U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Pamphlet to accompany

Scientific Investigations Map 3137

Prepared in cooperation with the Afghanistan Geological Survey and the

Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office under the auspices of the

U.S. Agency for International Development

Geologic and Topographic Maps of the

Kabul South 30'× 60' Quadrangle, Afghanistan
Cover photograph: View to the north of west-dipping and strongly folded beds of Lopingian and Guadalupian reef limestone (Pkl) in the Tangi-Garu Formation of 

Donov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov, 2008. The dark rocks on the right (east) side of the photo are amphibolite in the Welayati Formation (Neoproterozoic) that unconformably 

underlay a thin basal clastic sequence of beds in the Tangi-Garu. The clastic sequence appears as the slightly resistant unit exposed in the saddle. This photograph was 

taken by the author in March of 2004 in the western part of Logar valley near the Anyak copper district. 
Geologic and Topographic Maps of the

Kabul South 30'× 60' Quadrangle, Afghanistan

By Robert G. Bohannon

Prepared in cooperation with the Afghanistan Geological Survey and the

Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office under the auspices of the 

U.S. Agency for International Development

Scientific Investigations Map 3137

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2010

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reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

Bohannon, R.G., 2010, Geologic and topographic maps of the Kabul South 30' × 60' quadrangle, Afghanistan: U.S. 

Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3137, 34 p. pamphlet, 2 map sheets, scale 1:100,000. [Available at 

URL http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3137]
iii

Contents

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1

Mapping Methodology..................................................................................................................................1

Geologic Setting.............................................................................................................................................3

Synopsis of Mapped Units............................................................................................................................6

Precambrian Rocks ..............................................................................................................................6

Sherdarwaza Series....................................................................................................................6

Nuristan Series.............................................................................................................................8

Spin Ghar Crystalline Complex ...............................................................................................10

Kharog Formation ......................................................................................................................10

Welayati Formation....................................................................................................................10

Phanerozoic/Neoproterozoic Rocks................................................................................................11

Loy Khwar Formation..........................................................................................................................11

Gulkhamid Formation ................................................................................................................11

Intrusive Rocks...........................................................................................................................11

Phanerozoic Rocks.............................................................................................................................11

Daradar Dolomite.......................................................................................................................11

Sikarum Series ...........................................................................................................................14

Shalkalay Series ........................................................................................................................14

Sangae Limestone ....................................................................................................................14

Abtchakan Formation................................................................................................................14

Large Masses of Ultramafic Rocks.........................................................................................14

Khengil Series ............................................................................................................................17

Sedimentary and Metasedimentary Rocks of the Kunar Tectonic Zone..........................19

Plutonic Rocks of the Spin Ghar and Kunar Tectonic Terranes.........................................19

Wach Sach Limestone ..............................................................................................................24

Kamarkae Dolomite ...................................................................................................................24

Rokian (Kurram) Series.............................................................................................................24

Kotagai Melange........................................................................................................................24

Azrao Flysch................................................................................................................................25

Nummulitic Limestone ..............................................................................................................25

Dobandi Flysch...........................................................................................................................25

Lataband Series .........................................................................................................................25

Surficial Deposits.......................................................................................................................26

Structure and Tectonics ....................................................................................................................26

Kunar Tectonic Zone .................................................................................................................30

Nuristan Terrane........................................................................................................................31

Suleiman-Kithar Terrane...........................................................................................................31

Terrane-Bounding Faults ..........................................................................................................31

Outstanding Issues......................................................................................................................................32

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................................32

References Cited..........................................................................................................................................32
iv

Figures

1. Map showing Afghanistan subdivided into tectonic provinces or areas ...........................4

2. Map showing location of Kabul South quadrangle relative to Kabul, Jalalabad, and

the Pakistan border......................................................................................................................5

3–9. Photographs showing

 3. Typical schist outcrop of undifferentiated Sherdarwaza Series of Early Proterozoic

age ...........................................................................................................................................7

 4. Irregular amphibolite (Zwa) body in undifferentiated Welayati Formation (Zwu)......9

 5. Typical internal megascopic structure of carbonate schist (_Zlk) in the Loy 

Khwar Formation of Vendian or Cambrian age...............................................................12

 6. Hillside composed of carbonate schist of Loy Khwar Formation (_Zlk) near the

main Anyak copper exploration site in the Logar Province .........................................13

 7. View to the east-southeast in the canyon cut by the Kabul River (Kabul Rud) to 

the southwest of Kabul city limits.....................................................................................15

 8. Close-up of typical serpentinized peridotite in Logar valley area...............................16

 9. Khengil series limestone and dolomite of the Saparae (^klt) and Tangi-Garu

(Pkl) Formations ...................................................................................................................18

10. Two simplified maps of the same area in the northeastern corner of Kabul South

quadrangle that includes the Jegdelik ruby district.............................................................20

11–15. Photographs showing

 11. View to the west of the section of rocks in the vicinity of the Jegdelik ruby

district....................................................................................................................................21

 12. One of the biotite-granodiorite sills that intrude marble and gneiss in the 

Jegdelik ruby district ..........................................................................................................22

 13. View to the west-northwest of one of the ruby diggings in the Jegdelik area .........23

 14. View to the east-northeast of the Lataband series in the Anyak copper district.....27

 15. In many places in the Kabul South quadrangle, fine-grained deposits of the

Neogene Lataband series onlap steeply tilted and metamorphic rocks that form

the ranges.............................................................................................................................28

16. Simplified map of the different tectono-stratigraphic terranes found in and around

the Kabul South quadrangle .....................................................................................................29

Table

1. U/Pb (laser ablation) and Ar/Ar age determinations from the Kabul South 

quadrangle.....................................................................................................................................8

Sheets

1. Geologic map of the Kabul South 30’ x 60’ quadrangle, Afghanistan

2. Topographic map of the Kabul South 30’ x 60’ quadrangle, Afghanistan
v

Conversion Factors

Multiply By To obtain

Length

centimeter (cm) 0.3937 inch (in)

millimeter (mm) 0.03937 inch (in)

meter (m) 3.281 foot (ft) 

kilometer (km) 0.6214 mile (mi)

Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows:

°F=(1.8×°C)+32

Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) may be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) as follows:

°C=(°F-32)/1.8

Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.

It should be noted that there are many variant spellings and pronunciations of features and 

geologic terms in this region. Spellings and terms have been chosen for consistency only.

Introduction

This work has been funded by the United States Agency 

for International Development (USAID) as a part of several 

broader programs that USAID has designed to stimulate 

growth in the energy and mineral sectors of the Afghan 

economy. The maps that are included in this report represent 

works-in-progress in that they are simply intended to be the 

best possible product for the time available and conditions that 

exist during the early phases of reconstruction in Afghanistan. 

Most of the geologic interpretations and all of the topographic 

data were derived exclusively from images. A limited amount 

of fieldwork, in the spring of 2004 and the fall of 2006, was 

carried out within the quadrangle, but all the potential dangers present in Afghanistan restricted its scope, duration, 

and utility. 

The main objective is to provide maps that will be used 

by scientists of the Afghan Ministry of Mines, the Afghanistan 

Geological Survey, and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography 

Head Office in their efforts to rebuild the energy and mineral 

sectors of their economy. At the same time the maps provide 

a jump-start for the fledgling internal mapping programs of 

those agencies. It is hoped that the same set of maps will 

emerge eventually in new and improved versions as Afghan 

earth scientists modify them in response to knowledge gained 

from more detailed field-oriented studies. 

The U.S. Geological Survey has produced a variety of 

geologic, topographic, Landsat natural-color, and Landsat 

false-color maps covering Afghanistan at the 1:250,000 scale. 

These maps may be used to complement the information 

presented here.

Mapping Methodology

Base topography and culture were derived from multiple sources. Shuttle Radar 90 m digital topography (SRTM 

90 m, http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/selection/inputcoord.asp) 

provided the basic elevation data. Cultural features and 

hydrography were digitized from DigitalGlobe Images 

(http://www.digitalglobe.com/) pan-sharpened to better than 

1-m resolution, and from 1-m natural-color orthorectified 

aerial-photography. The photography was flown in summer 

and fall of 2006 in a cooperative effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory that 

was funded by the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines as part of 

a broader geophysical survey of the country. The base-map 

projection is Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM, zone 42N) 

in the World Geodetic System (WGS 84) coordinate system. 

The geology was derived and differentiated from several different image sources, including Landsat in false-color 

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/), DigitalGlobe in ‘natural 

color’, color aerial photography, AVNIR (Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer) data in ‘natural color’ 

(European Space Agency, http://earth.esa.int/), ASTERmulti-spectral data (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

(JPL), http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/index.asp) primarily using 

thermal bands, and HyMap hyper-spectral imagery. DigitalGlobe data are provided either by the IKONOS or QuickBird 

satellites. AVNIR data are one of the products of the Advanced 

Land Observation Satellite (ALOS). An airborne survey was 

conducted over the entire quadrangle using a HyMap hyperspectral optical sensor system (for example, Cocks and others, 

1998) to gain additional mineralogical data. Afghanistan is an 

ideal place for image-based geologic interpretation because of 

the lack of vegetation and soil in most areas. Rocks are laid 

bare to the sky, but the high relief does create issues. Most 

images, particularly the high-resolution images, were georegistered to the UTM map projection and ortho-rectified to 

the topography. 

Each image type corresponds to a unique view of the 

geology. The geologic interpretations presented here are 

the result of comparing and contrasting between the various images and making the best uses of the strengths of each 

image type. For example, the high-resolution photographs, 

DigitalGlobe and AVNIR scenes, provide the most accurate locations and views of features such as contacts, faults, 

internal layering, and points, but they do not yield much 

information regarding rock composition. False-color Landsat 

images are excellent for differentiating rock bodies, but their 

low resolution obscures any detailed information concerning 

contacts or internal structure. The multi-spectral and hyperspectral data types provide a limited range of actual compositional information. Thermal-band ASTER is particularly good 

Geologic and Topographic Maps of the

Kabul South 30' × 60' Quadrangle, Afghanistan

By Robert G. Bohannon
2 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

at identifying and discriminating between silica, carbonate, 

and mafic components, whereas hyper-spectral HyMap data 

can be used to separate different types of carbonate minerals, 

serpentine, epidote, iron, micas, and clays. 

The Landsat imagery was pan-sharpened to 14.28-m 

resolution and displayed with two combinations of false-color 

using bands: 7, 3, and 1 (RGB, red, green, and blue), or bands 

7, 4, and 1 (RGB). Chromatic variations between the two band 

groups are only slight where rocks are exposed, but are significant for vegetation, which appears green in one (7, 4, and 1) 

and black in the other (7, 3, and 1). For more details about the 

analysis of the imagery, please see sheet 1. Landsat data cover 

the entire quadrangle in cloud- and snow-free scenes that were 

combined in a mosaic after removal of atmospheric affects 

and following color correction. The false-color images provide good chromatic contrast between adjacent rock bodies, 

although the colors produced are not necessarily calibrated to 

any established lithologic or mineralogic standards. The Landsat image (7, 3, and 1 version) is included as a layer in the 

digital geologic map file (layered PDF) so mapped units can 

be compared to their image counterparts. Minor differences in 

the spatial location of some contacts might be apparent, since 

most were located using the higher resolution files. The slight 

inaccuracy of the Landsat is probably a function of its lower 

resolution, and the lower resolution of the digital elevation 

model to which it was orthorectified. 

High-resolution images provided the control for all of the 

linework and point data shown on the geologic map (sheet 1). 

