7.1 Chinji Formation:
Lithology: Claystone and sandstone.
Colours and Features: The claystone is brick red, friable, hard, and intercalated
with sandstone. The sandstone is dark gray to brownish gray, medium to thick
bedded, soft, and crossbedded.
Thickness: The thickness ranges from 880 to 1,165 m.
Contact: The upper contact with the Nagri Formation is conformable.
Nagri Formation:
Lithology: Sandstone and subordinate claystone and conglomerate.
Colours and Features: The sandstone is gray, greenish gray, and brownish gray;
medium to coarse grained, thick bedded; crossbedded; and calcareous and has a
salt-and-pepper pattern that is produced by magnetite and ilmenite. The claystone is
brown, reddish gray, and orange and is sandy or silty.
Thickness: The thickness is 500900 m.
Contact Contact with overlying Dhok Pathan Formation is conformable.
2.7.2 Dhok Pathan Formation:
Lithology: Sandstone and claystone containing lenses of conglomerate in the upper
part.
Colours and Features: The sandstone is light gray, fine to medium grained, medium
bedded, and crossbedded. The claystone is orange red and chocolate brown, hard,
and compact.
Thickness: The measured thickness is 500825 m.
Contact: The unit is overlain unconformably by the Soan Formation.

2.7.3 Soan Formation:

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Lithology:

Conglomerate and subordinate interbeds of sandstone, siltstone, and

claystone. The conglomerate clasts range in size from pebbles to boulders and
consist of about 80 percent rounded quartzite, about 10 percent fine-grained volcanic
trap rock, and 10 percent metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks of the Siwalik
Group. Clasts are cemented in a calcareous sandy matrix. The sandstone is greenish
gray, coarse grained, and soft. The claystone is orange, brown, pale pink, and soft.
Thickness: The exposed thickness is 200300 m.
Contact: The upper contact beneath the Lei Conglomerate and younger sediments
is an unconformity.
2.8

Surfacial Sediments (Pleistocene and Holocene)

2.8.1 Lei conglomerates:

Compositions: Carbonate-cemented cobble conglomerate consisting of 93%
subangular limestone clasts intercalated with and consolidated silt, sand, and clay.
Other clasts are 5 percent older Siwalik Group sedimentary rocks, 2 percent quartzite,
and trace amount of igneous rocks (Gill, 1951; Raynolds, 1980).
Thickness: The average thickness of gravel beds is 6 m and that of clay beds is 14
m. (Ashraf and Hanif, 1980).
Potwar Clay:
Composition: silt and clay, alluvial gravel. The mineral composition is predominantly
quartz, but subordinate amounts of feldspar and clay minerals are present, such as
kaolinite and illite(Rendell, 1988, ). Locally, the silt is intercalated with crossbedded
lenses of sand and gravel and with the Lei Conglomerate.
Thickness: The exposed thickness is 135 (Ashraf and Hanif, 1980) .
Terrace Alluvium:
Composition: Gravel, clay, and silt locally cemented by calcium carbonate. Clastsupported boulders, cobbles, and pebbles of sedimentary rocks enclose a sandy and
clayey matrix. The unit is divided into older and younger subunits.
Older terrace alluviu
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Younger terrace alluvium
Alluvium and windblown silt :
Composition: Eolian silt and stream-channel, flood-plain, terrace, and slope-wash
alluvium intermixed in small area
Thickness: less than 10m
Flood-plain and fan alluvium:
Compositon: Moderately bedded and sorted sand and gravel channel and debrisflow deposits overlain by a thin layer of sandy silt and clay from overbank flooding
and slope-wash deposition.
Thickness: The maximum thickness beneath flood plains is about 6 m,
Stream-channel alluvium:
Composition: Unconsolidated gravel, sand, and silt that is subject to stream
transport each year. The stream-channel alluvium is poorly to moderately sorted and
contains low-angle cross bedding.
Thickness: The maximum thickness is about 3 m.
2.9

