Lithostratigraphy, petrology and sedimentary facies of the Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene Ispikan Group, southwestern Makran, Pakistan
Keywords:
Lithofacies; Detrital modes; Provenance; Makran accretionary wedge; Submarine fan complexAbstract
An isolated outcrop, comprising a 300 m thick succession of the Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene Ispikan group, is exposed as a thrust-bound inlier within the Oligocene-Miocene succession of the Panjgur Formation, 3 km to the northeast of the Ispikan village, in south-western Makran, Pakistan. The group is divisible into two lithostratigraphic units; 1) the Late Cretaceous Ispikan group in lower part; comprising mudstone, shale, siltstone and sandstone; and 2) Palaeocene Ispikan Conglomerate in upper part; comprising very coarse pebbly sandstone and conglomerate.
The Ispikan conglomerate is composed of pebbles of a variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Sandstone also dominantly comprises igneous and metamorphic rock fragments. Detrital modes of the sandstone suggest a recycled orogenic source, most probably the HimalayanKarakorum-Hindukush collision orogen.
The group comprises 9 distinct facies, organized as 2 facies associations including the inner-fan channel facies association and the basin-plain facies association, which were parts of the earliest fan system of the Khojak-Panjgur submarine fan complex.
The petrology and provenance of the Ispikan group resemble with those of the surrounding younger submarine fan succession of the Oligocene-Miocene Panjgur Formation, however, its stratigraphic and palaeogeographic relationship with the surrounding succession still remains speculative needing further investigation
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