 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Geology of Pakistan" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thegeology of Pakistan encompasses the varied landscapes that make up the land constituting modern-dayPakistan, which are a blend of itsgeological history, and its climate over the past few million years.
TheGeological Survey of Pakistan is the premier agency responsible for studying the country's geology.[1]
Pakistan geologically overlaps both with theIndian and theEurasiantectonic plates where itsSindh andPunjab provinces lie on the Indian plate while western parts ofBalochistan and parts ofKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa lie on the Eurasian plate which mainly comprises theIranian plateau although reaching on the Indian plate, albeit bordering theArabian plate on the extreme southwest and theHindu Kush from the Afghan-Pakistan border.Azad Kashmir lie's on the WesternHimalaya's whileNorthern Areas lie on the almost northern end of South Asia most of the region is part of the Greater Himalayan Mountain Region much more close to Central Asia and hence are prone to violentearthquakes where the two Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided leading to the region having the world's highest mountains.[citation needed]
Since it lies in the centre of tectonic plates, Pakistan has been vulnerable to a number of deadly earthquakes.
Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan has deposits of several mineral products includingcoal,copper,gold,chromite,mineral salt,bauxite and several other minerals. There are also a variety of precious and semi-precious minerals that are mined. These includeperidot,aquamarine,topaz,ruby,emerald,rare-earth mineralsbastnaesite andxenotime,sphene,tourmaline, and many varieties ofquartz.[2]
ThePakistan Mineral Development Corporation is the responsible authority for the support and development of the mining industry. Gemstones Corporation of Pakistan looks after the interests of stake holders ingemstone mining and polishing as an official entity.Baluchistan province is the richest in mineral resources available in Pakistan. While recently coal deposits have been discovered inThar,Sindh.Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is rich ingemstones. Most of the mineral gems found in Pakistan exist here. Apart from oil, gas and some mineral used in nuclear energy purposes which comes directly under federal control mining of other minerals is provincial issue. Currently around 52 minerals, are mined and processed in Pakistan.[3]
Oil andgas production began in Pakistan in the early 20th century. Current production is concentrated in the lowerIndus Basin and in Kohat-Potwar geologic province. Petroleum systems in the Kohat-Potwar province exist due tocontinental collision between theIndianpassive continental margin and theEurasian Plate. The composite petroleum system in the Kohat-Potwar province is referred to as the Patala-Nammal Composite Total Petroleum System. Petroleumsource rocks range in age fromEocambrian throughMiocene and are dominated by type II and type IIIkerogens. Maturation of hydrocarbons in the system increase from north to south and dramatically rise past the HimalayanMain Boundary Thrust. Initial generation of hydrocarbons began in LateCretaceous passive margin sediments and renewed in a secondary generation phase during the last 20-15 Ma along with rapid fill and overburden in theHimalayan foreland basin. Migration of hydrocarbons is facilitated via extensivethrust faulting. Approximately 60% of reservoirs in the Patala-Nammal system are Eocene passive margincarbonates but other Miocene, Permian, Jurassic and even Cambrian sedimentary formations show sufficient porosity and permeability. Most of the successful plays have concentrated on overturned and faultedanticlinal traps. These anticlines strike generally northeast to southwest and verge in the direction of plate collision. These anticlines have formed in the last 5 Ma. Fields in the Patala-Nammal system have an estimated total volume of 700 million barrels of oil equivalent and may prove economic in the coming decades.[4]
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
