THE CHAMAN TRANSFORM FAULT

WARDA HASEEB KHAN

(H1915086)
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY:

The Chaman transform zone first

became active in the late Oligocene or
early Miocene. Collision of the
Eurasian and Indian plates has
resulted in two spatially offset subduction
zones, the Makran subduction zone to
the south and the Himalayan convergent
margin to the north. These zones are
linked by a system of left-lateral strike-
slip faults known as the Chaman Fault
System.
FAULT TRACK LOCATION:

The fault tracks NORTHEAST

ACROSS BALOCHISTAN AND
THEN NORTH-NORTHEAST INTO
AFGHANISTAN, runs just to the
west of Kabul, and then
northeastward across the right-
lateral-slip Herat fault, up to where it
merges with the Pamir fault system
north of the 38° parallel.
A component of left lateral shear occurred
across the entire Makran Zone in
association with the opening of the newly
identified Haman-i-Mashkel fault trough
SOUTH of the Chagai Hills and WEST
of the Ras Koh.
The total displacement and displacement
rate across the Chaman transform zone
varies in response to the rates of
convergence in the plates East and West
of the zone.
CHAMAN FAULT SYSTEM
The Chaman fault system, which includes a
group of strike-slip faults, is a major left-
lateral strike-slip fault that accommodates
much of the differential movement between
the Indian and Eurasian plates in
southeastern Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The ~860-km-long fault strikes from
N10°E to N35°E. The Chaman fault
generally separates the eastern area from
the central and western areas of
Afghanistan
GEOLOGY OF AREA:

The Chaman transform zone connects THE

MAKRAN AND HIMALAYAN
CONVERGENCE ZONES and contains an
INTERNAL CONVERGENCE ZONE IN THE
ZHOB DISTRICT.
The transform zone contains numerous strike
slip faults of which the Chaman fault proper is
the westernmost.
We can demonstrate at least 200 km of left
lateral displacement along the Chaman fault
alone.
They merge continuously with the strike slip
faults of the Chaman transform zone
•In the Zhob belt N-S shortening by folds and
a major thrust fault amounts to several dozen
kilometres.
•The 400 km wide Makran convergence zone
is now being shortened by E-W oriented folds,
thrust faults, and reverse faults.
•As these faults in the Makran zone approach
the transform zone, their traces bend to the N
and motion on each of them becomes
OBLIQUE, COMBINING REVERSE AND LEFT
LATERAL SLIP.
CHAMAN TRANSFORM ZONE
The southern and central portions of the
Chaman transform boundary consist of
three major faults:
The Chaman fault,
The Ghazaband fault,
The Ornach-Nal fault, as well as
subsidiary faults.
South of the triple junction, where the fault
zone lies undersea and extends southwest
to approximately 10°N 57°E, it is known as
the Owen Fracture Zone.
TRANSPRESSIONAL BOUNDARY.

In geology, transpression is a type of strike-slip

deformation that deviates from simple shear
because of a simultaneous component of
shortening perpendicular to the fault plane.
This movement ends up resulting in oblique shear. It
is generally very unlikely that a deforming body will
experience "pure" shortening or "pure" strike-slip.
In case of chaman transform system, it has a
compressional component as the Indian Plate is
colliding with the Eurasian Plate. This type of plate
boundary is sometimes called a transpressional
boundary.
A active geological fault in Pakistan and Afghanistan know as
THE CHAMAN TRANSFORM FAULT
DISPLACEMENT RATE

There is general agreement that

the fault is slipping at a rate of
at least 10 mm/yr.
There is a report of volcanic
rocks in Pakistan dated to 2
m.y. BP which have been offset
such as to indicate a slip rate of
25–35 mm/yr.
MAJOR FEATURES ACROSS THE FAULT

The parallel mountain ranges of

eastern Balochistan, (east to west)
the Kirthar Mountains, the Khude
Mountains, the Zarro Mountains, the
Pab Mountains and the Mor
Mountains, are a result of the
compressional plate boundary and
are aligned parallel to the Chaman
fault movement.
The fault itself is west of these
ranges.
SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKES ALONG THE
FAULT