DigitalGlobe visible- and infrared-spectrum images cover 

most of the quadrangle. Most of the western and northern parts 

are covered by the overlapping scenes of color aerial photography, and one AVNIR visible-and-infrared-spectrum scene 

covers almost all but the western edge (fig. 1 on sheet 2). The 

DigitalGlobe images are available in 4-band color at resolutions of either 4 m (IKONOS) or 2.4 m (QuickBird) and 

panchromatically at resolutions of 1 m (IKONOS) or 0.61 m 

(QuickBird). Both IKONOS and QuickBird data were used, 

depending on availability, and in both cases bands 3–2–1 

(RGB) were pan-sharpened to approximate natural color at the 

highest possible resolution. The color aerial photography is 

available as digital RGB files at 1-m resolution. AVNIR data 

come in 4-band color at a spatial resolution of 10 m. AVNIR 

data can be pan-sharpened with another of the ALOS products 

(ALOS Micrographics Corp., 2006), PRISM data with a 2.5-m 

resolution, but this was not done for this study.

The high-resolution coverage is nearly complete over the 

surface area of the quadrangle, but no single dataset, except 

Landsat, provided complete coverage. The high-resolution 

images provided the best horizontal control for the edges of 

rock bodies identified using Landsat and many additional 

geologic features, not resolved by Landsat, could also be 

identified and located. Horizontal accuracy falls well within 

the 50-m U.S. standard for 1:100,000-scale maps, and mapped 

features were found to correspond reliably with Global 

Positioning System (GPS) measurements of the feature where 

ground-checked. 

ASTER and HyMap datasets facilitate lithologic identification primarily because they provide many more bands 

of restricted width over a greater total bandwidth than any of 

the other image types. Spectral libraries are available that can 

be used to relate high reflectance within the bands to realearth features, such as specific mineral abundances. ASTER 

data have proven useful because thermal emission bands are 

included that provide useful data on surface abundance of certain rock-forming minerals. The combination of thermal bands 

3–2–1 (RGB) yields a distinct color pattern in which quartz 

(red), calcite or dolomite (green), and various mafic minerals (blue) can be easily distinguished. The HyMap data have 

proven particularly useful in differentiating various carbonate 

minerals and serpentinite. Care must be taken using these techniques for bedrock identification. Ground penetration at available energies and wavelengths is minimal such that even thick 

dust deposits, which are common in Afghanistan, can lead to 

spurious identifications. Using these images in conjunction 

with the various high-resolution images helps to ameliorate 

this problem. 

Chromatic variations that appear on the images are used 

as a descriptive characteristic of different rock bodies throughout this text, especially in the absence of real lithologic information. However, the chromatic range differs between the different image types, and within each type, it depends strongly 

on the bands used and the order in which they are stacked. 

Fortunately, there is good chromatic consistency across the 

entire Landsat dataset as it is processed. Landsat provides 

one of the better correlation controls available, even if one is 

forced to guess a bit as to what type of lithology each color 

corresponds to. The color-and-contrast problem is pronounced 

in the high-resolution image types. Nonetheless, the apparent 

colors proved to be very useful in defining rock bodies, so they 

are retained as a descriptive element. Described chromatic 

variations are coded to the image source. Landsat colors are 

coded with ‘L’ and include a numeric designation such as 731 

that represents the RGB-band-order. The L–731 designation 

is followed by the apparent color (such as L–731-blue-green). 

The ‘natural colors’ derived from high-resolution images are 

identified by ‘NC’ (natural color), followed by the apparent 

color. ASTER colors are designated A–321 followed by the 

color. HyMap data are commonly color coded, but colors are 

arbitrarily assigned, so mineralogic identifications based on 

HyMap are simply stated as such. 

Even with the highest quality images, lithologic identifications can be dubious. Published geologic studies, although 

rare, are available in the area, and they helped guide the 

mapping. The countrywide geologic map of Afghanistan 

(Abdullah and Chmyriov, 1977) gives a rough outline of the 

geologic units present in each area. That map, which is not 

widely available anymore, was re-released by Doebrich and 

Wahl (2006) at 1:850,000-scale. Bohannon and Turner (2007) 

compiled the Kabul-Chak-e-Wardak 1:250,000-scale map, also 

based on Abdullah and Chmyriov’s (1977) version. No attempt 

was made on either of the latter maps to modify or re-interpret 

the original geology, so lithologic and geologic descriptions 
Geologic Setting 3

based on preexisting maps are attributed to Abdullah and 

Chmyriov (1977), although the newer maps are more easily 

obtained and show the same thing. The geology in the south 

half of Afghanistan was compiled by Wittekindt and Weippert 

(1973) and that 1:500,000-scale compilation covers the quadrangle. The small-scale geology as portrayed commonly differs 

substantially between the Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) 

and the Wittekindt and Weippert (1973) versions and neither 

conforms well to what can be seen in modern imagery. Still, the 

small-scale maps can be used as a rough guide and were useful 

in that context. Mennessier (1973a–e) provided five maps at 

1:100,000 scale covering the central and southern parts of the 

quadrangle (fig. 1 on sheet 2). His maps proved a valuable 

asset, as they covered an area of complex structure and stratigraphy that would have been very hard to resolve using images 

alone. Mennessier (1972) also provided a good biostratigraphic 

and a limited lithostratigraphic analysis of the region in which 

he established the age control for most of the mapped units. 

Fisher (1971) conducted a detailed stratigraphic study of the 

southern part of the Koh-i-Sofe, a range in the central part of 

the Kabul North quadrangle (Bohannon, 2010), and that work 

included a map. Fisher’s detailed descriptions of the Khengil 

series, which is continuous into the Kabul South quadrangle, 

proved invaluable, and the map units and descriptions used in 

this report follow from his work.

This report consists of two map sheets, this pamphlet, and 

a collection of database files. Sheet 1 is the geologic map that 

includes three highly speculative cross sections, and sheet 2 

is a topographic map that comprises all the support data for 

the geologic map. Both maps (sheets 1 and 2) are produced 

at 1:100,000 scale and are provided with GIS spatial data that 

preserves the original layering, some attribute information, 

and the georegistration. The georegistered files, presented here 

as geospatial PDF’s, can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat 9 or 

Acrobat Pro (free reader available at http://www.adobe.com). 

The database files include images of the topographic hillshade 

(shaded relief) and color-topography files used to create the 

topographic maps, a copy of the Landsat image, and a grayscale basemap. The image data are saved as georegistered TIFimage files. Vector data from each of the layers that comprise 

both maps are provided in the form of Arc/INFO shapefiles.

Structural attitudes are shown on the map where they 

could be estimated from the imagery and topography. These 

include strikes and dips of bedding, metamorphic layering, 

and igneous layering. In rare cases these measurements are 

based on direct field observations, but more commonly they are 

derived from image analysis. Strike direction can be measured 

directly on the image in most cases. Dip value was determined 

from a three-dimensional drape of a high-resolution image 

over the best-available digital elevation model. Results are 

dependant on the vertical exaggeration chosen, so the optimal 

value of computer-generated exaggeration was determined by 

comparing derived results with known field values in the few 

places where accurate data exist.

Geologic Setting

Afghanistan, from a geologic perspective, is a complex 

amalgamation of small tectono-stratigraphic terranes, each 

with its own unique geologic history. None of these terranes, 

save maybe the northwestern one, can be said to presently 

be in the place that it originated. Instead, most of Afghanistan was assembled bit-by-bit out of pieces that came from 

someplace else. Deciphering what constitutes a contiguous 

terrane or how many there actually are has proven difficult and 

no consistent pattern has emerged. Leven (1997) presented 

the most thorough picture to date and his conclusions are 

summarized on figure 1. In his view, the only stable terrane 

in Afghanistan is the one called the Turan plate (fig. 1, no. 1), 

which always was part of the Asian continental landmass. All 

the other terranes on figure 1 have been somehow thrust onto, 

slid by, or collided with the southern margin of Asia during 

a complex series of events that took place since the middle 

Mesozoic as the Paleo-Tethyan and Tethyan oceans slowly 

closed up, culminating in the collision of India and Asia. 

The timing of these events as well as the points of origin and 

travel-path histories of the various Afghan terranes are all very 

poorly understood. Papers by Tapponnier and others (1981, 

1986), Sengor (1988), and Treloar and Izzatt (1993) represent 

viable attempts to reconstruct the Afghan terranes in a sensible 

manner, but all suffer from a general lack of knowledge 

regarding the detailed internal character and the boundary 

conditions between them. 

Numerous small terranes form an east-northeast grouping 

that bisects central Afghanistan between the northeast corner 

of the country and the western border with Iran (fig. 1, nos. 2, 

6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27). This grouping is 

distributed along a large system of faults that can collectively 

be referred to as the Har-i-Rud/Panjshir/Wakhan (HPW) fault 

system (fig. 1, fault system A). Leven (1997) pointed out 

that the Permian fusulinid assemblages that he studied define 

separate sub-basins that have been fragmented along the HPW 

fault system in a way that suggests that there might be hundreds of kilometers of displacement, probably right lateral, on 

the system between China and Iran (note particularly tectonic 

area (or terrane) 13 on fig. 1). However, no detailed slip history has been resolved. Leven (1997) also observed that the 

Permian carbonate facies and fusulinid assemblages of the 

HPW group and those to the north are characteristic of tropical 

shelves. This fact contrasts with temporally equivalent facies 

in southern Afghanistan that are siliciclastic, lack fusulinids, 

and contain other fossils typical of low-latitude (cool-to-cold 

water) Perigondwanan seas (Leven, 1997). 

The terranes south of the HPW fault zone such as the 

Farahrud trough (fig.1, no. 16), the Hilmand-Argandab (fig. 1, 

no. 17), the Kabul massif (fig. 1, no. 19), and the Nuristan 

massif (fig. 1, no. 22), are thought to have originated as continental island masses that converged on southern Asia from the 

south as the Paleo-Tethyan sea closed up during the Cretaceous (Sengor, 1988; Treloar and Izzatt, 1993). Ultramafic 
Faults

0

0

Scale 1:2,000,000

150 KILOMETERS

75 MILES

Major fault systems

1 Turan plate (stable Asia)2 Turkmenian-Khorasanian folded area3 Rudi Tchal structural-facies area4 Sourkhob structural-facies area5 Darvaz-Transalay structural-facies area6 West Hindu Kush structural-facies area7 Faizabad-Khazret Sultan structural-facies 

area

8 Kalaikhumb-Sauksai structural-facies area9 Jaway-Kurgovad structural-facies area10 Bamian structural-facies area11 Ak Jilga structural-facies area12 Darvaz-sarykol 13 Afghan-south Pamirian folded area14 South Badakhshanian-south Pamirian 

massif

15 Tash Kupruk zone16 Farahrud trough17 Hilmand-Argandab uplift18 Tarnak zone19 Kabul massif20 Suleiman-Kirthar area21 Kunar tectonic zone22 Nuristan massif23 Hagikak/Kohi Baba24 Harrirud central25 Herat zone26 Alijan Block27 Kohi Gardana28 Helmund Basin

Tectonic Provinces or Areas

AFGHANISTAN

Kabul

Jalalabad

PAKISTAN

INDIA

TURKMENISTAN

UZBEKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN

CHINA

IRAN

IRAN

0

0

200 KILOMETERS

100 MILES

1

2

25

26

12 13

27

16

28

17

18

18

20

19

24

6

10

3

3

4

7

22

14

21

13

9

5

13

11

8

23

30°

32°

72° 70°

68° 66°

64°

62°

A

A

B

B

C

D

E

F

B

Figure 1. Afghanistan subdivided into tectonic provinces or areas according to Leven (1977). This is only one of the ways that Afghanistan has been numbered list of tectonic provinces or areas corresponds to the numbered areas on the figure. Major faults and fault systems discussed in text are as Panjshir/Wakhan (HPW) fault system; B, Chaman-Paghman fault system; C, Gahzni fault; D, Tagab fault; E, Kunar fault; and F, Sorubi fault. Other faults Chimriov (1977).
Geologic Setting 5

rocks in tectonic slices along the HPW fault zone and between 

some of the terranes is cited as evidence for suturing of these 

blocks to southern Asia, as well as to each other (Tapponnier 

and others, 1981). Other terranes such as the Suleiman-Kirthar 

area (fig. 1, no. 20) and the Kunar zone (fig. 1, no. 21) probably became part of Afghanistan during the collision of India 

with Asia between 42 Ma and the present. 

