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Structural intricacies: Emergent thrusts and blind thrusts of Central Kachchh, western India
R. V. Karanth1,2,* and M. S. Gadhavi1,3
1 2

Department of Geology, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara 390 002, India Present address: 104 Aarth, 29-Pratapgunj, Vadodara 390 002, India 3 Present address: Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar 382 011, India

The Kachchh peninsula is an example of active foldand-thrust tectonism. In Central Kachchh there are four conspicuous major EW-oriented hill ranges characterized by fault-propagation folds with steeply dipping northern limbs and gently dipping southern limbs. The region constitutes a Mesozoic basin located in the western margin of India and has recorded nearly an unbroken sequence of Mesozoic and Cainozoic formations. Rocks older than the Jurassic period are not exposed in Kachchh. By and large the sedimentary rocks are gently dipping, often dissected by faults. Lowangle reverse faults are encountered together with asymmetric folds at several places along the linear hill ranges. The forefronts of hill ranges represent fault-line scarps, i.e. eroded hanging wall or hinge of faultpropagation folds. Traces of steeply dipping eroded northern limbs are discernible at a few places, while gently dipping to sub-horizontal southern limbs of regional folds are obvious in the Kachchh Mainland as well as in the northern islands. While the Katrol Hill Fault has evolved into an emergent thrust, in the Kachchh Mainland Hill range the tip of the fault is yet to emerge out and it has remind a blind thrust. From the gradual increasing dimension of the linear chain of hillocks towards the west along the Kachchh Mainland Fault and the epicentre of the earthquake of 2001 lying at the eastern extreme of Kachchh Mainland Fault, it is suggested that the eastern part of the Kachchh Mainland Fault is progressively emerging upward. It can be suggested from the absence of distinct surface rupture both during the 1956 Anjar earthquake and 2001 Bhuj earthquake, that movements have taken place along a blind thrust. The series of villages situated on the blind thrust in the eastern part of the Kachchh Mainland Hill Range (viz. Jawaharnagar, Khirsara, Devisar, Amarsar and Bandhdi) was completely erased. Keywords: Blind thrust, earthquake, emergent thrust, fault-propagation fold, fold-and-thrust belt, Kachchh. THE Kachchh peninsula has attracted workers from diverse fields such as humanities to various branches of
*For correspondence. (e-mail: r_v_karanth@yahoo.co.in) CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 93, NO. 9, 10 NOVEMBER 2007

science, particularly earth sciences. Earth scientists, ranging from stratigraphers to environmental geologists, consider Kachchh as an archetypal area for investigation. The annals of the great earthquake of 1819 allured palaeoseismologists and geophysicists from all over the world. The earthquake of 26 January 2001 has augmented the inquisitiveness about Kachchh. With aftershocks continuing for over 30 months after the disastrous event, the region can be considered a live laboratory for seismologists to apprehend the natural phenomenon that constitutes one of the greatest natural hazards to humanity. It is evident that for a stable continental region, the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes is abnormally high in Kachchh16 and calls for an intensive study. Several workers have investigated various aspects such as stratigraphy and structure in the past715. Aspects related to palaeoseismicity have been investigated by others16,17 (R. V. Karanth, unpublished). Nonetheless, the structure and tectonic framework of the region is yet to be established adequately. The Kachchh peninsula is considered as a Mesozoic pericratonic rift basin situated at the trailing edge of the northward-drifting Indian subcontinent7. As formations older than the Mesozoic are not exposed in any part of Kachchh, its geological history prior to the Mesozoic is obscure. The presence of regional faults is inferred largely due to abrupt change in lithology and topography. In all, five major faults have been identified in Central Kachchh7,11,18,19 (R. V. Karanth, unpublished; Figure 1), viz. (i) Nagar Parkar Fault, (ii) Allah Bund Fault, (iii) Island Belt Fault, (iv) Kachchh Mainland Fault, and (v) Katrol Hill Fault. The eastern part comprises two more major faults, viz. South Wagad Fault and Gedi Fault. The nature of faults, however, has been interpreted differently by various authors. As the region was considered as a Mesozoic rift basin, it was interpreted that the shelf had been subjected to tensional forces which resulted into block-faulting along major faults7,912. Thus, these were considered as normal faults formed as a result of basement-involved vertical tectonics. Contrary to this, the major faults have been considered as moderate to low angle reverse faults by a few other workers18,20 (R. V. Karanth, M. G. Hardas and P. S. Sohoni, unpublished). In the absence
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Figure 1. Generalized geological map of Kachchh (modified after Biswas and Deshpande9). Broken line represents traces of major faults: Nagar Parkar Fault (NPF), Allah Bund Fault (ABF), Island Belt Fault (IBF), Kala Dongar Fault (KDF; a part of IBF), Gora Dongar Fault (GDF), Kachchh Mainland Fault (KMF), Katrol Hill Fault (KHF), Gedi Fault (GF) and South Wagad Fault (SWF).

