Stratigraphy and structure of the Indus suture in the Lower Swat, Pakistan, NW Himalaya

We present a geological map, detailed structural description and new subdivisions of the Indus Suture Zone lithologies in northeast Pakistan (Lower Swat region). The Indus Suture Zone is a dominantly fore-are related assemblage obducted onto the Indian Plate. Initial southward thrusting was followed by the reactivation of the Indus Suture as a ductile-brittle normal fault. Significant strike-slip faulting may have taken place at this stage. Later brittle reverse faults demonstrate that shortening outlasted normal faulting. The comparison of the structural evolution of the Indus Suture Zone and the Indian Plate shows that both terrains were sharing the deformational history, possibly since the earliest stage of collision. The Lower Swat area records a full orogenic cycle from early rifting through continent-are collision to orogenic collapse. We present a geodynamic model that integrates all these elements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.