STRUCTURAL INHERITANCE IN THE SOUTHERN KIRTHAR FOLD BELT

John D. Smewing1, John Warburton2*, Antonio Cernuschi 2 and Nazir-Ul-Haq2

1

Earth Resources Limited, Innovation Centre, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK 2 Eni-LASMO Pakistan, 5th Floor, The Forum, G-20, Block 9, Khayaban-i-Jami, Clifton, 75600 Karachi, Pakistan * Present address ROC Oil Company Limited, 100 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2011, Australia

ABSTRACT
Field data, seismic evidence and the results of recent drilling in the southern Kirthar Fold Belt (KFB) have revealed that the location and magnitude of many of the large fold structures can be attributed to inversion of an earlier set of normal faults. Our current analysis suggests that Jurassic rifting produced a rift zone in the west flanking a stable platform with only minor faulting to the east. This structural template had a profound effect upon the sedimentation patterns and structural growth of the younger cover sediments. Evidence for Jurassic normal faults is seen in the Jurassic Shirinab Formation of the Mor and Kulri Ranges in the western part of the fold belt where carbonate debris flows and massive slump blocks record syn-depositional, fault-related fragmentation of the margin of the carbonate platform to the east. Examples of these faults show evidence of inversion with contractional structures in both footwall and hangingwall yet with overall net extension. East of the Mor Range, Jurassic outcrop is absent. Seismic data indicates that the Jurassic platform is not affected by major faults. Yet facies trends in the Tertiary cover sediments and the location of Tertiary compressional structures appear to be influenced by the location of earlier extensional faults. The ChaparAndhar High is flanked by an orthogonal system of faults which has controlled the dimensions of the Eocene carbonate platform that underlies the structure. The trend of these faults is parallel and perpendicular to the Jurassic faults recorded in the western KFB (NNWSSE and ENE-WSW). The main Eocene platform margin on the Gorag Ridge to the east is very abrupt and consistent in strike suggesting fault control. These observations are consistent with sub-seismic scale

Jurassic faults being present on the platform. The main inversion event took place during PlioPleistocene collision. However an important phase of earlier inversion occurred in the Late Palaeocene related to the emplacement of the Bela Ophiolite onto the margin of the Indo-Pakistan Plate in the Kirthar area. Seismic evidence demonstrates that substantial accommodation space was generated during loading of the passive margin by ophiolite emplacement. Subsequent infill of this marine foreland basin is reflected in the rapid westward thickening of Sequence T20 within the foldbelt. Subsequent pre-collisional inversion events have been recorded in the Early Oligocene and Early Miocene and are attributed to transfer of stress through the plate from the Himalayan collision zone, dating from the Early Eocene. Despite the evidence for repeated Tertiary inversion of earlier normal faults, this is not thought to be the main cause of structural elevation of the mountain belt. Instead this is attributed to thick skinned buckle folding at a crustal scale.

INTRODUCTION
Between 1994 and 1997 Eni-LASMO Pakistan and partners acquired exploration licences covering an area of almost 13,000 square kilometres in the southern Kirthar Fold Belt (KFB) of southern Pakistan (Fig. 1). This acreage covers Recognition of these early extensional structures and the timings of subsequent inversion plays a major role in the exploration for hydrocarbons in the southern KFB. It is crucial that the geometry and timing of early structural growth be determined in order to constrain the results of basin modelling, source rock maturation and hydrocarbon migration studies.

QUETTA

SULAIMAN FOLD BELT

30 N

early extensional faults, their impact on depositional setting of reservoir, source and seal facies and their subsequent behaviour during Tertiary compressional tectonics. To this end, surface and subsurface data are currently being integrated to produce a coherent structural model. This paper highlights several key observations made to date.