of adequate geophysical data, it is not possible to interpret the nature of faults in the basement rocks. Our present knowledge is limited to the structures observed in the cover rocks exposed on the surface. Although many aspects of the geology of Kachchh have been investigated, studies aimed at evaluating its structural set-up are scarce. Fault-plane solutions reveal that the 1956 Anjar Earthquake21 and 2001 Bhuj earthquake22 were caused by movements along south-dipping reverse faults and in both cases conspicuous surface ruptures did not develop. Considering the anisotropy of the rocks of the region, it is important to investigate whether it is feasible to extend the principal seismogenic faults of the basement to the relatively ductile heterogeneous cover rocks with the same geometry. The present article makes an attempt to illustrate the nature of faults and structural features in the central part of Kachchh, which the authors relate to the structures observed in foreland fold-and-thrust belts.

Geological setting
The Kachchh district lies between the Thar Desert that consists of a thick blanket of sand and Indus alluvium in the north, and Saurashtra covered with Deccan Traps and some patches of CretaceousTertiary sedimentary rocks in the south. The vast Gujarat alluvium is located to the east and the Arabian Sea is situated in the west. The oldest rocks exposed in Kachchh belong to the Middle Jurassic age (Jhurio/Kala Dongar Formation) that occur in the
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northern part (Figure 1). Conspicuous features of Kachchh district are the vast zones of salt marshes, island-like uplifts and EW trending hill ranges flanked by lowlands with a sudden drop of elevation in the north and gradual drop of elevation in the south. Six major uplifts are recognized, which have given rise to highland areas of Kachchh Mainland, Wagad and the four blocks of the Island Belt, i.e. Pachham, Khadir, Bela and Chorar. The sediments are found younging southward as well as westward. But for some brief spells of hiatus, the Kachchh peninsula has recorded a nearly unbroken sequence of sediments from Late Triassic (not exposed)13 onwards (Table 1). Jurassic and early Cretaceous sedimentary formations are seen exposed in many parts of the rocky land mass. By and large, the Jhurio Formation is dominated by limestone and shale, the Jumara Formation by gypseous shale, the Jhuran Formation by sandstone and shale intercalations, and the Bhuj Formation by sandstone. Deccan Traps are seen exposed in the southern and western parts of the Kachchh Mainland. Tertiary sediments are distributed mainly in the western, southern and eastern parts of Kachchh. While Tertiary rocks are seen overlying the Deccan Traps in Kachchh Mainland, they are seen overlying the Mesozoic rocks in other uplifts (Figure 1). Of the Tertiary, only the sediments belonging to Miocene times are widespread. Vast areas of Banni Grassland, the Rann of Kachchh and the region between Mainland uplift and Wagad uplift, described as Samakhiali Basin, comprise unconsolidated soft sediments. The Precambrian basement rocks over which
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Table 1. Age Plio-Pleistocene Middle Miocene Early Miocene Oligocene Tertiary Middle Eocene to Early Late Eocene Early Middle Eocene Late Eocene to Early Eocene Early Palaeocene Deccan Traps unconformity Albian to Neocomian Kimmeridgian to Tithonian Callovian to Oxfordian Middle Jurassic Lower Jurassic to Upper Triassic Bathonian to Aalenian Rhaetian to ?Lias Unconformity Precambrian basement not exposed
#

