BALOCHISTAN PLATEAU FACT FILE

A plateau is a raised flat land( table land)

The Balochistan Plateau is a very rugged area
LOCATION: Lies to the west of the Sulaiman Kirthar Range, in the Balochistan
Province.

A fault line runs through the plateau dividing it into two parts:

Area in the west Chaman Fault area

Mountains have east -west trend and are
made up of limestone rocks and shale.
Include:
Makoe4oeolkdoran Coastal Range,
Makran Central Range, Siahan Range,
Raskoh( Highest ) and Chagai Hills.
Also located here is the Kharan Desert.

Area in the east- Ornachnal Fault Area

Mountains have a north-south trend and
are made up of limestone and
sandstone. Include:
Toba kakar Range, Khuzdar Knot.
Also located here is the Kalat Plateau
and the Lasbela Plains.

VALLEYS OF THE BALOCHISTAN PLATEAU:

. These valleys have narrow channeled, water starved rivers, these
rivers have created alluvial fans on the foothills of mountains( these
are good for orchard farming). The valley floor is covered in fine sand,
silt and clay( suitable for market gardening).
There are three main fertile valleys which are also called lobes/basins:

ZHOB-LORALAI VALLEY (N)

QUETTA MASTUNG VALLEY (E)
KECH-HINGOL VALLEY (S)

PASSES OF THE BALOCHISTAN PLATEAU:

Internal
Bolan pass, located in the Sulaiman
Range,; south of Quetta. It links
Quetta to the Sindh plains.

External
Gonshero pass, located in the Chagai
Hills in the Chaman Fault area and
links Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Kojak Pass, located in the Toba kakar
range in the Ornachnal fault area.
Also connects Pakistan to
Afghanistan.

COASTAL AREAS:

Chaman Fault Area

Makran coastal area, this part of the
coastal area has hills projecting into
the sea and sand and gravel deposits.

Ornachnal Fault area

Lasbela Plains, this part of the coastal
area has gravel and sand dunes.

KHARAN DESERT:
Located in the Chaman fault area. It has rolling sand plains, sand dunes
which may be longitudinal, latitudinal , transverse or barkhan( moon
shaped)

DRAINAGE OF THE BALOCHISTAN PLATEAU:

A hamun is a local name for a playa lake, also called a salt pan. Some
of the valleys/lobes/basins in the mountains of Balochistan plateau do
not have outlet to the sea. So when rainwater runs down the
mountains it collects in these basins and eventually gets absorbed into
the land. Since the water in these lakes is salty, it leaves a salt residue
when it gets absorbed into the land, leaving behind a salt pan. There
are three significant salt lakes in Balochistan, all in the Chaman Fault
Area:
Hamun e Mashkal
Hamun e Lora
Hamun e Morgho

In Northern Balochistan there are Rivers Zhob and Kandhar, in central

Balochistan are rivers Bolan and Mula which are absorbed in the Kachi
Sibi Plain. In southern Balochistan are the rivers Hab, Porali, Hingol,
Kech and Dasht which drain into the Arabian Sea. All these are
seasonal rivers.