Geologic Structure:

The Islamabad can be divided into two structural zones, trending generally eastnortheast, that reflect compression and movement oriented S. 20 E.:
(1)Hazara fault zone:
In the north, the mountainous Margala Hills consist of Jurassic through Eocene
limestone and shale that are complexly folded and thrust along the Hazara fault zone.
Uplift of these mountains probably formed a major topographic barrier during the last
1 m.y.All the faults in the map area, except those south of Rawalpindi, are part of this
fault zone. This zone consists of an arc of thrusted and folded rocks about 25 km wide
and 150 km long. 5 major thrusts lie within the map area.

(2)Piedmont fold belt:

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South of the mountains, a southward-sloping piedmont bench, the piedmont fold belt,
is underlain primarily by truncated folds in the sandstone and shale of the Rawalpindi
Group The faults and folds in the piedmont fold belt south of the mountain front
probably have high potential activity, although definitive exposures are sparse and
discontinuous.
2.10

Faults and regional tectonics:

Causes of earthquakes and active faults in northern Pakistan are associated

with the movement of Indian plate northwardly at a rate of 40 mm/yr and colliding with
the Eurasian continent. This collision is causing uplift of mountains. As a result it
produces the highest peaks in the world.
western boundary of the Indo Pakistan plate is Transpressional and appears to
be the most dominating factor with an evidence of 800 to 900 km long transform
boundary, Chamman fault However presence of strike slip faults has been also
indicated by focal mechanism solutions and structural mapping of Pakistan.
Islamabad is situated in the Himalayan fold-and -thrust belt, which involves the the
area between the MMT and the SRT on a regional scale.
Studies of geologists (e.g. Nakata et al., 1991) that the main faults in Pakistan
seem to be seismically quiet (locked) except at times of the large damaging
earthquakes. It seems that this seismic gap is more true for the Himalayas than for
many other seismically active areas, and in terms of seismic hazard it represents the
problem that locked areas may appear inactive for longer time periods than our
monitoring record.
Also, while a thrust regime clearly dominates in several places, it is often
difficult or impossible to associate specific seismic activity with specific fault traces .
Mansehra Thrust, Jhelum Fault, Kotli Thrust, Riasi Thrust, Sangargali Thrust,
Hissartang fault, Tarbela fault , Margalla Fault , Raikot fault ,Pattan fault ,MKT,MBT
and MMT
Among the faults detailed below, except the Jehlum fault, the other faults
known to be active were too distant from Islamabad
Jehlum fault:
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It is a north-south trending sinistral strike-slip fault which follows the western
margin of the axial zone of the Hazara- Kashmir syntaxis. A concentration of seismic
activity is seen along the Jhelum River North of Mangla. This seismicity is observed to
align not only along the mapped portion of the Jehlum Fault, but also extends North
and south of this mapped fault. Towards the southern side this seismicity pattern
appears to extend along the Dil Jabba thrust which may suggest that this portion of
Jhelum fault could be a northward extension of the Dil Jabba thrust. Based on seismicity
the fault is active and the nearest trace is taken as 15km, north of the Mangla Dam
project (Mahdi 2005).