A concise stratigraphy of Kachchh (after Rajnath8,* and Biswas13,**). Series (Biostratigraphic units)* Formation (Lithostratigraphic units)** Sandhan (unconformity) Chhasra Khari nadi (unconformity) Manyara fort (unconformity) Fulra Limestone Harudi (unconformity) Naredi (unconformity) Matanomadh (unconformity)

Lower Cretaceous Upper Jurassic

Umia Katrol Chari Patcham

Bhuj Jhuran (unconformity) JUMARA# JHURIO# (Not exposed)

In Pachham uplift, rocks equivalent to Jhurio and Jumara are known as Kaladongar and Goradongar formations respectively.

the Mesozoic sediments were deposited are not exposed in Kachchh. Intrusive bodies of igneous rocks that include coarse-to-fine-grained melanocratic alkaline basic rocks to oversaturated leucocratic granophyres are seen intruding into the Mesozoic sediments at many parts of Kachchh12,2325. Presence of large bodies of mafic intrusives below the surface is confirmed by the gravity high recorded around Nakhtarana, Pachham uplift and other places23. The region reflects on the anisotropy of lithological units. The crust in Kachchh comprises a fairly thick layer of relatively ductile MesozoicCainozoic sediments (14 km) overlying the rigid basement rocks and several igneous bodies are unevenly distributed all over23. It is also of great importance to consider the anisotropy within the sedimentary cover that comprises consolidated Mesozoic sediments with alternating shale and sandstonelimestone beds, rather poorly consolidated Tertiary sediments and unconsolidated blanket of Quaternary sediments. When subjected to compressive stress, the response of these units would not be identical.

Structural features
Ubiquitous structural features found in hard rocks of the area are fractures in the form of joints and faults, and
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folds that are restricted predominantly to the fronts of hill ranges or margins of highlands. Development of fractures is more intense in the mountain fronts and around stocks, plugs and dykes of alkaline, basic to ultra-basic rocks intruding into the Mesozoic formations. The region is dissected by numerous faults that are normal, reverse and strike-slip in nature. Normal faults are commonly encountered in many parts of the area. They are mainly seen around intrusive igneous bodies. Reverse faults associated with asymmetric folds are observed generally in the fronts of hill ranges, which in turn characterize the northern edge of the highlands. The highlands gradually merge into plains in the southern part. In the Wagad highland, however, the hill range and reverse fault-folds are encountered in the southern part. The hill ranges are seen dissected by transverse faults26,27. Unlike other highlands, the Kachchh Mainland and Pachham uplifts are characterized by two hill ranges bound in the north by reverse faults and folds. Folds that are more or less confined to the hilly margins of highlands are asymmetric in nature with sub-horizontal southern limb and steeply dipping northern limb. Tight isoclinal folds are also encountered at places. Outcropscale folds are often observed in the Katrol Hill Range. Reverse faults are discernible in the field, mostly along the mountain fronts, particularly in the Katrol Hill Range
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Figure 2.

Exposures of folds, and low angle to sub-horizontal thrust faults at the geographic divide along Katrol Hill Range, BhujMundra road.

Figure 3.

Low angle reverse faults near (a) Trambou and (b) Saraspura.

Figure 4.

A tight recumbent fold at Gora Dongar.