KIRTHAR FOLD

C HA M AN FAULT I

AREA ENGLARGED IN FIGURE-2

KIR

28 N

TECTONIC SETTING
INDIA

TH

RN AC H-NAL

SYSTEM

MAKRAN FOREARC BASIN

ULT

26 N

Porali Trough Makran Subduction Zone

U R I D RA G Y E

KARACHI BELA OPHIOLITE

24 N

0 68 E

100 km
70 E

66 E

Fig. 1 - Location map. Eni-LASMO foldbelt acreage in green. Recent analysis of depositional sequences in the southern KFB [1, 2] has resulted in accurate dating of deformational events on the passive margin. We expect the next breakthrough in our understanding of the KFB to be a better knowledge of the relationship between

The KFB forms the southern part of the Western Fold Belt of Pakistan [3] located adjacent to the present day strike-slip western margin of the Indo-Pakistan Plate represented by the Ornach-Nal Fault System and the Chaman Fault (Fig. 1). The southern KFB consists of Jurassic to Miocene sediments exposed in a series of doubly plunging N-S to NNW-SSE anticlines and elongate anticlinal ridges, separated by broad synclines. The folds die out eastwards beneath the Kirthar Foredeep, a deep trough infilled with up to 5km of PlioPleistocene molasse. The southern KFB is bound to the west by the Bela Ophiolite (Figs. 1 & 2). This ophiolite was formed in the Maastrichtian around 70Ma and obducted onto the continental margin shortly thereafter with final emplacement taking place in the Late Palaeocene to Early Eocene (~50Ma) [4].
Recent & sub Recent alluvium

AR
FO

BELT

RE
DE

EP

FA

KIRTHAR PROVINCE
Gaj, Manchar & Dada Fms-Neogene Nari Fm - Oligocene Kirthar, Ghazij & Laki Fms - Eocene Ranikot Fm - Palaeocene Pab Fm - Maastrichtian

26o 45'

PAB PROVINCE
Kohan Jhal Fm - Late Eocene - Oligocene Khude Fm - Late Palaeocene - Middle Eocene Rattaro Fm - Palaeocne Pab & Mughal Kot Fms - Late Camp - Maastr Cretaceous Jurassic Bela Ophiolite

26o 30'
0 15Km

26o 15'

Within the KFB itself, the western margin of the Kirthar Range (Fig. 2) marks the line of the shelf-slope break from the Maastrichtian until emergence of the mountain range in the Neogene. Abrupt changes in lithofacies take place across this line. The area to the west of the line is referred to as the Pab Province and that to the east as the Kirthar Province, each with its own lithostratigraphic nomenclature (key to Fig. 2).

regional extent would indicate that the most likely timing/mechanism is the Plio-Pleistocene collision of the NW margin of the Indo-Pakistan Plate with the Afghan Plate, and specifically the sinistral movement on the Chaman and Ornach-Nal Fault Systems. The map pattern of the Makran folds to the west of these fault systems reveals a similar anticlockwise rotation (Fig. 1).

STRATIGRAPHY RIFT-DRIFT-COLLISION HISTORY

The KFB is located on the NW margin of the IndoPakistan Plate. The rift-drift-collision history of this plate is well documented [5, 6, 7]. The oldest sediments exposed in the southern KFB are limestones with minor clastics of Early to Middle Jurassic age. These were deposited during a lengthy period of passive subsidence prior to separation of the Indo-Pakistan Plate from the Afro-Arabian margin in the Oxfordian. During the prerift, rift and drift phases of this margin up to 9km of sediments were deposited over the site of the KFB. The drift phase was terminated by initial collision of the northern margin of the plate with Eurasia at 55Ma [7], around the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary. The Bela Ophiolite was emplaced at this stage. The first northerly derived Himalayan-sourced clastics were deposited in the late Middle Eocene (40Ma) and up to 2.5 km of late Palaeogene flysch (Kohan Jhal Formation) were then deposited in a narrowing seaway between the IndoPakistan Plate and the Afghan Plate [8, 9]. Initial uplift of the mountain belt dates from the Miocene when the depocentre of the Himalayan-sourced clastics switched from a position west of the fold belt to the developing Kirthar Foredeep to the east. The main phase of deformation and uplift however is of Plio-Pleistocene age and is related to the final collision of the Kirthar margin with the Afghan Plate along the proto-Chaman fault [8]. This event marks the first appearance of significant westerly-derived clastics in the foredeep, replacing the hitherto northerly-sourced clastics. Palaeomagnetic data for igneous units in the western parts of the southern KFB (Bela Ophiolite, Cretaceous sills) indicate that they have been rotated anticlockwise by up to 70 since emplacement/intrusion [10]. A similar amount of clockwise rotation has been found in the western Sulaiman Fold Belt [11]. The significance of this observation for the KFB is that the present NNWSSE strike restores to a NE-SW orientation which is the depositional strike of the pre-collisional margin. The age of rotation in the KFB is not constrained by the palaeomagnetic data. However the magnitude and Stratigraphic nomenclature in this paper is based on recent work [2] in which the lithostratigraphy of the southern KFB has been rationalised into a sequence stratigraphic scheme comprising 23 depositional sequences (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Stratigraphy of Southern Kirthar Fold Belt.

