Middle Permian Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate System on the Northwestern Margin of the Indian Plate,Pakistan:Implications for Paleoclimate and Carbonate Platform Evolution

A mixed siliciclastic-carbonate system that responds to changes in Permian climate and subsequent carbonate platform evolution is investigated using microscopic details of the Middle Permian Amb Formation(Fm.),in Saiyiduwali section,Khisor Range,northern Pakistan.Thin sections were made from rocks throughout the stratigraphic section of the Amb Fm.and analyzed with an emphasis on carbonate and clastic microfacies,and the latter interpreted within the existing chronostratigraphic framework.Outcrop observations reveal that the units comprise coarse-grained,channelized,ripplemarked,and burrowed sandstone and sandy,fossiliferous limestone with minor marls and shale intercalations,suggesting deposition in a subaqueous tide-dominated delta to beach barrier.Based on the determined seven microfacies coupled with outcrop observation,the Amb Fm.was deposited in a tide-influenced subaqueous delta to middle shelf environment under fluctuating sea level.The deposition of compositionally mature sandstone in the lower part of the formation suggests reworking of detritus from the rift shoulders and an adjacent source area with an ambient warm and humid climate.The stratal mixing of carbonates and compositionally mature siliciclastic units in the middle part suggest deposition under tectonic and climate-induced terrigenous and carbonate fluxes to the basin.Thus the deposition shows a perfect transition from clastic-dominated deltaic to pure carbonate platform settings as a result of warm climate and tectonics.This Middle Permian warming is confirmed by sea-level rise and the presence of a temperature-sensitive fusulinid fauna in association with photozoan-based ooids.Deposition of the Amb Fm.and establishment of a carbonate platform are envisaged to be associated with major rifting of northern Gondwana,which subsequently resulted in the development of a rift basin at the passive margin of the NW Indian Plate then in northern Pakistan.

A Periglacial Palaeoenvionment in the Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian Tobra Formation of the Salt Range,Pakistan

The Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian （Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian） Tobra Formation is exposed in the Salt and Trans Indus ranges of Pakistan. The formation exhibits an alluvial plain （alluvial fan-piedmont alluvial plain） facies association in the Salt Range and Khisor Range. In addition, a stream flow facies association is restricted to the eastern Salt Range. The alluvial plain facies association is comprised of clast-supported massive conglomerate （Gmc）, diamictite （Dm） facies, and massive sandstone （Sm） iithofacies whereas the stream flow-dominated alluvial plain facies association includes fine-grained sandstone and sUtstone （Fss）, fining upwards pebbly sandstone （Sf）, and massive mudstone （Fro） lithofacies. The lack of glacial signatures （particularly glacial grooves and striations） in the deposits in the Tobra Formation, which are, in contrast, present in their time-equivalent and palaeogeographically nearby strata of the Arabian peninsula, e.g. the Al Khlata Formation of Oman and Unayzah B member of the Sandi Arabia, suggests a pro-to periglacial, i.e. glaciofluvial depositional setting for the Tobra Formation. The sedimentology of the Tobra Formation attests that the Salt Range, Pakistan, occupied a palaeogeographic position just beyond the maximum glacial extent during Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian time.