(Figure 2 a and b). The fault planes have a moderate-tolow dip due south and some of them are almost horizontal (Figure 2 a and b). Careful observation reveals that the reverse faults and fault-related folds are encountered not only in the frontal part of hill ranges, but also in the interior parts of the highlands. Discernible dips of most reverse
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faults and ramp angle of some fault-related folds are approximately 30 (Figure 3 a and b). Well-preserved folds in macroscopic scale are noticeable in the Gora Dongar range, Pachham Island (Figure 4); whereas in other places the hinge zone of folds in macroscopic scale is eroded to a greater extent. A thick, competent sill of alkaline-basic rocks is seen enveloping the outer parts of the hillock that exhibits a large recumbent fold. Near Madhapar in the Katrol range, miliolite beds (a type of Quaternary aeolian deposit) are seen asymmetrically folded (R. V. Karanth, unpublished)26. Various structures formed on account of intense compressive stresses2831 are evident in the region (R. V. Karanth, unpublished). These include: (i) imbricate stacks-splayscontractional wedges-duplexes, (ii) arching of hanging wall, (iii) synthetic and antithetic normal faults that developed within a moving thrust sheet over a ramp, (iv) sheared contact between upper hanging wall flat and foot wall, (v) opposite sense of relative displacements of ductile layers on either side of stiff layer, (vi) intense shearing yielding sigmoidal tails around sandstone lenses, (vii) shearing of rocks at the base of fault-propagation folds which
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are exposed at a few places, (viii) drainage reversals at several places inferred to be related to the continued push-from-south; and at such places fault-bend folds riding over moderate to low angle ramps are discernible, and (ix) occurrence of bending moment faults, i.e. converging set of normal faults in the form of linear trough observed at the back limb of fault-propagation folds32 (e.g. southern flank of Kas Hill; R. V. Karanth, unpublished). The hinge portion of macroscopic folds in hill ranges, except in some parts of Gora Dongar has been eroded considerably. Hinterland limbs of regional folds are seen gently dipping due south. They are seen gradually merging with the plains. Northern limbs of folds along the Island Belt are most often not traceable, since they are concealed under a cover of recent sediments of the Great Rann. Along Kachchh Mainland Fault, beds of forelimb are more readily traceable at the foothills. At places, traces of vertical to steep northerly dipping beds of the forelimb can be seen for nearly 1 km away from the foothill. These protrude out of the recent sediments of the Banni Plains. Occasionally, beds of the forelimb are also overturned. In the Katrol Hill Range, however, the beds of the forelimb are not readily traceable. These have a steep northerly dip close to the foothills of the Katrol Hill Range. Away from the foothills, the dip of beds becomes gentler. Rocks of the Bhuj Formation exposed in the larger part of the Bhuj Plains between Katrol Hill Range and Kachchh Mainland Hill Range have a gentle southerly dip. The beds are sheared and brecciated at the base of the Katrol Hill Range, and are well exposed at a few places, e.g. near Dhunaraja Dam (Hamadra Talai) located to the south of BhujMadhapar. The upper part of the hills at this place are characterized by calcareous sandstones with some shale intercalations (Katrol/Jhuran Formation) while the base of hill is characterized chiefly by shales (Chari/Jumara Formation; Figure 5 a). Brecciated shale beds with some sandstone intercalations are seen exposed chaotically below sandstone beds at the base of the hill. Along Khatrod peak segment of the Katrol Hill Range located south of Kukma village, juxtaposed gently south-dipping hanging wall resting over steeply north-dipping footwall is ideally seen. While the lofty hills of the hanging wall comprise shale-rich Jumara Formation succeeded by Jhuran Formation, the footwall is characterized by steeply north-dipping Jhuran Formation succeeded by Bhuj sandstones. The amount of dip of the beds of footwall rapidly reduces away from the foothill and less than a kilometre away further north, the Bhuj sandstones are seen dipping gently southward. Thus the footwall is seen folded into a syncline. regional faults. These faults were recognized by various workers based on physiographic and geologic features such as: (1a) EW stretches of highlands that abruptly rise at the northern end to considerable heights of some 50 400 m hill ranges from near sea-level plains and the elevation gradually falls toward south; (b) A series of islandlike uplifts vis--vis neither a sea nor a land-like vast basin33. (2) Abrupt change in lithology; while highlands are characterized by hard rocks of Mesozoic age, the plains in juxtaposition are filled with unconsolidated recent sediments and alluvial fan deposits. It is, however, of great importance to know the nature of faults as they are likely to be seismically active. Various possible modes of formation of faults and related structures are discussed below.