Each depositional sequence has been identified with a key letter (J for Jurassic, K for Cretaceous, T for Tertiary) and labelled in decimal units in ascending stratigraphic succession (J10, J20, J30 etc). Analysis of these depositional systems has shown that many have resulted from tectonic events affecting the NW margin of the Indo-Pakistan Plate during its riftdrift-collision history. Identification of these tectonic signatures has been instrumental in timing the inversion events described in this paper.

Neocomian Sembar. The Mor Fault may have marked the basinward limit of Chiltan progradation. The break up of the platform at the Mor Fault seems the most likely source of the debris flows and slide blocks in the Kulri and Mor Ranges.
66 E 68 E 70 E

MOR FAULT JEZAR FAULT

H A R R T K I

JURASSIC-AGED FAULTS
In the western KFB three major high angle reverse faults have been identified in outcrop, bounding respectively the Kulri, Mor and Pab Ranges. From west to east these are the Wayaro, Jezar and Mor Faults Figure-2. A variety of structural and stratigraphic observations indicate that these faults were active during Jurassic rifting. The evidence for this is best preserved in the Kulri and Mor Ranges in the hanging walls of the Wayaro and Mor Faults. In the Kulri Range, debris flows occur within a 15 metre thick shaly section within the pelagic limestones of the Anjira Member and comprise individual flow units 1-3 metres thick carrying dark grey shelly limestone blocks of platformal character up to 1 metre across in a yellow calcareous mudstone matrix. Huge tabular slide blocks of interbedded limestone and shale, up to 2km across also occur near the top of the Anjira Member, lying concordant with the surrounding bedding. Although the constituents of the debris flows and slide blocks show a superficial resemblance to the Spingwar Limestone Member below the Anjira, the presence of shells floating in the matrix of the debris flows identical to those within the blocks themselves indicate that they were sourced from semi-lithified shelf carbonates rather than older, deeper and presumably lithified Spingwar Limestone of pre-Toarcian age. This suggests they were sourced from a penecontemporaneous carbonate platform up dip to the SE. This carbonate platform would have been the BajocianBathonian Chiltan Formation Figure- 4 which occurs in the subsurface in the Middle Indus Basin to the east and outcrops in the northern KFB. It does not outcrop in the southern KFB and no wells have been drilled to this depth. Its former presence in the Gaj River however cannot be ruled out as here all post-Toarcian sediments have been removed at the unconformity (SBJ50) below
26 N