The Kabul South quadrangle is in east-central Afghanistan (fig. 2) where it includes large parts of three of Leven’s 

(1997) terranes and a small segment of a fourth. The western 

half of the quadrangle is in Leven’s Kabul massif, and the 

eastern third is in the western part of his Kunar zone. The 

north end of the Suleiman-Kirthar area (also commonly called 

Katawaz basin) is exposed in the southeast and a sliver of 

the Nuristan massif occurs along the northeast border. Some 

of the terranes described by Leven (1997) can be further 

subdivided based on knowledge garnered from the mapping 

of this quadrangle, the Kabul North quadrangle (Bohannon, 

2010), and in Pakistan to the east as summarized by DiPietro 

and others (2000), and DiPietro, Ahmad, and Hussain (2008). 

These areas are treated in some detail in the Tectonics section 

of this report. 

Most of the central and southeast parts of the quadrangle 

are rugged, remote, and mountainous, at elevations of 2,000 to 

4,500 m. The highest peaks are slightly above 4,500 m in the 

western Spin Ghar (known locally as Kohe Safed) along the 

border with Pakistan (sheet 2). The Logar valley (which contains the Logar Rud, or river, sheet 2) in the western third of 

the quadrangle is lower, typically between 1,800 and 2,500 m. 

The lowest part of the quadrangle is its northeast corner near 

the Kabul River (referred to as the Kabul Rud, sheet 2). 

Koh-i-Paghman

L O G A R V A L L E Y

K o h e K a h o r e

A L T I

M

U

R

KABUL

Jalalabad

Aynak

district

Jegdelik

district

Kabul South

Quadrangle

AFGHANISTAN

69° 70°

34°

35°

Koh-i-Sofe

K o h e

M a s a m u t

K o h e

B a b a

( K o h e S a f e d )

S P I N

G H A R

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN

Azrao

Valley Kohe Syah

25

15

50 KILOMETERS

30 MILES

0

0

Figure 2. Location of Kabul South quadrangle relative to Kabul, Jalalabad, and the border with Pakistan. Two mineral districts 

discussed in the text are also shown.
6 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

Synopsis of Mapped Units

A brief synopsis of the units that appear on the geologic 

map (sheet 1) is presented here. They are mostly described 

from oldest to youngest, except that in some cases groupings 

with a wide temporal span are kept together. Much of what is 

known about many of the units is based more on the character 

of their optical reflectivity in the images rather than on actual 

lithologic or mineralogical investigations. Thus, the descriptions reflect that in many cases. Basic lithologies are inferred 

unless otherwise noted. In Afghanistan there is very little 

surviving published literature in which the original lithostratigraphic nomenclature was officially defined. The nomenclature that appears here follows as well as possible the usage 

established by prior workers, but my interpretation of that 

usage may not be correct in each case. This is a field of study 

that is need of future work, primarily by the next generation of 

Afghan scientists. 

Precambrian Rocks

Amphibolite-and higher-grade Precambrian rocks in the 

Logar valley region consist of compositionally variable gneiss, 

schist, quartzite, marble, and amphibolite of the Sherdarwaza 

series, Kharog and Welayati Formations, which are intruded by 

small lenticular and stock-like metamicrogabbro and migmatitic granite bodies (British Geological Survey, 2005). Exposures of gneiss in the northeast corner of the quadrangle belong 

to the Nuristan series, and these rocks are mapped as being 

Precambrian, although there is some doubt about their age (see 

appropriate following discussions). The Spin Ghar fault block, 

exposed in the southeast corner of the quadrangle, is underlain 

by gneiss, quartzite, schist, marble and amphibolite that are 

intruded by irregular granitic and gneissic-aplite bodies. These 

rocks are probably the crystalline basement of the northern 

Indian plate. Greenschist-grade metasediments of Vendian to 

Cambrian age are also present in the Logar valley region, and 

they are called the Loy Khwar and Gulkhamid Formations. 

Some of the best surviving descriptions of the Precambrian 

rocks are included in Dronov and others (1982), and Dronov, 

Abdullah and Chmyriov (2008), and many of the descriptions 

that appear here are largely abstracted from those works. 

Sherdarwaza Series

Gneiss, migmatite, and schist make up most of the 

Sherdarwaza series, along with ancillary amphibolite, quartzite and marble. The different lithologies occur in rhythmic 

sequences, which when complete consist from the base 

upwards of quartzite, gneiss, mica-schist, amphibolite, and 

marble. The gneisses consist of biotite-gneiss, quartz-muscovite gneiss and garnet-biotite gneiss (Xsgn). Textures vary 

and include lepido-granoblastic, blasto-clastic, granoblastic, and porphyro-blastic varieties that range in scale from 

being micro-laminated to coarsely banded. Quartz, potassium 

feldspar, and plagioclase typically comprise up to 85 percent 

of the gneiss. Schist (Xss) includes biotite, epidote-biotitemuscovite, muscovite, staurolite-garnet-muscovite, and other 

varieties, with biotite schist being the most common in places 

that I have seen this unit (fig. 3). Phyllonitic and lepidogranoblastic textures predominate. Quartz, albite, potassium 

feldspar, and epidote comprise up to 80 percent of the schist in 

many places. Garnet and staurolite occur rarely. Migmatite is 

described in areas where dark and light gray bands are evident 

due to alternating mica-rich and quartzo-feldspathic layers, 

although Dronov and others (1982) did not present evidence 

for partial melting. No attempt has been made to differentiate 

migmatite from gneiss on the geologic map (sheet 1). Orthoand para-amphibolite types are both described by Dronov and 

others (1982) in the Sherdarwaza series. Ortho-amphibolite 

consists of hornblende (35 to 50 percent), biotite (20 percent), 

plagioclases (15 to 30 percent), quartz (5 percent) and epidote 

(10 percent). Its texture is nematoblastic and blastoporphyric; 

the structure is schistose. Para-amphibolite normally occurs in 

thin beds, groups of beds and lenses alternating with crystalline 

schists with the following mineral composition: hornblende 

(35–40 percent), plagioclases (45–50 percent), biotite (10 percent) and quartz (5 percent). The texture is nematoblastic and 

granonematoblastic, the structure is schistose (Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov, 2008). Quartzite is heterogranoblastic in 

texture and micro-plicated in structure. It consists chiefly of 

quartz, decomposed plagioclase, and biotite replaced in places 

by chlorite. Quartzite occurs in lenticular interbeds (0.2–1.5 m) 

in biotite gneiss and crystalline schist (Dronov, Abdullah, and 

Chmyriov, 2008). I was not able to identify and differentiate 

amphibolite or quartzite reliably on the images, so they are 

included in the gneiss and schist units. Marble, where it occurs, 

is a light gray and white, fine- and medium-crystalline, massive, banded rock in which dolomitic, dolomite-lime and limedolomite varieties are recognized (Dronov and others, 1982).

Some lithologic complexity in the Sherdarwaza is apparent on the Landsat image by its highly varied false-color. 

Gneiss and schist both vary between L–731-pinkish-red, 

L–731-blue-gray, and L–731-red, probably depending on the 

amount and type of mafic material and the presence or absence 

of desert varnish. There is no simple way to identify gneiss 

from schist on most of the images. Both units are typically a 

shade of NC-gray on the natural-color images. Megascopic 

layering is commonly visible at high resolutions, and gneiss 

was mapped everywhere distinct compositional banding could 

be discerned. Schist is typically characterized by its pervasive fabric, but it has an absence of visible banding giving 

the outcrop a uniform gray appearance. Muscovite, or some 

similar mica, shows up in many places on the Hymap data in 

the gneiss areas, and the schist commonly has a strong iron 

signature. Amphibolite is easy to identify by its darker color, 

typically NC-black or NC-dark gray, on the natural-color 

images, and it is commonly L–731-deep-red-brown where it is 

present in large enough masses to appear on Landsat. Marble 

is NC-white and L–731-white-tan where it is in large enough 

masses to map. 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 7

Figure 3. Typical schist outcrop of Sherdarwaza Series of Early Proterozoic age. This photograph was taken in a rock quarry located 

a few kilometers south of the Kabul city limits. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South 

quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.

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8 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

The Paleoproterozoic age assignment of the Sherdarwaza 

series comes from U/Pb-zircon age determinations (laserablation) of 2,383 Ma from amphibolitic schist (table 1) near 

the area of the photograph of figure 4 at lat 34.48564°N. and 

long 69.21608°E. and of 2,378 Ma from gneiss east of Kabul 

at lat 34.56955°N. and long 69.40446°E. (Lawrence W. Snee, 

USGS, written commun., 2007). Further analysis of these zircon data prompted Wayne R. Premo (USGS, written commun., 

2008) to propose two possibilities for the schist sample: 

1. the protolithic mafic igneous rock was emplaced at 

2,394 Ma and later thermally overprinted at 1,820 Ma, or 

2. this rock was actually a mafic metasediment that was 

metamorphosed at 1,820 Ma, but contained a variety of 

inherited zircon components. 

Near-concordant, pseudo-arrays exist at about 1,970, 2,180, 

and 2,345 Ma, but these are dominated by the 2,395-Ma provenance. Andritzky (1971) reported much younger K/Ar ages 

of 928 and 938 Ma from schist north of Kabul, but these most 

likely reflect cooling ages. 

Nuristan Series

Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) described the 

Nuristan terrane as a region of chiefly amphibolite-grade 

gneissic and schistose country rock affected by extensive 

granitization, including widespread injection zones. Zones of 

cataclasis and retrograde metamorphism are also common. 

They subdivided the Nuristan series into three parts. The lower 

part consists of the Nejrab, Chebak, and Kamdesh Formations, the middle part consists of the Waygal Formation, and 

the upper part consists of the Kamal Formation. The Nejrab 

Formation consists of biotite, garnet-biotite, sillimanite-biotite 

and garnet-sillimanite-biotite gneiss, plagiogneiss, injection gneiss and migmatite. Amphibole and biotite-amphibole 

gneiss, amphibolite, quartzite, and marble are less common. 

The Chebak Formation consists of interbeds of 

1. quartzite; 

2. biotite, garnet-sillimanite-biotite, and biotite-amphibole 

gneiss; 

3. amphibole and garnet-staurolite-biotite schist; and 

4. calcareous-silicate rocks. Rare marble beds and lens-like 

amphibolite bodies are also present. 

The Kamdesh Formation is fine-to-medium grained biotite, 

garnet-biotite, garnet-sillimanite-biotite, biotite-amphibole 

and amphibole gneiss, plagiogneiss, migmatite, and injection 

gneiss. Rare quartzite and marble beds (1 to 10 m thick) also 

occur. The Waygal Formation consists of alternating units of 

marble, crystalline schist, and quartzite. The Kamal Formation 

consists of dark-gray biotite, garnet-biotite, and garnet-staurolite-biotite schist, which in places grade to gneiss interbedded 

with quartzite and marble.

Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) did not 

describe the distribution of each of the formations and none 

of them appear on the regional geologic map of Abdullah and 

Chmyriov (1977) where rock bodies are differentiated only 

by their interpreted age. Consequently, it is not possible to say 

which unit name those authors would have associated with 

the gneiss in the Kabul South quadrangle. The banded biotite 

gneiss (Xngn), leucocratic gneiss (Xnlgn), and marble (Xnm) 

Sample number Latitude Longitude Rock unit Rock type Primary age

(Ma)

U/Pb (laser ablation)

LS 4–10–05–7 34.48564 69.21608 Xss Amphibolite Schist 2394

LS 4–13–05–5 34.43673 69.81626 Kigr dike Granodiorite 76.22

LS 4–13–05–7 34.43604 69.81683 Kigr dike Granodiorite 75.82

LS 4–13–05–8 34.43604 69.81683 Kgn Biotite gneiss 86.3

LS 4–13–05–10 34.43673 69.81626 Kgn Augen gneiss 94.5

LS 4–13–05–3 34.43673 69.81626 Kgn Augen gneiss 97.2

Ar/Ar 

Afghan 1–12–62 34.43673 69.81626 Km Mica from marble 39–47

Afghan 2–13–62 34.45003 69.8034 Km Mica from marble 41

Afghan 3–14–62 34.4657 69.7596 Kigr/Kgn Muscovite 19

Afghan 3–15–62 34.4657 69.7596 Kigr/Kgn Muscovite 19

Table 1. U/Pb (laser ablation) and Ar/Ar age determinations from the Kabul South quadrangle.

[Samples provided by Lawrence W. Snee, USGS, written, commun., 2009; U/Pb Analytical results provided by Daniel P. Miggins and Lawrence W. Snee, 

USGS, written commun., 2009; Ar/Ar analytical results provided by Lawrence W. Snee, written commun., 2009]
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Surficialdeposits Amphibolite

Amphibolite

Amphibolite

Schist

Schist

Schist

Figure 4. Irregular amphibolite (Zwa) body in undifferentiated Welayati Formation (Zwu). This photograph was taken roughly 6 kilometers sout

city limits. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. PhoRobert G. Bohannon, 2006.
10 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

that are mapped in the northeast corner of the quadrangle are 

probably consistent with the Kamdesh Formation, which is 

mostly composed of those three lithologic types. The banded 

biotite gneiss in this area is L–731-red-brown-to-tan and NCmedium-to-dark-gray. It lacks any internal structure that is 

apparent on high-resolution images, save irregular large stringers and blobs of white (quartz-plagioclase?) rock that might 

make up 10 to 20 percent of the unit. The leucocratic gneiss is 

L–731-tan and NC-medium-brown-gray. It contains numerous 

sub-parallel white (quartz-plagioclase?) layers. The marble is 

L–731-white and NC-white-to-light-brown. The marble has 

irregular subparallel layering that is defined by color contrasts 

and small rock ledges visible on high-resolution images. 

No age data exist for the Nuristan metamorphic rocks. 

Their lithology, as described by Dronov, Abdullah, and 

Chmyriov (2008), and their uniform NC-gray appearance is 

consistent with a pelitic protolith. Similar amphibolite-grade 

pelitic rocks nearby in Pakistan are thought to be Paleozoic or 

Mesozoic age (Calkins and others, 1981). However, a definitive determination as to the age of the protolith or the time 

when the metamorphism took place cannot be made with 

existing data. Thus, the Nuristan series is assigned a Paleoproterozoic age in this report based solely on the interpretations 

of Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) and Abdullah and 

Chmyriov (1977). 

Spin Ghar Crystalline Complex 

The Spin Ghar series is interpreted to be uplifted crystalline basement of the Indian continental plate that has been thrust 

southward over Indian shelf sediments as young as Miocene 

(Badshah and others, 2000). These rocks are not well described 

in the literature. Badshah and others (2000) simply said they 

are composed of granite, augen gneiss, and migmatite that are 

intruded by granite, aplite, and dolerite sheets. The latter authors 

also reported local metamorphosed carbonate rocks. Dronov, 

Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) described them as quartzite, 

biotite-gneiss, garnet-biotite schist, muscovite-biotite schist, 

garnet-staurolite-biotite schist, marble, and amphibolite. 

Imagery did not prove particularly useful for delineating various types of schist, gneiss, and marble so those rocks 

are lumped together as unit Xkgn in this report. The uniform 

NC-medium-dark-gray color of the latter unit is consistent with 

a mostly pelitic composition, as is its A-blue-purple hue, which 

indicates abundant mafic-to-intermediate minerals, on ASTER 

images. Granitic stocks, characterized by their L–731-yellowbrown color, have been delineated based on imagery (Xkgn). 

ASTER images suggest a mix of quartz and mafic minerals. 

Less extensive plutons in the northwest part of the complex 

have been delineated as small granodiorite stocks (Xkgd) 

based on their NC-dark-gray color, L–731-light-tan, and an 

A-turquoise ASTER signature suggestive of a mafic-to-intermediate composition. 

Little is known about the age of the Spin Ghar complex, 

except that Wittekindt and Weippert (1973) and Badshah and 

others (2000) reported K/Ar cooling ages of 20 to 40 m.y. These 

ages mostly reflect young uplift and the consequent denudation 

of overburden, but they may also be indicative of heat input 

during Phanerozoic intrusive events. Amphibolite and aplite 

bodies, described by prior workers as being Proterozoic in age, 

also intrude local Paleozoic shelf rocks and are thus, assigned to 

a tentative Mesozoic age in this report, but they could be even 

younger than that. 

Proterozoic rocks have also been mapped north of the 

Spin Ghar fault in the Kunar tectonic terrane (Abdullah and 

Chmyriov, 1977; Wittekindt and Weippert, 1973). Two large 

rock bodies are present according to Wittekindt and Weippert, 

(1973); one a garnet-mica-schist with intercalated amphibolite, 

marble, and quartzite (included in unit Xkgn in this report), and 

another of banded gneiss and migmatite (Xkbgn). I also differentiated a unit that I interpret to be pelitic schist based on its 

distinct L–731-blue-green and NC-uniform-gray coloration on 

respective images (Xkps). 

Kharog Formation

The Kharog Formation (Zk) overlies the Sherdarwaza 

series in the Aynak district (west-central part of the quadrangle). 

It probably has a wider distribution than is shown on the geologic map (sheet 1) where it appears only as identified on an 

unpublished geologic map held in the archives of the Afghan 

Geological Survey in Kabul (see fig. 2 on sheet 1 for location). Elsewhere, it might be included with the undifferentiated 

Welayati Formation (Zwu). 

The Kharog Formation is chiefly quarzite that is interbedded with conglomerate, schist, gneiss, amphibolite, and marble 

according to Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008), who provided the following basic descriptions. The quartzite is parallel 

bedded and cross bedded, fine-grained, and has granoblastic texture. Conglomerate occurs in the lower parts of the formation as 

lenses in quartzite. Clasts are mostly quartzite and vein quartz, 

but also include rare two-mica granite, albite, and amphibolite. 

The schist, amphibolite, and marble occur in the upper part of 

the formation and are similar in composition, texture, and metamorphic grade to counterparts in the Sherdarwaza series. The 

Kharog Formation is L–731-light-brown and NC-gray on the 

respective images. The age of the Kharog Formation is not well 

documented. It is assumed to be Neoproterozoic in this report. 

Welayati Formation

The Welayati Formation (Zw) is conformable on the 

Kharog Formation (Zk) and is distributed throughout the Anyak 

district and northern Logar valley (fig. 4). The Welayati is 

composed of schist at the base, amphibolite in the middle, 

and alternating schist and amphibolite at the top according to 

Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008). They described biotite, staurolite-garnet-biotite, biotite-quartz, muscovite-quartz, 

and muscovite schist, among other types. The amphibolite, 

which is mapped separately in places (Zwa), was interpreted 

by Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) to be of volcanic 

origin based on 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 11

1. its invariable composition, 

2. its uniform schistose structure, 

3. relics of plagioclase phenocrysts and amygdales of 

epidote and quartz, 

4. its blastopyroclastic and blastoporphyric texture, 

5. relict columnar jointing, and 

6. the presence of finely faced apatite granules.

The Welayati is a nondescript NC-gray and is L–731-deepred-to-blue-red on the respective images. The marble, Zwm, 

is NC-white, L–731-white, and A-green on the respective 

images. The age of the Welayati Formation is not well documented. It is assumed to be Neoproterozoic in this report. 

Phanerozoic/Neoproterozoic Rocks

Calcareous-terrigeneous schist and volcano-sedimentary 

schist, both of greenschist-facies, overlie the Welayati Formation. The calcareous schist is called the Loy Khwar Formation (_Zlk) and is the older of the two schists. The volcanosedimentary schist is called the Gulkhamid Formation (_g). 

The age of these units is uncertain. Stromatolite remains in 

the Loy Khwar mostly point to its Neoproterozoic age, but 

the presence of one in particular, Tannuofia, suggest that it 

may be Early Cambrian (British Geological Survey, 2005; 

Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov, 2008). Thus, it is commonly 

assigned a Cambrian/Vendian age. The overlying Gulkhamid 

Formation is assigned a Cambrian age in this report, but it 

is apparently azoic. The Loy Khwar and Gulkhamid Formations appear on sheet 1 only as identified on an unpublished 

geologic map held in the archives of the Afghan Geological 

Survey in Kabul (see fig. 2 on sheet for location). Elsewhere, 

these units might be included in unit _Zu.

Loy Khwar Formation

The Loy Khwar Formation is the sedimentary host rock 

for the Anyak copper deposit. Consequently, it is one of the 

better-studied rock units in the quadrangle. Nonetheless, the 

British Geological Survey (2005) reported that an unsystematic and confusing scheme of subdivision has been used in 

describing these rocks, involving up to seven members and 

numerous submembers, all inconsistently used. Part of the 

problem is that many of the subdivisions are thin (2 to 6 m 

thick in places) and may be discontinuous laterally. No attempt 

has been made to sort out internal stratigraphic inconsistencies 

in this report.

The lower Loy Khwar Formation is lithologically varied, 

consisting of basaltic conglomerate, actinolite schist, calcareous-biotite schist, fine-grained breccia, banded biotite schist, 

quartzite, and banded dolomitic marble. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, 

bornite, chalcocite, pyrrhotite, and traces of molybdenite are 

present near the base of the formation. Marble, sandstone, 

quartzite and carbonate-rich schist make up most of the middle 

parts of the Loy Khwar. Much of the bornite mineralization 

occurs in the middle part. The lower and middle parts were 

mostly encountered in boreholes in the vicinity of the Anyak 

deposit, but they may be exposed elsewhere. The upper parts 

of the formation are exposed at Anyak and consist of carbonquartz schist with dark-gray dolomite intercalations and gray, 

fine-grained, banded dolomite marble (figs. 5 and 6). The Loy 

Khwar Formation is NC-tan, L–731-gray-green-to-blue-gray, 

and has a strong A-green hue on respective images in most 

areas. There is a calcite signature on HyMap imagery. 

