An Appraisal of Microfacies and Depositional Environment of the Early Eocene Habib Rahi Limestone, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan
Keywords:
Lithofacies, Microfacies, Habib Rahi Limestone, Pakistan
Abstract
Early to middle Eocene Habib Rahi Limestone was investigated in Sulaiman Range at four outcrops in Afiband and Mughal kot areas, where its measured thickness range from 25 to 40 m. The formation comprehensively studied based on sedimentological parameters that lead to its paleoenvironment. According to field observations, the lower part of the formation mainly comprises fossiliferous limestone, the middle part with platy limestone bedded with chert, and upper part associated with marl and shale. Moreover, formation makes conformable lower and upper contacts with Baska Shale and Domanda Shale, respectively. Under a microscope, five microfacies of the Habib Rahi Limestone were examined, which are abundantly associated with larger benthic foraminifera of Assilina spinosa, Assilina subspinosa, Nummulites mammillatus, and Nummulites atacicus. Therefore, litho- as well as microfacies of the Habib Rahi Limestone depicts the shallow shelf marine depositional environment of the formation.
References
Abdulghani, A., Ghazi, S., Riaz, M. and Zafar, T. 2020. Sedimentary fabrics and diagenetic features of the Late Triassic Kingriali Formation, Khisor-Marwat ranges, Pakistan. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences 49(6): 954–964.
Asim, S., Qureshi, S. N., Asif, S. K., Abbasi, S. A., Solangi, S. and Mirza, M. Q. 2014. Structural and Stratigraphic Correlation of Seismic Profiles between Drigri Anticline and Bahawalpur High in Central Indus Basin of Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 5: 1231–1240.
Bandy, O. L. 1961. Distribution of foraminifera, radiolaria and diatoms in sediments of the Gulf of California. Micropaleontology, 7(1): 1–26.
Davies, L. M. and Pinfold, E. S. 1937. The Eocene beds of the Punjab Salt Range, Geological Survey of India, Mem., Palaeontol. Indica, New Ser., 1937, vol. 24.
Eames, F. E. 1951. A contribution to the study of the Eocene in western Pakistan and western India: A. The geology of standard sections in the western Punjab and in the Kohat district. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 107(1–4): 159–171.
Flügel, E. 2010. Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application, 2nd ed., Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag.
Ghazi, S., Butt, A. A. and Ashraf, M. 2006. Microfacies analysis and diagenesis of the Lower Eocene Sakesar Limestone, Nilawahan Gorge, Salt Range, Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 33: 23–32.
Ghazi, S., Ahmad, S., Riaz, M. and Zafar, T. 2020a. Sedimentology and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Early Cambrian Kussak Formation, Salt Range, Pakistan. Current Science, 119(10): 1671–1684.
Ghazi, S., Sharif, S., Zafar, T., Riaz, M., Haider, R. and Hanif, T. 2020b. Sedimentology and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Early Eocene Nammal Formation, Salt Range, Pakistan. Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation, 28(7): 745–764.
Griesbach, C. L. 1884. Report on the geology of the Takht-i-Sulaiman. Geological Survey of India Record, 17(4): 175–190
Humayon, M., Lillie, R. J. and Lawrence, R. D. 1991. Structural interpretation of the eastern Sulaiman foldbelt and foredeep, Pakistan. Tectonics, 10(2): 299–324.
Haq, S. S. B. and Davis, D. M. 1997. Oblique convergence and the lobate Mountain belts of western Pakistan. Geology, 25: 23–26.
Iqbal, M. and Khan, M. R. 2012. Impact of Indo-Pakistan and Eurasian Plates Collision in the Sulaiman Fold Belt, Pakistan. Search and Discovery Article, 50575.
Jadoon, I. A. K. 1991. Thin-skinned tectonics on continent/ocean transitional crust, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan. PhD thesis, Oregon State University.
Jadoon, S. R. K., Mehmood, M. F., Shafiq, Z. and Jadoon I. A. K. 2016. Structural Styles and Petroleum Potential of Miano Block, Central Indus Basin, Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 7: 1145–1155.