WAYARO FAULT

MIDDLE INDUS
CHILTAN CARBONATE PLATFORM

F O L D

ANJIRA SLOPE AND BASIN

26 N

B E L T
KARACHI

LOWER INDUS

24 N

24 N

50

100km

66 E

68 E

70 E

Fig. 4 - Palaeogeographic map for southern Pakistan in the Middle Jurassic showing proposed western limit of Chiltan carbonate platform defined by Mor Fault. Following maximum Chiltan progradation the platform was exposed at SBJ50 in the Late Jurassic. The presence of karstified platform limestones in basinally redeposited palaeosols immediately down dip from the Mor Fault provides further evidence that it was a major basinbounding fault in the Middle to Late Jurassic. Despite the presence of contractional structures in both its hangingwall and footwall, the Jezar Fault is still in overall extension (Fig. 5). Although the age of extension cannot be dated, the structural geometry is consistent with the evidence from the Wayaro and Mor Faults of Middle to Late Jurassic extension followed by PlioPleistocene contraction (inversion). In the case of the Mor Fault, extension appears to have continued into the Early Cretaceous; the Sembar Formation thickens eastwards towards the fault from 300m to more than 2000m over a horizontal distance of 10-12km. The possibility that some of this thickening is due to structural imbrication cannot be excluded but it is nevertheless likely that original stratigraphic thickening played a role in the observed trend.

WEST JEZAR FAULT

EAST

horizon of Late Palaeocene red shales is present on the correlative conformity at the base of T10. These are interpreted as basinally reworked palaeosols derived off the Late Palaeocene exposure surface on the high. Late Palaeocene uplift of the Chapar-Andhar High was accomplished by inversion of faults underlying its flanks. Evidence for the presence of these deep-seated faults can be seen on the western, northern and southern margins of the high. Here, progradational wedges of Khude D limestones interfinger with Khude C basinal shales (Fig. 6). Each succeeding progradational wedge was downflexed and onlapped by shales, building up to a point when the next wedge could prograde out. Downflexure around the margins of the high is due to differential compaction between the Eocene platform limestones on the high and the contemporaneous shales in the basin The axes of downflexure reflect the orientation of the inverted faults at depth. They are arranged in an orthogonal pattern with that on the western margin oriented NNW-SSE and those on the southern and northern margins oriented WSW-ENE. These are respectively parallel and perpendicular to the faults of Jurassic age in the rift zone to the west and imply a continued Jurassic control on sedimentation patterns east of the rift zone, albeit reduced in magnitude. The orthogonal pattern identified is interpreted as representing respectively the rift and transform orientations of the Jurassic rift. Kirthar Range-Gorag Ridge During the Late Cretaceous the Pab shelf prograded as far west as the Kirthar Range/Gorag Ridge boundary between the Pab Province and the Kirthar Province. Apart from a brief basinward excursion of the shelf margin in the Middle Eocene (Khude D) this strongly linear NNW-SSE feature then remained the site of the shelf-slope break until Neogene times. Due to the dominance of Eocene outcrop along this zone, it is in this interval that the shelf to slope transition is best seen. Along the Gorag Ridge, Eocene shelf carbonates pass westwards into fully basinal equivalents over a lateral distance of less than 3km (Fig. 7). Although some element of tectonic shortening is evident between these facies, it is not believed to be major. This rapid facies transition and the strongly linear extent of the shelfslope break suggests that the Kirthar Range/Gorag Ridge was underlain by a series of west-dipping high angle normal faults prior to Tertiary inversion.

J3

Isoclinal folding in hanging wall to Jezar Fault

S
J4 J3

J2

J1

1 Km

v=h

Fig. 5 - Cross section over Jezar Fault in western Mor Range illustrating contractional structures in both footwall and hangingwall but overall net extension. J1-Lower Spingwar Member; J2-Upper Spingwar Member; J3-Loralai Member; J4-Anjira Member; S-Sembar Formation.

EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURAL INHERITANCE

Away from the western KFB, the lack of pre-Late Cretaceous sediments precludes analysis of the early history of major faults based on outcrop data alone. Seismic data indicates that the Early Cretaceous does not show any major thickness changes above Chiltan as far west as Chapar. Although data quality is poor at these depths this observation is taken to indicate that the Chiltan Platform lacks seismic scale syn-depositional faults and that the Mor Fault marks the eastern boundary of the main rift zone. Subtle features of the PalaeoceneEocene palaeogeography east of the Mor Fault however suggest that sub-seismic scale Jurassic faults were present and exerted an influence on the inversion patterns of the younger sediments. Chapar-Andhar High The Chapar-Andhar High is an isolated Eocene carbonate platform in the eastern part of the Pab Province down dip from the main Eocene shelf-slope break to the east (Fig. 2). It is unique in the Pab Province as being the only locality where shallow marine limestones overlie an erosionally truncated Rattaro section ie it is the only known basinward location where the base of depositional sequence T10 is represented by an unconformity. On the flanks of the high a distinctive