Gulkhamid Formation

Very little descriptive information has been published 

for the Gulkhamid Formation, although it is widespread in 

the Anyak district. Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) 

do not mention it in their descriptions, possibly because these 

rocks were at one time thought to be part of the Welayati 

Formation. The British Geological Survey (2005) pointed out 

that the Gulkhamid cannot be Welayati because it overlies the 

Loy Khwar and stated that it is a sequence of metamorphosed 

intermediate volcanic rocks composed of conglomerate, 

meta-sandstone, and schistose tuff at the base and interstratified green-gray lava, tuff, breccia and tuffaceous sandstone of 

andesitic to dacitic composition in the upper part. The Gulkhamid is L–731-red to mottled, NC-gray, and A-turquoise-blue 

on the respective images. 

Intrusive Rocks

Numerous small intrusive bodies occur in the Aynak 

district (_Zi). These are described as mainly plagiogranite 

porphyry and syenite porphyry (British Geological Survey, 

2005). They mostly intrude the Welayati, Loy Khwar, and 

Gulkhamid Formations, but some also occur in the Sherdarwaza Formation in places. They were assigned a Vendian age 

by Gusev and Safonov (1979), but they may be Cambrian 

because they occur in the Gulkhamid Formation. They can be 

identified by their distinct NC-orange-brown coloration on the 

high-resolution images and they appear as L–731-orange and 

A-green on the respective multi-spectral images. There is also 

a small dark-colored ring dike (_md) that intrudes unit _Zi in 

the north-central part of the quadrangle. This dike is NC-gray 

and L–731-gray on the respective images and HyMap indicates that mafic components are present. 

Phanerozoic Rocks

Daradar Dolomite

The Daradar Dolomite (Sdd) is present in the southeast 

corner of the quadrangle on the northeast side of the Sorubi 

fault. It overlies the Spin Ghar crystalline rocks and thus, was 

deposited on the Indian continental plate. Meager descriptive 
12 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

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Figure 5. Typical internal megascopic structure of carbonate schist (_Zlk) in the Loy Khwar Formation of Vendian or Cambrian age. This 

photograph was taken in a small ancient copper digging near the main Anyak copper exploration site in the Logar Province. Location of 

photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. 

Bohannon, 2006.
Synopsis of Mapped Units 13

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Figure 6. Hillside composed of carbonate schist of Loy Khwar Formation (_Zlk) near the main Anyak copper exploration site in the 

Logar Province. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network 

shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
14 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

information is available, but Badshah and others (2000) 

described the Daradar as Silurian and possibly Devonian siliceous dolomite. It is intruded by dolerite, possibly related to 

the Mesozoic amphibolite (Mza), with soapstone present along 

the intrusive contacts. Silver-rich, lead-copper mineralization 

occurs locally. The Daradar is L–731-pale-blue; NC-lightgray; A-green on respective images. 

Sikarum Series

Badshah and others (2000) mapped Carboniferous and 

Permian strata known as the Sikarum series in the region south 

of the Spin Ghar crystalline complex. Like the Daradar, it 

was deposited on the Indian continental plate. The Sikarum is 

mostly slate and graphic schist in its upper part and claystone 

and carbonaceous shale in its lower part according to them. 

Badshah and others (2000) did not endeavor to explain the 

apparent inversion of metamorphic grade that they described. 

I was able to differentiate two units within the Sikarum 

series using the imagery. One unit (PCsp), which may be the 

claystone and carbonaceous shale, is probably very pelitic in 

nature based on its NC-dark-blue, L–731-dark-blue-green, and 

A-purple coloration patterns on the respective images. Another 

unit (PCsgs) is interpreted to be the slate and graphic schist, 

based on its NC-purple-gray, L–731-magenta, and A-dark-blue 

coloration patterns on the respective images

Shalkalay Series 

A thick and monotonous sequence of gray pelitic schist 

and sandy schist of probable Carboniferous and Early Permian 

age is widely exposed just west of the quadrangle tectonically 

beneath the ultramafic rocks (^Pup and ^Pusp) that occur 

along the west quadrangle edge. These rocks crop out all along 

the Kabul River within the quadrangle near its northwest corner (fig. 7). In the Argandab area to the west the Carboniferous 

and Permian rocks are called the Shalkalay series and they 

have been divided into three units in the Logar area (Abdullah 

and Chymriov, 2008). The Logar units are the Wakak, Bokan, 

and Dony-Yarchy. No attempt was made to identify the latter 

three units in the quadrangle, so the simple term Shalkalay 

series is used to desribe them. Two units are distinguished with 

Landsat data. One, possibly a more sand-rich rock, appears 

as L–731-red (PCss), and the other, possibly more lime rich, 

appears as L–731-blue (PCsls).

Sangae Limestone 

The Sangae Limestone (Psls) of Permian age is distributed at two localities along either side of the trace of the 

Ghazni fault in the south-central part of the quadrangle. Mennessier (1973b, c) provided the best map of its distribution and 

his work is followed in this report with minor modifications 

in accordance with information on the high-resolution images. 

He briefly described it as black limestone with a greenish-gray 

patina (Mennessier, 1972). Its bedding is regular and the beds 

form low benches. Fossils are rare and it is greater than 600 m 

in thickness. The Sangae Limestone is NC-medium-gray, 

L–731-brown, and A-green on the respective images.

The Sangae is one of several shelf carbonate rock units 

that are partially incorporated in the Kotagai melange. It 

occurs in fragmented exposures and is everywhere in fault 

contact with surrounding rocks. It is unclear what substrate 

it was originally deposited upon, but each exposure is for the 

most part internally intact. 

Abtchakan Formation

Mennessier (1973a, b, c) mapped the distribution of the 

Abtchakan Formation, which consists of a limestone unit 

(Pals) and a dolomite unit (Pad), in the south-central part of 

the quadrangle and his map is followed within additional constraints provided by high-resolution image data. The limestone 

is extensive in the hanging wall of a complex low-angle fault 

system near the center of the quadrangle where it tectonically 

overlies Kotagai melange. Other discontinuous exposures of 

limestone and dolomite are strung out along the west side of 

the southwest-oriented Ghazni fault system. Due to faulting, 

the depositional substrate and setting of the Abtchakan is not 

known any better than it is for the Sangae Limestone, but 

Mennessier (1972) described the former overlying the latter. 

The limestone was briefly described by Mennessier 

(1972) as several hundred meters of black and reddish sandy 

limestone with schistose sandstone interbeds. The limestone 

is NC-dark-gray, L–731-brown, and A-green on the respective 

images. Fossils include fusulinids, tetra corals, brachiopods, 

and bryozoans. The dolomite occurs in the upper part of 

Abtchakan (Mennessier, 1972) and is NC-white, L–731-white, 

and A-green on the respective images.

Large Masses of Ultramafic Rocks

Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) and Wittekindt and 

Weippert (1973) mapped ultramafic bodies of dunite, peridotite, and serpentinite in several places in the Logar valley 

region on the west side of the Kabul South quadrangle. The 

most extensive rock type is serpentinized peridotite (see fig. 8) 

(^Pusp) that has a distinct coloration of NC-brown, L–731-

yellow-green, A-turquoise on the respective images and has a 

strong signature of calcite or serpentine on the HyMap image. 

Several areas within the larger bodies of serpentinized rock 

are darker in color and are NC-orange-brown, L–731-yellowgreen-to-green and A-blue on the respective images with a 

HyMap signature indicative of iron-goethite-jarosite (^Pug). 

The pure blue on ASTER suggests an abundance of mafic 

minerals and these areas are interpreted to be mostly peridotite 

without extensive serpentinization (^Pug). The ultramafic 

bodies of Logar valley tectonically overlie Kotagai melange 

and mica schist of the Shalkalay Formation (fig. 7), as well 

as most of the other local bedrock units, on a regionally flat 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 15

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Serpentinized ultramafic rock

Serpentinized

basalt (?)

Mica schist

of Shalkalay Formation

(PCss)

Figure 7. View to the east-southeast in the canyon cut by the Kabul River (Kabul Rud) to the southwest of Kabul city limits. All of 

the brown-colored rocks in the lower canyon walls are mica schist comprising part of the Shalkalay Formation (PCss). Midway up 

the south canyon wall a dark band of rock is interpreted to be serpentinized basalt that tectonically overlies the schist. Serpentinized 

peridotite makes up the skyline and it probably is tectonically emplaced over the basalt. The latter units are lumped as unit ^Pusp on 

the geologic map. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network

shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
16 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

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Figure 8. Close-up of typical serpentinized peridotite in Logar valley area. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index 

map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
Synopsis of Mapped Units 17

system of faults. Another group of ultramafic exposures 

mapped by Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) in the northern part 

of the quadrangle appears to be integrated into the melange 

(^Pup). These exposures are NC-dark-gray-to-black and 

L–731-purple-to-purple-red on the respective images, and they 

are mapped separately from the melange in this report in order 

to coincide with the way they were mapped in the quadrangle 

just to the north (Bohannon, 2010).

No ages are available for any of the ultramafic rocks. 

Tapponnier and others (1981) stated that the oceanic lithosphere that was subducted (and presumably obducted) during 

the formation of Afghanistan was mainly Permian to Triassic 

in age, although they did not elaborate on how they knew this. 

The ultramafic rocks are assigned these ages on the geologic 

map (sheet 1). 

Khengil Series 

The term Khengil series is used to describe a thick section of carbonate rocks that is widely exposed east and south 

of Kabul. The Khengil series unconformably overlies continental basement of Paleoproterozoic to earliest Cambrian age. 

The carbonate platform section was most recently described, 

measured, and mapped by Fisher (1971) in the Koh-i-Sofe, a 

range due east of Kabul in the Kabul North quadrangle (fig. 2), 

and the short descriptions herein are derived from his work. 

Although Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) mapped the entire 

platform section as Permian and Triassic, Fisher (1971) noted 

that upper part of the section is Jurassic age. He subdivided 

the platform carbonate rock section into seven units on the 

geologic map (sheet 1). They are as follows: 

1. Guadalupian basal conglomerate (Pkc); 

2. Lopingian and Guadalupian reef limestone (Pkl); 

3. Lower Triassic ceratiten-bearing limestone (^kc); 

4. Middle and Upper Triassic limestone, dolomite, and tuff 

(^klt); 

5. Jurassic (Lias to Dogger) nerineen-ammonite-bearing 

limestone (Jkn); 

6. Jurassic (Dogger to Malm) belemnite-bearing limestone 

(Jkb); and 

7. undifferentiated limestones of mostly Jurassic age (Jku). 

Dronov, Abdullah, and Chmyriov (2008) referred to the 

Permian part of the series as the Tangi-Garu Formation and it 

includes units Pkc and Pkl. The basal conglomerate (Pkc) is 

discontinuous and was not identified except in some northern 

outcrops (sheet 1). It is quartz-rich and is about 40 m thick 

at the most. Internal bedding, some of which is visible on 

high-resolution images, is lenticular and discontinuous. The 

conglomerate is barely resolved on the Landsat image, but is 

easily picked out as NC-tan-colored layer on the high-resolution images. The Permian reef limestone (Pkl) is 250 to 300 m 

thick. The lower one quarter of the section is fusulinid-bearing 

arenaceous limestone and the top three quarters is productidbearing and flinty limestone with small lenticular reef bodies 

at about mid-section. Bedding is locally parallel and uniform, 

being well defined by thick alternating light and dark layers 

(fig. 9). The unit is NC-medium-gray, L–731-blue-green with 

one or more L–731-pinkish, sandy horizons on the Landsat 

image, A-green on respective images. 

The Lower Triassic parts of the Khengil series were not 

assigned a formational status by Abdullah and Chmyriov 

(2008). The Lower Triassic ceratiten-bearing limestone (^kc) 

is a distinct recessive unit that is only about 50 m thick (fig. 9). 