Tarbela fault:
It is strike slip fault which passes below the Tarbela dam and separates the
Salkhlala and Tanawal formations on the west bank of the Indus River from the
Abbotabad formation. The Tarbela segment of the MBT is regarded as presently
inactive (Dr. Kausar, pers).
Margalla Fault:
It is an important fault, which runs NE-SW and joins the main boundary thrust
(M.B.T) in the Hazara-Kashmir syntaxial zone. It passes north of Islamabad on the
southern piedmont slopes of the Margalla Hills. As a result of this fault.There is no
record or indication of movement along the Margalla fault.
Pattan fault:
This fault trends roughly NW-SE and is approximately 25 km long, and may be
regarded as a segment of the MMT. It is an active fault. The M=6.0 Pattan earthquake
of Dec 28, 1974 occurred where the MMT meets with the Indus Kohistan Seismic
zone (IKSZ).
Raikot fault:
It is an active fault, which is characterized through a zone of breccias 5-10 m
thick in the Holocene fan gravels developed at the foot of Nanga Parbat massif. It
appears to reflect a steeply dipping fault with a down throw towards north. A line of
hot springs delineates the trace of fault.
The main Karakoram thrust fault (MKT):
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The main Karakoram thrust or the northern mega sheet represents the collision
zone of the southern margin of the Eurasian plate in Asia and extends into Baltistan
through Hashupa and Machie in the Shigar and Shyok valleys, respectively. MKT is a
high angle seismically active thrust with a large number of earthquakes of low to
median intensity E/Qs. (Seismic Risk Map of Northern Pakistan, 1988, PGS).
The Main Mantle thrust fault (MMT) and the Main Boundary thrust (MBT):
The main mantle thrust or the southern mega shear spans an area of about
400. sq km through Diyamir, Kohistan, Swat, Dir and Bajaur. The main boundary
thrust is a distinct tectonic feature along the entire Himalayan Belt.
The MBT loops around the Hazara syntaxis. It represents the major zone of current
deformation and the largest earthquakes. The MBT stretches from the Afghan border,
and can be traced nearly continuously to Assam in eastern India. It is the single most
potent earthquake source in the Himalayas.

2.11

Seismicity and Seismic Risk

The Islamabad-Rawalpindi area lies in a tectonically active zone, where

faulting, folding, and earthquakes have been frequent in the recent geologic past.
Recent deposits are tectonically deformed throughout the map area. In A.D. 25, the
Buddhist monasteries at Taxila, 25 km west-northwest of Islamabad, were destroyed
by an earthquake estimated at Modified Mercalli intensity IX. More recently, a Richter
magnitude 5.8 earthquake on February 14, 1977, centered 7 km northeast of
Rawalpindi , caused damage indicating Modified Mercalli intensity VII near the
epicenter .in october 2005, muzafarabad earthquake proved a very fatal event in the
history of Islamabad. The epicentre was more than 100 km from the Islamabad city
resulting in collapse of different structures including Margalla tower which caused
dozens of casualities alone.
Thick soil layers may greatly amplify the ground shaking from an earthquake.
Such amplification depends on the soil thickness, consistency and the amplitude and
frequency content of the base rock shaking.
The cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are underlain by partly thick soil
deposits. Depths to bedrock exceeding 100 m are common over much of the area,
even close to outcrops. large parts of the two cities are covered by 5-10 meters of
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recent to sub-recent alluvium deposits mainly consisting of clays with sand and semiconsolidated gravels. The thickness of the deposits is wedge shaped i.e. thickens as
we move southward.

Fig 2.1 Seismic zonation map designed by Pakistan Metrological Department

There is a need of surveys in earthquake prone regions to carry out sesimic hazard
assessment so that counteractive measures may be taken to prevent loss of life and
damage to property. Such assessment representing intensity and ground motion
parameters like peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity and peak ground
displacement should be taken into consideration.
It has been estimated that there is a 50% chance of Ritcher magnitude 4
earthquake, 8.33% chance of magnitude 5, 1.67% chance of magnitude 6, 0.26%
chance of magnitude 7 and 0.11% chance of magnitude 7.5 . Recurrence intervals for
the above mentioned events are estimated as 2,12,66,380 and 912 years
respectively.
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In Pakistan several scientists have conducted their studies e,g. Wellman,
1966; Abdel Gawad, 1971; Nowroozi, 1972; Ambraseys et al.,1980;Yeats and
Hussain, 1987; Ansari, 1995; Bhatia et al., 1999. These researches are took
seismicity and fault system into account. It is quite difficult to estimate the
approximate seismic accelerations in the study area due to the presence of Quternary
silt and gravel lying over uneven bedrock surface.

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