Fig. 6 - Looking SSE along the west flank of Chapar from L at 26o 04.9N Long 67o 05.3E. Downflexed Khude D peri-platform limestones are draped by limestones at the base of the overlying mudstone wedge which thins to zero eastwards (towards the left of the photograph) on Chapar. The limestones above mudstones on the low hills to the right correlate with limestones at the top of the Chapar plateau on the left, with no underlying mudstones. The massive grey limestone in the foreground is part of a coral bioherm that has developed along the axis of downflexure.

Fig. 7 - View of the Gorag Ridge near the village of Chappi Sun at Lat 26o 47.7N Long 67o 05.4E looking NE. The whitish ridge in the far left comprises Eocene calciturbidites, pelagic limestones and carbonate debris flows. These are the basinal equivalents of the thick platform carbonates which form the steep western wall of the Gorag Ridge on the skyline, less than 3km to the east.

Bhit At Bhit, the Dunghan Formation onlaps the Ranikot Formation from north to south. Also depositional cycles in the Nari Formation on the northeastern side of the Bhit anticline thin southwards towards the central part of the fold subsidence appears to have been lower than the regional norm. These observations taken together indicate the presence of an extensional precursor to the present contractional Bhit Fault underlying the eastern flank of the fold. This fault was partially inverted in the Late Palaeocene to produce a broad submergent high, onlapped by the Dunghan Formation. During the Early Oligocene deposition of the Nari Formation, maximum inversion of that part of the fold which had the highest original amount of extension accounted for the observed pattern of sedimentary cycle thickness. Laki Range The Laki Fault on the eastern side of the Laki Range appears to have undergone successive phases of inversion dating from the Late Palaeocene; four erosional surfaces downcut progressively through the hanging wall towards the fault indicative of inversion Figure-8. These repeated inversion events are responsible for dramatic thinning of the Tertiary section
BHIT BADHRA LAKI RANGE

towards the Laki Range culminating in exposure of Cretaceous Pab and Fort Munro Formations in the centre of the range. The Early Oligocene unconformity, SBT50 is one of the family of erosional surfaces that follows the pattern of downcutting eastwards towards the Laki Fault. It divides the Kirthar Formation into upper and lower members. The fact that this partition is visible as far north as the Gaj River and possibly further suggests a northward continuation of the Laki or related fault in the subsurface to the east of the mountain front.

DISCUSSION
The examples cited above provide ample evidence that Tertiary and Cretaceous facies belts and some of the major Late Tertiary fold structures in the southern KFB are not randomly distributed but instead are controlled by the positions of earlier extensional faults. The majority of these faults are believed to be inherited from Jurassic rifting. Observational data suggests the Mor Fault on the eastern side of the Mor Range may have marked the boundary between a NE-SW (restored) Jurassic rift zone to the west, infilled with slope and basinal sediments and a relatively stable platformal area to the east with minor faults parallel to and perpendicular to the rift zone (Fig. 4). Progressive deepening of the environment in which the Mor and Kulri Range Jurassic sediments were deposited may have been accomplished by movement on the bounding faults of the rift zone. The general organisation of facies belts in the KFB reveals that the rift zone is oriented parallel to depositional strike (NE-SW, restored). The orientation of the rift may itself have been inherited as it is parallel to the Precambrian Eastern Ghats trend in the basement of northern India. The cross-strike orientations identified on the Chapar-Andhar High are interpreted as transfer faults on the SE flank of the main rift, parallel to subsequent transform offsets of the Mesozoic passive margin. The main inversion of the Jurassic faults took place during the Plio-Pleistocene collision event. However earlier inversion took place dating from the Late Palaeocene. Late Palaeocene inversion is related to emplacement of the Bela Ophiolite onto the leading edge of the plate. This event generated the T10 sequence boundary and produced sea floor highs such as at Bhit and in the Laki Range. Seismic evidence shows that substantial accommodation space was created through loading of the passive margin at this time. Subsequent infill of this marine foreland basin is reflected by the