It forms a nick in the slope that can be reliably identified on 

most high-resolution images and it commonly appears as a 

continuous NC-brown horizon that facilitates mapping. Fisher 

(1971) indicated that it is fine-bedded (mostly too fine to 

resolve on the images). The ceratiten-bearing unit was only 

identified in some northern exposures. 

The Middle and Upper Triassic parts of the Khengil 

series were assigned to the Saparae and Gozak Formations 

by Abdullah and Chmyriov (2008). The Saparae Formation 

corresponds to unit ^klt and it has a distinct L–731-light-blue 

color and a well-defined calcite/dolomite signature on HyMap 

images, making this one of the most easily traceable units on 

the map. These coarse multi-band and hyper-band characteristics enabled the reliable identification of this unit even where 

fine-scale internal structural complexities obscured its otherwise distinct reflective character on high-resolution images. 

The limestone, dolomite, and tuff section is about 350-m 

thick and has continuous, parallel, and uniform beds, a meter 

or so thick, that are apparent on the high-resolution images 

(fig. 9). It is mostly pure NC-light-tan-weathering carbonate 

that is commonly quarried for cement where it crops out in 

accessible areas. Contacts with the other carbonate units are 

well defined and easily mapped in many places. Tuffaceous 

horizons mostly occur in the upper half of the section (Fisher, 

1971). The Goznak Formation corresponds to a thin (30 m) 

megalodon-tooth-bearing limestone above the tuffaceous dolomite. This megalodon unit can be identified on some images, 

but not consistently, so it was not mapped separately.

Fisher (1971) described and documented Jurassic rocks 

in the upper Khengil series, but he did not name them. The 

Jurassic nerineen- and belemnite-bearing limestones of Fisher 

(1971) are similar on the images, but can be differentiated 

where a distinct topographic ledge that commonly is present 

between the two units (Jkn and Jkb) can be identified on the 

high-resolution images. Where they could not be separated 

they are mapped together as undifferentiated limestone (Jku). 

These limestones are L-731-blue-green and L-731-yellowblue-green. Both units have parts that are thick-bedded and 

these look like they are discontinuous laterally on the highresolution images. 
18 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

Surficial deposits

Upper and Middle

Triassic unit (klt)

Saparae Formation

(tuffaceous limestone

and dolomite)

 Lower Triassic

Ceratiten-bearing

unit (kc)

 Lopingian and Guadalupian

reef limestone (Pkl)

Tangi-Garu Formation

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Figure 9. Khengil series limestone and dolomite of the Saparae (^klt) and Tangi-Garu (Pkl) Formations. View to the north taken from 

road leading to Anyak copper district east of Logar Valley. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul 

South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
Synopsis of Mapped Units 19

Sedimentary and Metasedimentary Rocks of the 

Kunar Tectonic Zone

It is easy to recognize and separate several different 

metasedimentary and igneous rock units in the Indian plate 

area and in the Kunar terrane based on their distinct image 

characteristics, but published maps present a confusing picture of the age and nature of these rocks. High-grade gneiss, 

marble, limestone, quartzite, and pelitic schist in the northern 

half of the Kunar terrane have been mapped in one case as 

Proterozoic continental basement (Abdullah and Chmyriov, 

1977) and in another as Cenozoic orthogneiss (Wittekindt and 

Weippert, 1973). Figure 10 summarizes the differences in the 

published maps. Due east, in Pakistan, similar rocks have been 

documented to be Phanerozoic Indian-shelf metasediments 

(for example, see DiPietro, Ahmed, and Hussain, 2008). 

Several new unpublished radiometric age determinations 

from the Jegdelik ruby mines have shed light on the temporal 

history of the rocks in the Kunar terrane (table 1). Zircon from 

augen gneiss was dated at 95 to 97 Ma by U/Pb-zircon-laserablation-ICP–MS techniques (Daniel P. Miggins and Lawrence W. Snee, USGS, written commun., 2009). The original 

sedimentary nature of this gneiss is supported by intercalated 

marble horizons and the fact that compositional and textural 

layering is ubiquitous at nearly all scales (fig. 11). An interpretation of the laser-ablation data provided by Wayne R. Premo 

(USGS, written commun., 2009) is that the 95–97 Ma age 

represents the primary age of most zircons, although zones 

in some of the zircons give a hint of a Neoproterozoic source 

as well. Biotite gneiss is also present in the ruby mines and 

zircon from this source dated at 86 Ma by the same techniques (Daniel P. Miggins and Lawrence W. Snee, USGS, 

written commun., 2009). Both types of gneiss and the marble 

are intruded by coarse-grained biotite-granodiorite sills that 

have been dated at 76 Ma by the same techniques (Daniel P. 

Miggins and Lawrence W. Snee, USGS, written commun., 

2009). Thus, a Late Cretaceous protolith age is likely for this 

section. Unpublished Ar/Ar ages on muscovite from rocks in 

the same area are as young as 19 Ma, indicating that the rubybearing strata were still at temperatures near 400°C at that 

time (Lawrence W. Snee, USGS, written commun., 2009). 

Compositional layering is subparallel to the internal 

rock fabric within the different gneiss types. Augen gneiss 

and marble are intercalated in the western part of the ruby 

district where the large-scale compositional layering, visible 

in figure 11, results from biotite-augen gneiss (dark layers) 

and marble (lighter layers). The marble, mapped as unit Km, 

and the strong compositional layering are prevalent west 

and north of the ruby mines, but both are absent to the east. 

Biotite gneiss is widespread to the east of the ruby mines and 

it might be an orthogneiss, as this is the way it was mapped 

in that area by Wittekindt and Weippert (1973). I was not able 

to differentiate the two types of gneiss on sheet 1; they both 

comprise unit Kgn. A pronounced white layer and debris pile 

in the central fore- and mid-ground of figure 11 is the site of 

a biotite-granodiorite sill (fig. 12). The sills are also internally 

deformed, but since biotite is rare, the deformation is less 

visible than it is in the gneiss. The sills could be the same as 

Cretaceous granite sills (Kigr) that are mapped elsewhere. 

Rubies occur along the contacts of granodiorite sills and 

marble country rock (fig. 13). The sills are generally thin and 

hard to detect amongst the marble layers, which they resemble 

on the images. Ruby diggings are easy to pick out and sills 

are mapped on sheet 1 at each dig site. More sills are probably 

present, but most of the light layers that appear on the images 

are mapped as marble. The marble also corresponds to a widespread A-green area on the ASTER image. 

Unit Kgn is NC-gray and L–731-pink and unit Kgnb is 

NC-gray and L–731-brown on respective images. Another, 

possibly older gneiss body (Kmgn), borders the ruby district 

to the north and south and is L–731-dark-red-brown. It is 

probably amphibolite gneiss, based on its A-dark-blue appearance on ASTER. Marble (Km) is L–731-white, A-white, and 

A-green on respective images. 

Additional sedimentary and metasedimentary rock units 

that are present near the ruby district include pelitic schist or 

slate (Kps), quartzite (Kq), white dolomite (Kd), and white, 

bedded limestone (:Kls). None of these units are adequately 

described or differentiated in prior mapping or in published 

reports, so what is known about them comes solely from 

image analysis. Pelitic schist is mainly exposed south of the 

Jegdelik ruby district in the hangingwall of a large southvergent thrust fault. The schist is L–731-dark-blue-gray; 

NC-dark-gray, and A-purple-to-red on the respective images 

and it has a strong calcite signature on HyMap. The dolomite, 

which is also in the upper plate of the thrust, is L–731-pale–

blue, A-green, and NC-white on the respective images. Parallel and continuous bedding, with a steep south dip, is conspicuous in the dolomite. Quartzite, which is white to pale brown 

on the images, is interbedded with the schist. Limestone to the 

east-northeast of the ruby district appears to unconformably 

overlie most other rock units. Thus, it is probably younger, 

and might be early Paleogene in age. The limestone is well 

bedded, with moderate dips, on the high-resolution images and 

it is L–731-white, A-pale-green, and NC-white-to tan on the 

respective images.

Plutonic Rocks of the Spin Ghar and Kunar 

Tectonic Terranes

Possible Mesozoic plutonic rocks intruding the Spin 

Ghar crystalline complex include undifferentiated Mesozoic 

white aplite or pegmatite (Mzap) and dark-colored amphibolite 

(Mza). Plutons in the Kunar terrane include a large laccolith 

of gabbro or diorite (:Kigb) and sills and dikes of granitic 

rock (Kigr). Both units are assigned a Cretaceous age, but that 

assignment is based entirely on the mapping of Abdullah and 

Chmyriov (1977) in the case of the gabbro, and it is based on 

a speculative correlation to the 76 Ma granodiorite sills in the 

ruby district. The gabbro, in particular, may well be younger 

based on the speculative Paleogene age of the limestone country rock (:Kls). The gabbro is L–731-dark-pink-to-brown, 
34° 15’ 69°45’ 34°30’ 

34° 15’ 69°45’ 34°30’ 70°00’

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Precambrian gneiss

(varied)

Quaternary and Neogene

sedimentary rocks

Cenozoic phyllite

and schist

Cenozoic phyllite and schist

Marble

(unassigned a

Cenozoic

gneiss

Late Paleozoic phyllite

and schist

Quaternary and Neogene

sedimentary rocks

Precambrian gneiss

(varied)

Precambrian intrusive rocks

Precambrian gneiss

(varied)

Precambrian gneiss

(varied)

granitic 

(unassign

granitic gne

(unassigned a

granite

Mesozoic granite

Mesozoic gabbro 

A B

S P I N S P I N

G H A R G H A R

Jegdelik

ruby

district

Jegdelik

ruby

district

Figure 10. Two simplified maps of the same area in the northeastern corner of Kabul South quadrangle that includes the Jegdelik ruby dis

based on the interpretation of Abudullah and Chmyriov (1977) and it shows no distinction in age or character of the rocks from the Spin Ghaextent of Nuristan terrane. All are simply an undifferentiated collection of early Paleoproterozoic gneiss and related rocks in this version. Mthe Wittekindt and Weippert (1973) interpretation, suggests many of the rocks of the Jegdelik ruby district and its surroundings, including mnorth in Nuristan terrane, might be Cenozoic age.
NeogeneLataband deposits

Marble

Gneiss

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Figure 11 View to the west of the section of rocks in the vicinity of the Jegdelik ruby district. The north-dipping rocks on the ridgeline are gneiss (daKgn) and marble (light-colored layers, unit Km). The fine scale of the intercalation of these two rock types indicates the sedimentary origin of the gne

and Weippert (1973) interpreted most of it as orthogneiss. The white diggings in the fore and middle ground are the result of ruby mining, which has tacontact zone between small granodiorite sills and marble layers. Samples taken nearby yielded U/Pb ages of 97 to 95 Ma on augen gneiss, 85 Ma on bon granodiorite (see main text). Thus, the sedimentary protolith is interpreted to have been deposited and then intruded during the Late Cretaceous. Oages as young as 19 Ma, suggesting that these rocks remained at temperatures near 400° C until at least then. Location of photograph is shown on acthe Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
22 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

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Figure 12. One of the biotite-granodiorite sills that intrude marble and gneiss in the Jegdelik ruby district. These sills have a weak 

penetrative deformation caused by foliation and lineation in biotite. The percentage of biotite is much lower in the granodiorite than it 

is in the gneissic country rocks so the metamorphic deformation seems to be greater in the gneiss, but this may not be entirely true. 

Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. 

Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
Synopsis of Mapped Units 23

Ruby pits

Gneiss

Marble

Ruby pits

Granodiorite

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Figure 13. View to the west-northwest of one of the ruby diggings in the Jegdelik area. The ruby pits are dug along the intrusive 

contacts between granodiorite sills and marble units. The subparallel nature of the intrusive contact and that of the internal fabric in 

the marble is apparent in the photograph. Gneissic fabric and that in the granodiorite are the same, although not as apparent in this 

image. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. 

Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
24 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

A-blue, and NC-dark-purple-gray on the respective images. 

Topographic geometry indicates that the basal contact of the 

gabbro above the limestone is regionally subhorizontal suggesting that it is a laccolith. Although the limestone host rock 

is folded in broad, open folds, the base of the intrusion is not. 

Wach Sach Limestone

The Wach Sach Limestone (J^wsls) of Triassic and 

Jurassic age is bedded limestone with thin yellow clayey interbeds, its fossils include Ceratites, Pentacrinus, and fragments 

of brachiopods, and it is 100–800 m thick (Mennessier, 1972). 

The Wach Sach Limestone probably overlies the Abtchakan 

Formation (Pad) and probably underlies the Kamarkae Dolomite (KJkd), but the only exposures of it are in the south-central part of the quadrangle where it is in fault contact with all 

adjacent rock units, including the Kotagai melange (:Kku) in 

places. The Wach Sach is NC-medium-gray, L–731-gray, and 

A-green on the respective images. 

Kamarkae Dolomite

The Kamarkae Dolomite (KJkd) of Jurassic and Cretaceous age consists of interbeds of light gray dolomite and 

limestone that are compact and fine-grained (Mennessier, 

1972). It contains ammonites and rudistid and chaetetes corals 

(Mennessier, 1972). Exposures are limited to the eastern part 

of the Kotagai deformed zone where it tectonically overlies 

melange in most places. It is characterized by its distinct 

L–731-pink, NC-light-gray, and A-green coloration on the 

respective images. 

Rokian (Kurram) Series

The Rokian series is composed of limestone (Krls) 

of Campanian and Santonian age and sandstone (J^rs) of 

Jurassic to Triassic age. The term Kurram was used for these 

rocks by Badshah and others (2000), but they were originally 

mapped as Rokian series by Mennessier (1973c) whose more 

detailed maps are followed in this report. Mennessier (1972) 

also described the Kurram as gray schist that underlies the 

Rokian sandstone in the Khost region south of this quadrangle. 

The limestone is mostly marl with interbeds of sandstone 

(Mennessier, 1972) and it is characterized by its distinct 

L–731-pink, NC-light-gray, and A-green coloration on the 

respective images. The limestone crops out along the southern 

quadrangle border in the east part of the map. The sandstone is 

a thick sequence of sandy flysch containing varicolored conglomerate and radiolarian cherts that extends from the southern part of the quadrangle to the region of Khost in the south 

(Mennessier, 1976). It is widely exposed in the southeastern 

part of the quadrangle. On the Landsat image it has a range of 

colors between L–731-light-blue and orange-brown. It is NCbrown-gray and A-blue-and-green on the other images. 

Kotagai Melange

The term Kotagai has been widely used throughout the 

region east and south of Kabul (Abdullah and Chmyriov, 

1977; Mennessier, 1976). This unit appears on the regional 

map of Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) as a volcanic and sedimentary section (Cretaceous to Eocene) that rests unconformably above the Khengil series. Fisher (1971) also described it 

as a mostly volcanic and marine sedimentary section (Upper 

Cretaceous to lower Eocene), but he recognized that it was 

probably emplaced by large thrust faults. Mennessier (1976) 

later inferred that parts of the Kotagai might be as old as late 

Paleozoic and he concluded that large transport to the northwest was needed to explain the modern structural position 

of these rocks. Some of this should have been self-evident 

from the beginning, since the Kotagai has ubiquitous strong 

penetrative deformation, extensive serpentinization, and a 

modest overprint of thermal metamorphism. These factors 

make it unlikely that the Kotagai is simply the youngest part 

of an otherwise unmetamorphosed sequence. Mennessier 

(1976) described Campanian and Santonian microfossils from 

limestone olistostromes within the Kotagai just north of Kabul 

River gorge. He referred to these limestones as Ali-Pai-Bel 

limestone (for example, Mennessier, 1973f) on his geological map to the north of the Kabul South quadrangle. The age 

range of the Kotagai is uncertain since it has been tectonically 

emplaced, it is unfossiliferous in most places, and no numeric 

ages have been determined. 

The geological maps of Mennessier (1973a–e) cover 

much of the Kotagai exposure in Kabul South quadrangle 

and he showed that it forms a wide belt of deformed rock that 

bisects the quadrangle in a north-south direction. The Kotagai 

is probably also widespread in the western half of the quadrangle, but it mostly lies tectonically beneath thin sheets of 

ultramafic rock there. Additional exposures are present in the 

northwestern part of the quadrangle. 

On Mennessier’s (1973a–e) maps the Kotagai is consistently referred to as sandstone of Cretaceous or Late Cretaceous age. By my image analyses I infer that it is a highly 

disrupted melange of at least 11 different units in the Kabul 

South quadrangle. 

A large part of Mennessier’s sandstone appears on sheet 1 

as undifferentiated Kotagai melange (:Kku). The undifferentiated unit is a rock that exhibits very little, if any, internal character on any of the images in the range of resolutions available 

for this study. It could easily be all sandstone as Mennessier 

(1973a–e) suggested, but all vestiges of original bedding have 

apparently been destroyed or otherwise obscured, possibly by 

post-depositional internal deformation. The undifferentiated 

unit is L–731-brown, A-red-purple, and NC-gray-brown on the 

respective images. 

Some parts of the Kotagai can be more readily differentiated on the images and the Landsat data proved to be 

particularly useful in this regard. As such, the descriptive 

nomenclature used in this report is keyed in most cases to the 

Landsat false colors as they appear in the L–731 version. An 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 25

L–731-blue-colored unit (:Kkb) is interpreted to be chiefly 

carbonate-rich greywacke schist based on its A-magenta color 

on ASTER (indicating the presence of both quartz and mafic 

components) and its calcite signature on HyMap data. An 

L–731-dark-blue-colored unit (:Kkdb) is interpreted to be a 

mafic phyllite or schist based on one field examination of a 

similar unit exposed in the gorge cut into the Koh-i-Sofe by the 

Kabul River in the Kabul North quadrangle. HyMap data suggest the possible presence of serpentine in this unit. An L–731-

blue-gray-colored unit (:Kkbg) is interpreted to be sandy 

schist based on its A-red-purple color that suggests the presence of both quartz and mafic components. An L-731–whitecolored unit (:Kkw) is interpreted to be metatuff based loosely 

on its color and the fact that Mennessier (1976) described tuff 

in the Kotagai elsewhere. An L–731-light-blue-colored unit 

(:Kklb) is interpreted to be shale based on its A-purple color 

on the ASTER image (suggesting mostly mafic components) 

and its NC-light-gray appearance on high resolution images. 

Limestone olistostromes are also present within the melange 

(:Kkls). The olistostromes might be the Ali-Pai-Bel Limestone 

of Mennessier (1976) that he described as a nummulitic limestone of Cretaceous age. 

Mafic and ultramafic igneous components are also 

included in the Kotagai melange in this report. Two subtly 

different peridotite units, an L–731-blue peridotite (:Kkp) 

and an L–731-brown peridotite (:Kkpb), appear on the map 

as irregular, fault-bounded blobs within the undifferentiated 

and light-blue Kotagai units. Although these units look different on the Landsat image, both were mapped as peridotite by 

Mennessier (1973a–d) and each appears as a similar A-purple 

and NC-brown on other images. A large uniform body that 

Mennessier (1973b) mapped as dolerite (:Kkd), is present in 

the south-central part of the quadrangle. The dolerite stands 

out and is easily mapped because of its distinct L–731-darkgreen-brown-and-purple, A-green-to-blue, and NC-deep-blueblack colors on the respective images. It is everywhere in fault 

contact with other parts of the melange based on Mennessier’s 

(1973b) mapping and on my image interpretation. An exposure 

of rocks at the north end of the main dolerite body is mapped 

separately as altered or weathered dolerite (:Kkda) due to its 

subdued relief and lighter coloration on the Landsat image. 

Azrao Flysch

The Azrao Flysch is Ypresian (Eocene) in age according to Mennessier (1972). It consists of a widespread zone 

of red and gray beds in the Azrao Valley (east central part of 

the map) west of the Sorubi fault as mapped by Mennessier 

(1973a–d). Numerous Eocene fossils were recovered and 

listed by Mennessier (1972). It consists of a fine-grained (:af) 

and a coarse-grained (:afc) facies. Red marls that include 

abundant crystals of gypsum are interbedded with limestone 

beds that contain foraminifera and oysters in the fine-grained 

facies (Mennessier, 1972). The red marly facies appears as 

L–731-dark-green-blue; A-light-blue; and NC-deep-red on 

respective images. The coarse-grained facies is a multicolored 

conglomerate that contains clasts of radiolarian chert from 

ophiolites (Mennessier, 1972). The coarse-grained facies 

appears as L–731-dark-green-blue; A-light-blue; and NC-grayred on the respective images. The strong contrast between 

the NC-red and NC-gray facilitated differentiation of the two 

facies on the high-resolution images. 

Nummulitic Limestone

Eocene nummulitic limestone (:nls) tectonically overlies 

the Rokian series sandstone (J^rs) and the Azrao Flysch (:af 

and :afc) according to Mennessier (1973b, c). This is a bedded limestone that is several hundred meters thick (Mennessier, 1972). The unit is resistant and forms a high mountainous 

ridge system that is conspicuous on all of the images in the 

south-central part of the map southwest of the Sorubi fault. 

Numerous microfossils, listed by Mennessier (1972), provided 

the early Eocene age determination. It appears as L–731-

brown; A-green; and NC-gray on the respective images. 

Dobandi Flysch

The Dobandi Flysch (:df) of Ypresian and Lutetian age 

is a thick unit of mostly gray schist and subordinate green 

sandstone according to Mennessier (1972). The schist and 

sandstone are interbedded with thin limestone lenses, red-andgreen-radiolarian chert beds, and white limestone beds. The 

flysch has yielded a variety of microfauna including Nummulites (Mennessier, 1972). The Dobandi crops out in the central 

part of the quadrangle near the southern border at 34° latitude where it overlies Rokian sandstone (J^rs) south of the 

quadrangle border. It is at least 2 km thick (Mennessier, 1972). 

It appears as L–731-light-pink-to-brown, A-red-purple, and 

NC-light gray on the respective images. 

Lataband Series

Lataband is the term used for various basin-fill and fan 

deposits of Neogene age that are regionally exposed throughout the Kabul South quadrangle. Much of this fill probably 

accumulated through most of the Miocene and Pliocene, but 

no attempt was made to differentiate Miocene from Pliocene 

deposits in those units that span the two stages. Six units have 

been mapped: 

1. Nlc, NC-light-brown conglomerate; 

2. Nlfw, fine-grained L–731-white-to-light-yellow; 

3. Nlfp, fine-grained L–731-pale-purple deposits; 

4. Nlcp, L–731-olive-drab peridotite-bearing conglomerate; 

5. Nlch, coal-bearing deposits; and 

6. Nlfg, fine-grained L–731-gray-to-brown-gray deposits. 

Conglomerate is probably the most widespread unit, forming 

dissected fans and bajadas near some of the major mountain 
26 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

fronts and erosionally isolated hilltop exposures in other 

places. The various fine-grained units, differentiated primarily 

by their distinct false-colors in the Landsat data, are present 

in the region of the Anyak copper deposit (fig. 14), throughout the Logar valley region, and in the area north of the Spin 

Ghar. In many cases the fine-grained deposits occur adjacent 

to mountain fronts where they lap on to dissected bedrock 

(fig. 15). The coal-bearing unit is limited to a small exposure 

near the settlement of Chalaw in the north-central part of the 

quadrangle. The peridotite-bearing conglomerate occurs adjacent to the larger serpentinized peridotite (^Pusp) bodies near 

the western map border. 