Nature of faults
Rifting and block faulting: Situated in the western edge of the Indian peninsula and with more or less continuous stretch of deposits of sediments since the Jurassic times, Kachchh was considered as a Mesozoic rift basin. The EW lineaments were regarded as fractures developed parallel to the axis of the rift basin9,1115. Subsequent to the closure

Discussion
It is evident from the above description that the earthquakeprone Kachchh peninsula is characterized by several EW
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Figure 5. (a) Geological map of the area to the south of Bhuj. (b) Cross-section along XY revealing fault-propagation fold and emergent thrust (reconstructed as visualized by the authors). (Gypseous shale: Jumara Formation; Sandstone-shale: Jhuran Formation; Sandstone: Bhuj Formation; Intrusive: Basic igneous rocks.) 1275

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Figure 6.

Geological cross-section across Kachchh Mainland, redrawn after Hardas (unpublished).

of the Mesozoic basin, the uplift of highlands was inferred to be due to the block faulting34. The structural style was considered as typical of a rift basin, consisting of footwall uplifts along vertical faults, and half-grabens/grabens form respectively, the highlands and intervening plain lands of playas and salines15. The highlands were uplifted mainly during the pre-Tertiary, exposing the Mesozoic sediments. Thus the EW lineaments were interpreted as normal faults and vertical sense of movement was suggested along the master faults, giving rise to a marginal hill range9,11,12. The asymmetric folds encountered along the margin of the hill range were regarded as drape folds formed at the time of movement of basement blocks. Subsequent to the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, two stages of tectonic evolution of the basin were suggested: rift stage with basin subsidence along normal faults, and inversion stage with uplift along the same faults by reverse movements14,15. However, based on experimental work of Mandal and Chattopadhyay35, Mathew et al.20 suggested that during the compressive stage, thrusting would occur on a new plane but not along non-parallel fault (horst-graben) arrays. Moreover, the fault-plane solutions also indicate that the 1956 Anjar earthquake21 as well as the 2001 Bhuj Earthquake22 were caused by movements along moderately dipping reverse faults. Thus the postulation of block-faulting and reverse movements along the same faults is not valid for Kachchh. During the inversion stage strike-slip movements were also suggested, which resulted in left stepping of right lateral faults15. Explanation of the strike-slip nature of the Kachchh Mainland Fault, wherein the dextral Kachchh Mainland Fault side steps to the left towards east and continues eastward as the South Wagad Fault (i.e. left stepping of right lateral fault)15, is also not convincing.
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Such a step-over zone would be characterized by uplift of the intervening region28,29,31. The region between Kachchh Mainland Fault and Wagad Fault is not uplifted, but there lies the low-lying Samakhiali Basin. Reverse faults: Hardas (unpublished) envisaged that Katrol Hill Fault is of the nature of reverse fault, dipping moderately to the south (Figure 6). He had also reported asymmetrically folded Jurassic (Chari/Jumara and Katrol/ Jhuran) formations abutting against Early Cretaceous (Bhuj) Formation along Katrol Hill Fault. However, this work was largely ignored by subsequent researchers. Recent investigations of a part of Katrol Hill Range by Sohoni (unpublished) confirmed the observations of Hardas (unpublished) that the Katrol Hill zone represents a southerly dipping reverse fault. Sohoni (unpublished) also recorded several mesoscopic fault-propagation folds and low-angle reverse faults in the Katrol Hill zone, which were inferred to have formed on account of structural inversion of the Kachchh Basin. The present authors have recorded several other structures like the occurrence of outcrop-scale lowangle reverse faults with sheared contacts exposed at several places (Figures 2 and 3) developed on account of compression19 (R. V. Karanth, unpublished). The reverse faults in Kachchh are seen intimately associated with folding.