Kadri, I. B. 1995. Petroleum Geology of Pakistan. Pakistan Petroleum Limited, 275p.
Kazmi, A. H. and Rana, R. A. 1982. Tectonic map of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan.
Kemal, A. 1991. Geology and new trends for hydrocarbon exploration in Pakistan. New directions and strategies for accelerating petroleum exploration and production in Pakistan. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Pakistan, 16–57
La Touche, T. D. 1893. Geology of Shirani hills (Mughal kot), India. Geological Survey of India Record, 26(3): 77–96.
Latif, K., Xiao, E. Z., Riaz, M., Wang, L., Khan, M. Y., Hussein, A. A. and Khan, M.U. (2018). Sequence stratigraphy, sea-level changes and depositional systems in the Cambrian of the North China Platform: A case study of Kouquan section, Shanxi Province, China. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 51(1): 1–16.
Macedo, J. and Marshak, S. 1999. Controls on the geometry of fold-thrust belt salient. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111(12): 1808–1822.
Mei M. X., Riaz, M., Zhang, Z. W., Meng, Q. F. and Hu, Y. 2021. Diversified calcimicrobes in dendrolites of the Zhangxia Formation, Miaolingian Series (Middle Cambrian) of the North China craton. Journal of Palaeogeography, 10(2): https://doi.org/10.1186/s42501-021-00087-z
Murray, R. W. 1994. Chemical criteria to identify the depositional environment of chert: general principles and applications. Sedimentary Geology, 90(3-4): 213–232.
Oldham, R. D. 1890. Report on the geology and economic resources of the country adjoining the Sind-Pishin railway between Sharigh and Spintangi, and of the country between it and Khattan. Ibid., Record, 23(1): 18–29.
Özcan, E., Yücel, A. O., Less, G., Kaygili, S., Ali, N. and Hanif, M. 2019. Reticulate Nummulites (N. fabianii lineage) and age of the Pellatispira-beds of the Drazinda Formation, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan. International Journal of Paleobiology and Paleontology, 2(1): 000105.
Raza, H. A., Ahmed, R., Ali, S. M. and Ahmad, J. 1989. Petroleum Prospects Sulaiman Sub Basin, Pakistan. Pakistan. Journal of Hydrocarbon Research, 1: 21–56.
Reid, L. M. and Dunne, T. 1996. Rapid evaluation of sediment budgets. Reiskirchen. Catena GeoEcology paperback, 164pp.
Reynolds, K., Copley, A. and Hussain, E. 2015. Evolution and dynamics of a fold-thrust belt: the Sulaiman Range of Pakistan. Geophysical Journal International, 201(2): 683–710.
Riaz, M., Latif, K., Zafar, T., Xiao, E. Z., Ghazi, S., Wang, L., Hussein, A. A. (2019). Assessment of Cambrian Sequence Stratigraphic style of the North China Platform exposed in Wuhai division, Inner Mongolia. Himalayan Geology, 40(1): 92–102.
Riaz M., Bhat G. M, Latif K., Zafar, T. and Ghazi, S. 2021. Sequence stratigraphy, depositional and diagenetic environments of the Late Cambrian glauconite bearing oolitic limestones in the Kelan Section, Shanxi, China. Journal of Earth System Science (Press)
Shah, S. M. I. 1977. Stratigraphy of Pakistan, Memoirs. Geological Survey of Pakistan. 12: 138pp.
Sheikh, A. M. 2003. Pakistan Energy Yearbook, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Government of Pakistan, 86pp.
Szeliga, W., Bilham, R., Kakar, D. M. and Lodi, S. H. 2012. Interseismic strain accumulation along the western boundary of the Indian subcontinent. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117(B08404), doi:10.1029/2011JB008822.
Tanish, H. R., Stringer, K. V. and Azad, J. 1959. Major gas field of West Pakistan. American Association of Petroleum Geologist Bulletin, 43(11): 2675–2700.