GAJ
SB

SB T7 0

MANCHAR NARI
T6 0

LAKI FAULT

U PPE

R KIR T HAR

AR KIRTH 2 LOWER SBT40

SBT50

AR 1 KIRTH LOWER GHAZIJ

SBT30

LAKI

SB

T10

BARA
SBT20

N GHA DUN

KHADRO PAB

LAKHRA

Fig. 8 - Schematic representation of Tertiary erosional surfaces downcutting towards Laki Fault. Not to scale. 1. SBT10 Late Palaeocene; 2. SBT50 Early Oligocene; 3. SBT60 Early Miocene; 4. SBT70 ?Pliocene.

rapid westward thickening of the Laki/Khude Formations (Sequence T20). Ophiolite emplacement in the KFB took place during first contact between India and Eurasia in the Indus Suture Zone. Later, pre-collisional Tertiary inversion in the southern KFB is probably related to transfer of stress through the plate from the Himalayan collision zone. In terms of the scale of the foldbelt, the effects of inversion described above could all be produced by relatively small scale reverse displacements on preexisting normal faults, certainly not exceeding several 100s of metres. Given the 5-10km of structural relief of the southern KFB, it is clear that this cannot be produced by inversion alone. The consistent topographic (hence structural) elevation within the foldbelt suggests a crustal scale (thick-skinned) process at work rather than fault-related basin inversion. Given there is no appreciable displacement across the mountain front then the deformation causing the uplift is restricted to the fold belt. The surface deformation must however equate to a similar amount of deeper crustal shortening. Deep seismic or gravity/magnetic profiles would be required to test this concept. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank colleagues in Eni-LASMO Pakistan Ltd for discussions which helped formulate the ideas expressed in this paper. Notable amongst these are Simon Beswetherick, Arshad Palekar, Mujahid Ali and Jerry Smart. The interpretations expressed in this paper nevertheless are entirely the responsibility of the authors.

[5] Patriat, P. and J. Achache, 1984. India-Eurasia collision chronology and its implications for crustal shortening and driving mechanisms of plates. Nature, Vol. 311, p. 615-621. [6] Besse, J. and V. Courtillot, 1988. Palaeogeographic maps of the continents bordering the Indian Ocean since the Early Jurassic. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 92, p. 11791-11808. [7] Searle, M.P., R.I. Corfield, B. Stephenson and J. McCarron, 1997. Structure of the north Indian continental margin in the Ladakh-Zanskar Himalayas: implications for the timing and obduction of ther Spontang ophiolite, India-Asia collision and deformation events in the Himalaya. Geological Magazine, Vol. 134, p. 297-316. [8] Treloar, P.J. and C.N. Izatt, 1993. Tectonics of the Himalayan collision between the Indian plate and the Afghan block: A synthesis. In: Treloar P.J. and M.P. Searle (eds) Himalayan tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 74, p.69-87. [9] Qayyum, M., A.R. Niem and R.D. Lawrence, 1996. Newly discovered Palaeogene deltaic sequence in Katawaz basin, Pakistan, and its tectonic implications. Geology, Vol. 24, p. 835-838. [10] Hailwood, E. and F. Ding, 1998. A supplementary palaeomagnetic study of the Bela ophiolite, southwestern Pakistan. Unpublished Core Magnetics Report No. CM9808. [11] Klootwijk, C.T., R. Nazirullah, K.A. De Jong, and H. Ahmed, 1981. A palaeomagnetic reconnaissance of northeastern Baluchistan, Pakistan. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 86 B1, p.289-306.