Folds
Folds in Kachchh are mainly encountered along elevated periphery of uplifts and are asymmetric in nature, with gently dipping hinterland limb and steeply dipping foreland limb. Since the folds are more or less restricted to
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margins of uplifts in the hilly terrain, they were considered by some earlier workers as drape-folds along the edge of the uplifts with vertical sense of movement1215. The folds were described as asymmetric anticlines having a gentle long back limb draping the hanging wall and a short steep forelimb over the footwall, often overturned and/or ruptured exposing fault13. It is also stated that The uplifts appear to be the basement blocks draped with marginal monoclinal flexures (knee and ankle folds) of sedimentary cover over the faulted up edges. In all uplifts second order folds, e.g. anticlines and domes of varying shapes and sizes, complicate the flexures within a narrow deformation zone along the master faults15. However, the present study reveals that the folds are just not restricted to the frontal portion of the uplifts alone. Fault-related folds also occur in the interior parts. The present observations indicate that the mesoscopic folds recorded at several places in Kachchh exhibit the characteristics of fault-propagation folds described elsewhere by various authors2830. Low-angle thrust faults are seen, abutting with asymmetric folds at one end. When subjected to compression alternate layers of relatively more ductile shales and stiffer beds of sandstone of the region are susceptible for the development of several structural features that are commonly reported from fold-and-thrust belts. Examples of fault-bend folds are frequently seen in the interior parts of the highland. Development of faultbend fold is promoted by bed-confined joints dipping in the compression direction (around 30 in most parts of the region) in thick sandstone bed lying between shale beds above and below. Shearing is evident at the base of bedding parallel thrust sheets. Several structures developed on account of compressive stresses such as arching of beds of hanging wall and formation of contractional wedges are seen a few kilometres inside the margins of highlands. Drainage reversals are quite common in the uplifts. Converging set of normal faults parallel to the regional fault, in the form of linear trough observed in the southern flank of Kas Hill (R. V. Karanth, unpublished)19 is an ideal example for bending moment fault32 evolved at the back limb of fault-propagation fold. Occurrence of oblong, dome-like structures elongated parallel to the axis of hill ranges suggests that initially the folds formed as individual segments over the tip of thrust sheets. With progressive growth on either side they coalesced to form a continuous stretch of folds. In the eastern part of the Kachchh Mainland Fault such coalesced domes have given rise to linked-segments20. Characteristics of folds as interpreted by the present authors in various zones in the central part of Kachchh are provided below. Katrol Hill Range: Results of the classic pressure-box experiment carried out by Bailey Willis36 at the USGS more than a century ago, provide an insight to the structures recorded in Kachchh. The features observed along the Katrol Hill Range fit well with the experimental model of
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Willis (as reproduced in Hatcher29, figures 10-1 and 1128). His pressure-box model consisting of layers of differing strength produced a faulted fold as they were compressed from the ends. Katrol Hill zone, characterized by distinct anisotropy of the lithological units, provides an example for such a resultant model. Basal part of the range is dominated by a thick formation of gypseous-shale beds with sandstone/limestone intercalations (Jumara Formation/Chari Series), overlain by sandstones with shale bed intercalations (Jhuran Formation/Katrol Series: Upper Jurassic), which is further succeeded southward by sandstone-dominated Bhuj Formation (Chari Series: Lower Cretaceous). The beds are south-dipping and their dips gradually increase towards the north (Figure 5 a and b). Occasionally, in areas away from the foothills, traces of beds encountered projecting from the soil cover are seen dipping steeply to the north. The south-dipping contact between the shale-dominant lower part (Chari Series) and sandstone-dominant upper part (Katrol Series) of the hill (Figure 5 b) can be extrapolated into an asymmetric fold. Intense shearing of shale as well as shalesandstone intercalation is obvious at the base of the Katrol Hill near Dhunaraja Dam (Hamadra Talai), located south of Bhuj Madhapar. The sheared and brecciated beds are seen exposed chaotically. It can be interpreted that the sheared shale-rich zone at the base of the hill range represents the bedding-parallel thrust sheet and the hinge part of the folds is eroded away. The nature of outcrop scale folds encountered in the vicinity (Figure 2 a and b) supports the view that the Katrol Hill represents a fault-propagation fold. With the above descriptions it appears that the faultpropagation folds along Katrol Hill Range represent an emergent thrust and the northern flank of Katrol Hill with steep slope forms a fault-line scarp, not a fault scarp in the strict sense29. As described earlier, juxtaposed south-dipping hanging wall comprising shale-rich Jumara Formation, abutting the steep north-dipping footwall consisting of Jhuran Formation succeeded by Bhuj Sandstones is ideally seen along the Khatrod peak segment of Katrol Hill located to the south of Kukma village. The rapid fall in the dip of the beds of the footwall from steep north to gentle south within about a kilometre away indicates that the beds have been folded into a syncline. Thus, the Katrol Hill Range represents the hanging wall of a fold-and-thrust belt that rides over the Bhuj lowland, which in turn represents the synclinal footwall (Figure 5). Accordingly, the strip of land between Kukma MadhaparBhujMankua and Katrol Hill Range constitutes the synclinal footwall of the fault-propagation fold. Kachchh Mainland Hill Range: Both moderate to steeply dipping forelimb and gently south-dipping hinterland limb of regional-scale folds are better seen along the Kachchh Mainland hill range. The hinge zone, however, is eroded away as in the Katrol range. Kas Hills manifested in the form of cuesta, located to the east of Jawaharnagar, repre1277