Xiao, E. Z, Jiang, S., Zafar, T., Riaz, M., Latif, K., Setoyama, E., Wang, H. and Xin, H. 2020a. Sequence stratigraphic and petrological analyses of the Cambrian oncoids exposed in the Liaoning Province, North China Platform. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2021.1858156
Xiao, E. Z., Zafar, T., Latif, K., Riaz, M. and Lu, Y. 2020b. Geochemical and Petrographic Analyses of the Cambrian Oncoids of the North China Platform: Implications for Their Paleogeography and Paleoenvironment. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 45(1): 307-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04146-5
Xiao, E. Z., Riaz, M., Zafar, T. and Latif, K. 2021. Cambrian marine radial Cerebroid ooids: Participatory products of microbial processes. Geological Journal, DOI: 10.1002/gj.4203
Asim, S., Qureshi, S. N., Asif, S. K., Abbasi, S. A., Solangi, S. and Mirza, M. Q. 2014. Structural and Stratigraphic Correlation of Seismic Profiles between Drigri Anticline and Bahawalpur High in Central Indus Basin of Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 5: 1231–1240.
Bandy, O. L. 1961. Distribution of foraminifera, radiolaria and diatoms in sediments of the Gulf of California. Micropaleontology, 7(1): 1–26.
Davies, L. M. and Pinfold, E. S. 1937. The Eocene beds of the Punjab Salt Range, Geological Survey of India, Mem., Palaeontol. Indica, New Ser., 1937, vol. 24.
Eames, F. E. 1951. A contribution to the study of the Eocene in western Pakistan and western India: A. The geology of standard sections in the western Punjab and in the Kohat district. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 107(1–4): 159–171.
Flügel, E. 2010. Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Interpretation and Application, 2nd ed., Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag.
Ghazi, S., Butt, A. A. and Ashraf, M. 2006. Microfacies analysis and diagenesis of the Lower Eocene Sakesar Limestone, Nilawahan Gorge, Salt Range, Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 33: 23–32.
Ghazi, S., Ahmad, S., Riaz, M. and Zafar, T. 2020a. Sedimentology and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Early Cambrian Kussak Formation, Salt Range, Pakistan. Current Science, 119(10): 1671–1684.
Ghazi, S., Sharif, S., Zafar, T., Riaz, M., Haider, R. and Hanif, T. 2020b. Sedimentology and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Early Eocene Nammal Formation, Salt Range, Pakistan. Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation, 28(7): 745–764.
Griesbach, C. L. 1884. Report on the geology of the Takht-i-Sulaiman. Geological Survey of India Record, 17(4): 175–190
Humayon, M., Lillie, R. J. and Lawrence, R. D. 1991. Structural interpretation of the eastern Sulaiman foldbelt and foredeep, Pakistan. Tectonics, 10(2): 299–324.
Haq, S. S. B. and Davis, D. M. 1997. Oblique convergence and the lobate Mountain belts of western Pakistan. Geology, 25: 23–26.
Iqbal, M. and Khan, M. R. 2012. Impact of Indo-Pakistan and Eurasian Plates Collision in the Sulaiman Fold Belt, Pakistan. Search and Discovery Article, 50575.
Jadoon, I. A. K. 1991. Thin-skinned tectonics on continent/ocean transitional crust, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan. PhD thesis, Oregon State University.
Jadoon, S. R. K., Mehmood, M. F., Shafiq, Z. and Jadoon I. A. K. 2016. Structural Styles and Petroleum Potential of Miano Block, Central Indus Basin, Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 7: 1145–1155.
Kadri, I. B. 1995. Petroleum Geology of Pakistan. Pakistan Petroleum Limited, 275p.
Kazmi, A. H. and Rana, R. A. 1982. Tectonic map of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan.
Kemal, A. 1991. Geology and new trends for hydrocarbon exploration in Pakistan. New directions and strategies for accelerating petroleum exploration and production in Pakistan. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Pakistan, 16–57
La Touche, T. D. 1893. Geology of Shirani hills (Mughal kot), India. Geological Survey of India Record, 26(3): 77–96.