REFERENCES
[1] Hedley, R., J. Warburton and J.D. Smewing, 2001. Sequence stratigraphy and tectonics in the Kirthar Foldbelt, Pakistan. Proceedings of the SPE-PAPG Conference, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2001, p. 1-11. [2] Smewing, J.D., J. Warburton, T. Daley, P.Copestake and N. ul-Haq. Sequence stratigraphy of the southern Kirthar Fold Belt and Middle Indus Basin, Pakistan. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 195, in press. [3] Bannert, D., A. Cheema, A. Ahmed and U. Schffer, 1992. The structural development of the Western Fold Belt, Pakistan. Geologisches Jahrbuch, Vol. B80, p.360. [4] Gnos, E., M. Khan, K. Mahmood, A.S. Khan, N.A. Shafique and I.M. Villa, 1998. Bela oceanic lithosphere assemblage and its relationship to the Runion hot spot. Terra Nova, Vol. 10, p. 90-95.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Smewing John Smewing graduated with first class honours in Earth Sciences and Chemistry from University of Leeds in 1971 and then completed his Ph.D. at the Open University in 1975 on the Troodos ophiolite in Cyprus. Following an early career in ophiolite studies, John was appointed Director of the Earth Resources Institute (ERI) of University of Wales, Swansea in 1980. His responsibilities here included managing a variety of field-based projects in Oman, UAE, Madagascar, Turkey, Indonesia and Yemen. John's interest in Pakistan commenced in 1997 when ERI were awarded a mapping contract in the SW Kirthar Fold Belt by Lasmo Oil Pakistan Ltd. Subsequent field work for Lasmo has been carried out over abroad area of the southern Kirthar Fold Belt and several 1:50,000 scale maps have been produced. The disparate lithostratigraphy of this area has recently been formalized within a sequence stratigraphic framework. John Warburton John received a First Class Honors Degree in Geological Sciences from Leeds University, UK in 1979 and completed his PhD in Structural Geology at Swansea University, UK in 1982. He joined BP Exploration in 1983 as a Geo-scientist working in UK North Sea, Pakistan, Spain, Oman, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In 1994 John joined Oil Search Ltd in Sydney, as Asset Manager for the Papua New Guinea Foldbelt Licenses and in 1997 was responsible for the companys International New Venture assessments. In 1998 John joined LASMO as Exploration Project Manager for North Africa & South Atlantic where he was responsible for onshore Algeria new business and for the companys entry into deep water Morocco. From 1999 to mid 2002 John was the Exploration & New Business Manager for LASMO Oil Pakistan Ltd. He was elected as the Vice President of the Pakistan Association of Petroleum Geoscientists in 2001 and as Vice Chairman of the Petroleum Exploration & Producing Companies Association Technical & Operations expert committee. John joined Roc Oil Company Ltd in Sydney in August 2002 where he is currently the Regional Manager West Africa, responsible for all Roc Oils operated assets in Senegal, Angola and Equatorial Guinea and for the non-operated portfolio in Mauritania. John has numerous publications on tectonics, sequence stratigraphy and petroleum geology and he is an alumni of Cranfield Business School, UK. Nazir Ul Haq Nazir received his B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. in Geology from University of Karachi in 1981. He joined Pakistan Petroleum Limited in 1982 wherein he worked in various disciplines including mud engineering, welsite geology, filed geology and reservoir geology for about ten years. He joined LASMO Oil Pakistan initially as Kadanwari Development Geologist in 1991 and later moved to Kirthar Foldbelt team to work as Field and Exploration Geologist.

Antonio Cernuschi Antonio Cernuschi graduated in Geological Sciences from State University, Milano, Italy, in 1985. He has seventeen years experience in the oil & gas industry as field and wellsite geologist, and subsequently as exploration geophysicist. His main areas of experience are Continental Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Malta) Mediterranean offshore, East Africa onshore and offshore, Asia and Far East (China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Pakistan), Australia. His most recent assignment was with AGIP China B.V. Beijing as Chief Geophysicist. He is currently Chief Geophysicist and Kirthar Foldbelt Team Leader at Eni-Lasmo Pakistan in Karachi.