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sent the southern limb of asymmetric fold exposed on account of erosion of the hinge portion. Traces of moderate to steeply dipping forelimbs are seen away from the foothills. At places, beds of the forelimb are exposed nearly a kilometre away from the foothills along Kachchh Mainland Range as hogs back. However, unlike in the Katrol Range, the thrust plane is not exposed at any place along the Kachchh Mainland Hill Range. Also, there are no indications of a possible sheared base of the thrust sheet and hanging wall riding over the footwall in the Kachchh Mainland Range. Therefore, it is inferred that the tip of the thrust is yet to emerge out on the surface in this range. Kala Dongar Range: Of the two hill ranges in Pachham uplift, Kala Dongar Range extending about 20 km, abruptly springs up to great heights from the Great Rann, which is hardly 23 m. The highest peak of Kachchh (433 m amsl) is located in this range. The range, with steep escarpment slope to the north and gentle dip slope to the south, represents the southern limb of the northernfolded stretch of the Pachham uplift. The hinge portion is eroded and northern limbs of the fold as well as traces of the fault are completely covered by the recent sediments of the Great Rann. Mesoscopic folds are not seen exposed in this zone. The sediments of the Rann are too close to the scarp and this sector does not reveal much regarding the nature of the fold and fault. Gora Dongar Range: Folds are better preserved in the Gora Dongar stretch of Pachham uplift. Probably it is a thick sill of basic alkaline rocks seen intruded into the sediments, which is responsible for the preservation of large-scale folds in the eastern part of this sector. The fold at this section appears to be more of the nature of detachment fold due to the mantle of rigid basic sill lying above; and thus it has progressed into a recumbent fold (Figure 4). Like in the case of the Kachchh Mainland Hill Range, here also traces of the fault plane are not perceptible on the surface. Tertiary sedimentary cover as well as unconsolidated Quaternary sediments (2100 kg/cubic m) of the region23, the structures and nature and amount of dip of faults developed under the same events need not be identical in both basement and cover-rock units. Similarly, rupturing of the surface rocks need not be expected to continue exactly on the same extended planar surface from the basement. In the absence of a detailed geophysical investigation, however, it is fruitless to interpret the precise nature of the fault not only in the basement rocks, but also in the cover rocks. Nevertheless, the characteristics of fault-fold structures of Katrol Hill range fit well with the descriptions attributed to fold-and-thrust belts elsewhere by several authors2830. As discussed earlier, on compression, the alternating shale-rich and sandstone-dominant sequence was congenial to the development of fault-related folds. The Katrol Hill Fault has evolved into an emergent thrust, while the Kachchh Mainland Hill Range has remained with a blind thrust. In the latter range, the compressive stresses appear to have been utilized in the tightening of folds and shearing of core than to translate into distinct