Latif, K., Xiao, E. Z., Riaz, M., Wang, L., Khan, M. Y., Hussein, A. A. and Khan, M.U. (2018). Sequence stratigraphy, sea-level changes and depositional systems in the Cambrian of the North China Platform: A case study of Kouquan section, Shanxi Province, China. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 51(1): 1–16.
Macedo, J. and Marshak, S. 1999. Controls on the geometry of fold-thrust belt salient. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111(12): 1808–1822.
Mei M. X., Riaz, M., Zhang, Z. W., Meng, Q. F. and Hu, Y. 2021. Diversified calcimicrobes in dendrolites of the Zhangxia Formation, Miaolingian Series (Middle Cambrian) of the North China craton. Journal of Palaeogeography, 10(2): https://doi.org/10.1186/s42501-021-00087-z
Murray, R. W. 1994. Chemical criteria to identify the depositional environment of chert: general principles and applications. Sedimentary Geology, 90(3-4): 213–232.
Oldham, R. D. 1890. Report on the geology and economic resources of the country adjoining the Sind-Pishin railway between Sharigh and Spintangi, and of the country between it and Khattan. Ibid., Record, 23(1): 18–29.
Özcan, E., Yücel, A. O., Less, G., Kaygili, S., Ali, N. and Hanif, M. 2019. Reticulate Nummulites (N. fabianii lineage) and age of the Pellatispira-beds of the Drazinda Formation, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan. International Journal of Paleobiology and Paleontology, 2(1): 000105.
Raza, H. A., Ahmed, R., Ali, S. M. and Ahmad, J. 1989. Petroleum Prospects Sulaiman Sub Basin, Pakistan. Pakistan. Journal of Hydrocarbon Research, 1: 21–56.
Reid, L. M. and Dunne, T. 1996. Rapid evaluation of sediment budgets. Reiskirchen. Catena GeoEcology paperback, 164pp.
Reynolds, K., Copley, A. and Hussain, E. 2015. Evolution and dynamics of a fold-thrust belt: the Sulaiman Range of Pakistan. Geophysical Journal International, 201(2): 683–710.
Riaz, M., Latif, K., Zafar, T., Xiao, E. Z., Ghazi, S., Wang, L., Hussein, A. A. (2019). Assessment of Cambrian Sequence Stratigraphic style of the North China Platform exposed in Wuhai division, Inner Mongolia. Himalayan Geology, 40(1): 92–102.
Riaz M., Bhat G. M, Latif K., Zafar, T. and Ghazi, S. 2021. Sequence stratigraphy, depositional and diagenetic environments of the Late Cambrian glauconite bearing oolitic limestones in the Kelan Section, Shanxi, China. Journal of Earth System Science (Press)
Shah, S. M. I. 1977. Stratigraphy of Pakistan, Memoirs. Geological Survey of Pakistan. 12: 138pp.
Sheikh, A. M. 2003. Pakistan Energy Yearbook, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Government of Pakistan, 86pp.
Szeliga, W., Bilham, R., Kakar, D. M. and Lodi, S. H. 2012. Interseismic strain accumulation along the western boundary of the Indian subcontinent. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117(B08404), doi:10.1029/2011JB008822.
Tanish, H. R., Stringer, K. V. and Azad, J. 1959. Major gas field of West Pakistan. American Association of Petroleum Geologist Bulletin, 43(11): 2675–2700.
Xiao, E. Z, Jiang, S., Zafar, T., Riaz, M., Latif, K., Setoyama, E., Wang, H. and Xin, H. 2020a. Sequence stratigraphic and petrological analyses of the Cambrian oncoids exposed in the Liaoning Province, North China Platform. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2021.1858156
Xiao, E. Z., Zafar, T., Latif, K., Riaz, M. and Lu, Y. 2020b. Geochemical and Petrographic Analyses of the Cambrian Oncoids of the North China Platform: Implications for Their Paleogeography and Paleoenvironment. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 45(1): 307-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04146-5
Xiao, E. Z., Riaz, M., Zafar, T. and Latif, K. 2021. Cambrian marine radial Cerebroid ooids: Participatory products of microbial processes. Geological Journal, DOI: 10.1002/gj.4203