•1505, 5th July or 6th july

An earthquake created a 60 km long surface rupture along a transverse
fault in the Chaman system with several meters of vertical offset. (This
transverse fault is sometimes called the Paghman fault.)
•1935, 31 May
The 7.7 M w,1935 Balochistan earthquake along the Ghazaband portion
of the fault system was recorded.
•1978, 16 March
A 6.4 M w, earthquake created a 5 km long rupture with up to 4 cm of
left-lateral offset, and a smaller amount of vertical slip as the eastern wall
of the fault dropped down.
ASPECT OF CHAMAN FAULT

•IT’S AXIAL TRACE; the Chaman Fault is a major,

active geological fault in Pakistan and Afghanistan that
runs for over 850 km.
•ITS FAULT ZONES; a fold-and thrust to their east
associated with moderate thrust seismicity.
•ITS FAULT SYSTEM; the >1000-km-long transform
fault defining the continental western boundary of the
Indian plate
•ITS TRANSFORM NATURE; the strike of the transform
system veers to the north-northeast and averages ≈30°
oblique to the plate slip vector, resulting in a doubling in
the width of the fold-and thrust belt
NATURE OF FAULT

Chaman fault is a near-vertical

strike-slip fault that accommodates
little to no fault-normal
displacements. In particular, this
analysis highlights the value of
including multiple InSAR look
directions to more robustly
characterize the geometry and slip
direction of a fault.
VARIATION OF CREEP RATE
Variations in creep rates is considered by
current observations that cannot fully resolve
the degree of slip partitioning within the plate
boundary zone between India and Eurasia.
This generates potential trade offs between
inferred coupling of the Chaman fault and
partitioned slip rates.
A heterogeneous distribution of fault creep and
interseismic coupling along the southern and
central Chaman fault of Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
Peak aseismic creep rates of 11
(+1/−2) mm/yr over 7.25 years indicate that
the Chaman fault accommodates ~30% of the
plate motion between India and Eurasia at
the observed latitudes.
LITHOLOGY:

The technology of remote sensing and GIS is one of the most applicable
tools for the study of geological setting, tectonic situation, and mineral
alteration of inaccessible areas, which provide the base data and create a
technical concept for further detailed geological studies.
•The fault is coved by Quaternary sediments between Ghazni and
Muqur, and the ultramafic rocks have been exposed parallel to the
faults in the North of Ghazni, Jabel Seraj at many points.
There are 26 geophysical and mineral anomalies that have been
identifed along the Chaman Fault, whereas 22 anomalies occur along the
Hariruud (Herat) Fault.
Most of the identifed anomalies on the surface are related to the
ultramafic rocks and minerals that are evidence for the deepness of
the faults.
The distribution of identifed anomalies by RS data are increasing by
distance from the Chaman fault, whereas this ratio is opposite for the
Harirud (Herat) fault.
The distribution ratio of the polymetallic veins, ultramafic rocks and
minerals identifed by the USSR data are the same for both faults
Further and detailed petrographic, mineralogical and
geochemical analyses are suggested to be done on rocks
accompanied. by these faults in order to identify more industrial
minerals.
Based on the distribution ratio of rocks and minerals along the fault, it
is to be likely that most of the ultramafic rocks and minerals have
been displaced from other blocks, therefore detailed and further
research should be done in terms of tectonic emplacement and
structures of these masses along the faults definitely Chaman zone.
STREAM NETWORK:

Oblique view looking east across

the Chaman fault showing typical
left-lateral offsets of stream
channels and a beheaded stream.
The white hollow arrows show
location of the Chaman fault trace,
which generally has formed a west-
facing scarp in this area. The area
is fed by a moderate to highly-
incised, discontinuous ephemeral
stream network.
GEOMORPHIC FEATURES:
Results from geomorphic analysis shows
three distinct levels of tectonic deformation.
Areas showing high levels of tectonic
deformation are characterized by displaced
fan surfaces, deflected streams and
beheaded streams.
Terrestrial Cosmogenic nuclide surface
exposure dating of the displaced landforms
is being carried out to calculate slip-rates.
Slip-rates estimation along this segment of
this plate boundary will help in
understanding of tectonic evolution of this
plate boundary and seismic activity in the
region.