Nature of faults
Cover rocks and the basement: From the preceding discussions it is inferred that the regional faults in the sedimentary cover are moderate to low-angle thrust faults. Compilation of data on fault plane solutions of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake indicates that the faults in the basement are moderately south-dipping (~45)37. Geophysical investigations have revealed that the Precambrian basement lies much below (35 km) the Kachchh Mainland uplift and in Pachham a high-density body of 2800 kg/cubic m, which represents subsurface igneous rocks is traced below23. Considering the anisotropy of much denser (2700 kg/cubic m) and brittle basement rocks, and lighter (2450 kg/cubic m) and relatively ductile Mesozoic
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Figure 7. (a) Geological map of the area around Jawaharnagar. (b) Cross-section along XY (Shale: Jumara Formation; Sandstone-shale: Jhuran Formation; Sandstone: Bhuj Formation.) CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 93, NO. 9, 10 NOVEMBER 2007

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Figure 8.

A model for the possible nature of faults in the basement and cover rocks in Kachchh Mainland.

surface rupture during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake (Mw 7.7)22 as well as the 1956 Anjar earthquake21, with their epicentres located in this zone. The resultant features of compression include compaction of unconsolidated recent sediments of Banni and Samakhiali basins, giving rise to intense liquefaction, water spouts and pressure ridges38 (R. V. Karanth, unpublished)38. It is significant that during the 1956 Anjar earthquake, a village called Jhuran, situated in the Kachchh Mainland Hill Range was completely erased. This village was rebuilt subsequently and it was renamed after then Prime Minister of India, late Jawaharlal Nehru, as Jawaharnagar. Paradoxically the same village was subjected to total destruction during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake as well (R. V. Karanth, unpublished). The main reason could be that the village being situated right over the blind thrust with a core of sheared rocks described above, responded profoundly to seismic quivering. The tip-line of the thrust, which is yet to emerge out (Figure 7 b), appears to have been subjected to intense strain during the 2001 earthquake, resulting in complete destruction of the village lying above it. Similarly, several other villages situated over the tip of the blind thrust along the eastern Kachchh Mainland Hill Range such as Khirsara, Devisar, Bandhdi and Amarsar, were also completely destroyed during the 1956 Anjar earthquake and the 2001 Bhuj earthquake. These villages were rebuilt each time subsequent to the earthquake either in the same place or a little away form the site. A few other villages such as Nariyali (232103N; 695702E) and Sanadhra (232042N; 694300E) were totally abandoned following an ancient earthquake (R. V. Karanth, unpublished). With the present seismic activities and eastward growth of the hillocks, it is likely that the Kachchh Mainland Fault is progressively propagating laterally. Similarly, lateral propagation of faults has also been noted in other localities, such as the Wheeler Ridge, California, USA39,40. Dating of valley-fill terraces which have been further incised due to lateral propagation of the Kachchh Mainland
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Fault20 confirms the role of ongoing neotectonic activities in Kachchh. On the basis of the structures observed on the surface in the Kachchh region (R. V. Karanth, unpublished) and existing geophysical data23,37, a plausible model for the nature of faults is presented in Figure 8. Nonetheless, it is suggested that further acquisition and analysis of subsurface data and detailed geophysical investigations in the Kachchh region are essential to understand the structures developed on account of neotectonic activity and the exact nature of faults. It is of utmost importance to study the nature of basement rocks as the seismogenic zone lies in the basement.
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Geol., 1996, 18, 217234. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Financial support from the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi is acknowledged. We thank P. S. Sohoni, G. Mathew and J. N. Malik for help. The critical and valuable comments by Prof. Saibal Gupta, Prof. M. A. Mamtani and the anonymous reviewer helped in improving the manuscript. Received 29 December 2006; revised accepted 22 August 2007

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