Geological Setup along the National Highway 1A Transect

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway cuts across three major tectonic zones viz., the Outer Himalaya, the Lesser Himalayan and the Kashmir Tethyan Himalaya.  The MBT, Murree- and the Panjal Thrusts are the major tectonic planes of regional importance which cut across the highway between Udhampur and Ramsu. Besides these major thrusts Makarkote fault marked by myllonite and phyllonite is a prominent structural feature located near Makarkote village.  Most of the rock types have a regional strike of NW-SE to WNW-ESE with moderate to steep dips either towards north or the south.

 The Outer Himalayan (Foreland Basin): In this belt Siwalik and Murree Groups are overlying the buried peneplained surface of the northern fringe of the Indian shield.  Lithologically these sediments constitute semi-consolidated to consolidated sandstones, shales, conglomerates and clay beds.  Structurally these rocks display broad anticlines and synclines, e.g., Jhajjar-Suruin-Mastgarh anticline (wrench faulted) and Udhampur syncline.  A series of thrusts characterise the foreland strata. The most prominent among them are Main Boundary Fault (MBF) which delimits the Siwalik from the Murree strata in Jammu region.  The Lower Murree strata display tight isoclines and overfolds with repeated local faults. Whereas, the Upper Murree represent broad open Siwalik type of folds.

 The Lesser Himalayan is tectonically bounded by the Murree Thrust in the south and by the Panjal thrust in the north.  Lithologically this belt comprises mainly of slates, quartzites, volcanics, phyllites and subordinate metamorphic and sedimentary strata in the sector.

 The Tethyan Himalaya represents sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous to Early Jurassic age which are exposed from Banihal to Qazigund.  These strata document excellent faunal record of these periods.  The famous Jawahar Tunnel lies in this sector around Banihal Pass area which pierces through the Panjal Volcanics and Zewan Formation intersecting two local faults through its length.

The tectonostratigraphic succession along the National Highway 1A from Kashmir to Jammu is as follows: 

 Formation    Lithology                                 Age                                                                                                                    

Karewa               Gravels, silts, loams                                 Pliocene to Pleistocene

Wuhmuh            Sandstone, slate, limestone                    Jurassic                       

Khrew and          Dolomite, micrite, limestone,                  Undifferentiated Middle-

Wuyan                quartzite                                                  Upper Triassic

Khunamuh          Limestone, shale, slate                           Lower Triassic

Zewan                 siltstone, sandstone, limestone               Upper Permian

Mamal                Tuffaceous shale, conglomerate             Lower Permian

Panjal                Basaltic and andesitic                              Early Permian 

Volcanics            flows, vesicular and                         

                           massive at places

Agglomeratic      Slate, phyllites, quartzite with                 Early Permian to

Slate                   angular fragments and                            Late Carboniferous

                           rounded clasts in slates

.

Fenestella          Shales and phyllites                                 Visean to

Shales               containing Fenestella,                              Serpukhovian

                          brachiopods, corals;                                 (Early Carboniferous)

                          quartzite, pebbly

                          sandstone beds and dark

                          grey shales

Syringothyris      Grey to dark grey,                                     Early Carboniferous

Limestone          brownish limestones and                          (Tournaisian)                 

                          siltstones; sandstones,

                          shales/clays and marl

------------------------------------------- Unconformity ----------------------------------------

Chamalwas        Greenish-grey slates,                                 (?) Cambrian-Silurian

Formation          sandstones, siltstones

                          and shales.

Ramsu                Pyritiferous slate, carbonaceous               (?)Late Precambrian    

                          shale, crystalline limestone,

                          pebbly phyllite and basic intrusives

--------------------------------------------Unconformity -----------------------------------------

Salkhala             phyllite, phyllonite, quartzite, schist,        (?) Precambrian

                          gneiss with granodiorite intrusives

---------------------------------------------Panjal Thrust -----------------------------------------

Sincha               Quartzite, dolomite, limestone,                Late Precambrian

                          phyllite, slate,    pebbly phyllite

---------------------------------------------Thrust--------------------------------------------------

Baila and           Carbonaceous grey phyllites, grey           (?) Precambrian

Gamir                 and whitish limestone, brecciated

                           quartzite

Volcanics           Foliated and massive

---------------------------------------------     Murree Thrust ----------------------------------------

Murree               Sandstone, claystones, shale                    Early Miocene to

                          siltstone                                                    Oligocene (?)

Lower Siwalik     Sandstone, mudstones                             Late Miocene to

                           and conglomerates                                  Middle Miocene

Middle Siwalik   Sandstones with interbedded                   Late Miocene

                          mudstones

Upper Siwalik     Sandstones, mudstones,                          Pleistocene to Pliocene

                          pebble beds and boulder

                          conglomerate

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