Surficial Deposits

Surficial deposits (Pleistocene to Holocene) in the Kabul 

South quadrangle are chiefly various ages of alluvium that are 

differentiated by the levels of dissection and surficial morphology that are apparent on the images. Fine-grained deposits 

of wind-born material, landslide masses, and agriculturally 

altered ground are also present. 

The oldest alluvium (Qoa) is preserved as deeply dissected remnants of thick fan deposits that are now isolated at 

the tops of low hills in the southeast part of the quadrangle. 

Three divisions of more continuous alluvial deposits (Qa1

, 

early; Qa2

, intermediate; and Qa3, young) are mapped throughout the quadrangle, primarily based on height above currently 

active streambeds. Young alluvium (Qa3

) is being actively 

deposited at stream level in the bottoms of modern canyons. 

Each of the older units is at least several meters above the 

next younger unit and more dissected. Alluvial sheet deposits 

(Qas) are mapped on the steep western slopes of the ranges 

bordering the Logar River valley where they form very thin, 

but widespread aprons that were locally derived in the nearby 

rocky highlands. Deposits on steep slopes, such as colluvium 

and rock falls, are mapped jointly (Qcr), since it is too difficult to differentiate in-place deposits from those that have 

tumbled down from higher outcrops with images alone. River 

alluvium (Qra) is mapped in the wider, active floodplains of 

rivers in the eastern half of the quadrangle. The Logar River 

and its tributaries in the west half of the quadrangle also have 

extensive river flood-plains, but those are mapped as unit Qa

because of the ubiquitous agricultural alteration that is present 

in that area. 

Eolian desert loess accumulations (Qdl) represent a 

slightly unusual type of surficial deposit, but one that is common in some of the mountainous parts of the Kabul South 

quadrangle. Loess is equally common on steep mountain 

slopes, ridges, flatlands, and in valleys. It is widespread in the 

Spin Ghar, Altimur, and Kabul River areas, but is only mapped 

where the deposits are of significant thickness and extent to 

conceal large areas of bedrock. 

Several landslide, slump, and other mass-waste deposits (Qls) are mapped on the steep slopes in the eastern half 

of the quadrangle. Glacial moraines (Qgm) were identified 

along the crest of the Spin Ghar, mostly at elevations above 

3,500 m in the southeast corner of the quadrangle. Several 

lacustrine deposits (Ql), which are basically clay and peat beds 

in flat lying lowland areas that occasionally collect standing 

water, occur on the Logar-River floodplain and in southern 

Kabul valley. 

Structure and Tectonics

Much of the following discussion centers on the three 

interpretive cross sections provided on sheet 1. Also, figure 16 

shows several tectono-stratigraphic environments within the 

Kabul South quadrangle, in addition to those delineated by 

Leven (1997), that are important to understanding its geologic 

evolution. Leven’s Kabul massif, for example, is much more 

complicated than its name implies. His Kunar zone is very different from the way it is portrayed on existing geologic maps. 

The Nuristan terrane, which Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) 

thought was chiefly a region of Proterozoic gneiss intruded by 

Mesozoic plutons, is very poorly understood and may not be 

that at all. The Suleiman-Kirthar terrane might be the northernmost extension of the Makkran accretionary prism. Large 

and complex bounding fault zones, that are poorly understood 

at best, separate these different terranes.

A quick examination of the geologic map (sheet 1) demonstrates to the viewer that the region between the Chaman 

and Ghazni faults, which is commonly called Kabul massif, is 

so highly fragmented and structurally complex that the term 

massif is hardly applicable. Two distinctly different ancient 

geologic environments can be found within the area (fig. 16). 

One environment consists of a Permian to Jurassic marine 

platform-carbonate section and its basement of Paleoproterozoic crystalline gneissic and schistose rocks (fig. 16, no. 2), a 

combination commonly found in slowly subsiding and thermally mature regions of thick and well-evolved continental 

crust. Its ancient thermal history is confirmed by the Paleoproterozoic U/Pb ages and the Mesoproterozoic K/Ar ages 

from its crystalline basement rocks. The upper Paleozoic and 

Mesozoic platform carbonates that once covered the basement 

are also unmetamorphosed. 

The other (fig. 16, no. 3) is a widespread belt of sandypelitic-and-mafic schistose melange, termed the Kotagai 

melange that is tectonically overlain by large, intact, peridotite 

nappes (Mennessier, 1976; Tapponnier and others, 1981). A 

variety of carbonate shelf rocks and mafic and ultramafic rock 

bodies are tectonically incorporated to one extent or another 

into the large-scale fabric of the melange. The melange rocks 

are variably metamorphosed and have a well-developed, 

pervasive fabric in many cases, even though they might be 

younger than the unmetamorphosed platform rocks that they 

are proximal to. 

The two contrasting environments are tectonically 

juxtaposed by a complex, regional, low-angle fault system 

that I have termed the Kotagai roof fault and the Kotagai 

overthrust (KRF and KOT, respectively, in fig. 16). Platform 

rocks and crystalline basement tectonically overlie melange 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 27

20 KILOMETERS

0 12 MILES

0

69°00’

34°00’

70°00’ 34°30’

Location of photograph

Figure 14. View to the east-northeast of the Lataband series in the Anyak copper district. These rocks are typical of the fine-grained, 

white colored unit (Nlfw). The Lataband series may be as thick as 1 km. Here it is known by drilling to cover a widespread occurrence 

of copper mineralization within the Loy Khwar Formation (_Zlk). Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the 

Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
28 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

20 KILOMETERS

0 12 MILES

0

69°00’

34°00’

70°00’ 34°30’

Location of photograph

Onlap

contact

Figure 15. In many places in the Kabul South quadrangle, fine-grained deposits of the Neogene Lataband series onlap steeply tilted 

and metamorphic rocks that form the ranges. In this view, taken to the northeast in the Jegdelik region, gently deformed carbonateclaystone of the Lataband series overlap strongly tilted Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks that were at high temperatures until early 

Miocene time. Location of photograph is shown on accompanying index map of the Kabul South quadrangle, partial road network 

shown in red. Photograph by Robert G. Bohannon, 2006.
PAGHMAN FAULT

CHAMAN FAULT

GHAZNI FAULT

SORUBI FAULT

SPIN GHAR FAULT

KUNAR FAULT

TAGAB FAULT

SORUBI FAULT MMT

KRF

KOT

KRF

UNNAM

KHA

KABUL

Jalalabad

1

2

3

4

5 5 

8

15

10

10

11 12

13

14

14

8

69°

35°

34°

70° 71°

Azrao Valley

PAKISTAN

AFGHAN

PAKI

General tectonic fe

Tectono-Stratigraphic Terranes

1. Paghman metasedimentary and intrusive terrane2. Kabul Paleoproterozoic crystalline and platform

carbonate terrane

3. Kotagai melange and ultramafic terrane4. Azrao and Rokian flysch terrane5. Nuristan metasedimentary and intrusive terrane6. Kohistan arc7. Indus suture zone8. Layered Indian shelf rocks9. Paleozoic Indian shelf and rift10. Granite, gneiss, and marble of the Jegdelik and

related terranes

11. Triassic Indian deep water pelitic rocks12. Ultramafic rocks of unknown genesis13. Spin Ghar crystalline terrane and related superjacent

strata of the Indian continental plate

14. Thick Neogene and Quaternary deposits15. Crystalline rocks mapped as Proterozoic that might

instead be lateral equivalents of terranes 8 or 9 

0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS

0 10 20 30 MILES

Kabul River

Alingar

Surkrud 

Logar River

Kunar River

Kabul River

Panjshir

River

Kabul

River

River

P

TURKMENISTAN

UZBEKISTAN 

IRAN

KABU

Herat-Gowerband- Panjshir Suture

CHAMAN

FAULT

Makran

INDIANOCEAN

FaultsAnticlineTerrane boundaryKabul South quadrangle

boundary

International boundary

EXPLANATION

Figure 16. Simplified map of the different tectono-stratigraphic terranes found in and around the Kabul South quadrangle. The numberetectonic provinces or terranes corresponds to the numbered areas on the figure. Abreviations are MMT, main mantle thrust; KRF, KotagaKOT, Kotagai overthrust. 
30 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

on the Kotagai roof fault in most places and melange overlies 

platform rocks on the Kotagai overthrust in the northern Kohi-Sofe (Bohannon, 2010) and locally in the mountains southwest of Kabul. Regional relations, especially those within the 

Kabul South quadrangle, strongly suggest that the Kotagai 

roof fault is a widespread low-angle structure above which 

the platform/crystalline terrane is preserved as a thin hanging 

wall flake of continental rocks (sheet 1, cross sections). Since 

melange also tectonically overlies platform rocks locally, the 

continental flake may have acted as a subduction backstop 

at times (Bohannon, 2010). The highly disrupted platform 

sedimentary section rims the outer edge of the platform terrane 

with Paleoproterozoic basement in the core region around 

Kabul (sheet 1 and Bohannon, 2010). The broad structure is 

that of a basement-cored arch, oriented north-northwest, with 

complexly faulted flanks (fig. 16). 

Kunar Tectonic Zone

The Kunar zone of Leven (1997) is complex and poorly 

understood. Much of what might be said about it derives from 

studies conducted in Pakistan 100 or more kilometers to the 

east of the Kabul South quadrangle where numerous workers 

(Coward and others, 1988; DiPietro and others, 2000; Anczkiewicz and others, 2001; Treloar and others, 2003; Treloar 

and others, 2007; and DiPietro, Ahmad, and Hussain, 2008) 

have attempted to explain the metamorphism and subsequent exhumation of Indian plate shelf sediments during the 

accretion of the Kohistan arc and the collision of the Indian 

continent with Asia since the Late Cretaceous. While complete 

concensus is lacking in significant details, there is agreement 

on several important things: 

1. The Kohistan arc accreted to Asia sometime in the Late 

Cretaceous. In Afghanistan the modern contact is along 

the much younger Kunar fault (see fig. 16); 

2. The rocks south of the Kohistan arc and the Kohistan 

suture zone to its south (fig. 16, nos. 6 and 7), belong to 

the Indian plate and mostly they are shelf sediments that 

were deposited on Indian continental basement of some 

type (fig. 16, 8 and 9); 

3. The metamorphism of the Indian shelf sediments, which 

in many places reached garnet grade and higher, postdates the accretion of the Kohistan arc; 

4. Exhumation and cooling of the shelf-sediment package 

took place during the collision and indention of India, 

possibly as late as the middle Miocene. 

The exact timing of events, the causes of burial and heating, 

and the nature of the exhumation process remain unresolved 

to everyone’s satisfaction (see DiPietro, Ahmad, and Hussain, 

2008, for a brief summary). 

There are four potentially different subterranes that make 

up the Kunar terrane in the Kabul South quadrangle. The 

southern one (fig. 16, no. 13) is a widespread crystalline belt in 

the Spin Ghar (Kohe safed) that is a strongly uplifted piece of 

Indian plate continental basement (Pakistan Geological Survey, 

1993). The northern one (fig. 3, no. 10) is composed of layered 

gneiss and marble that are intruded by granodiorite dikes in the 

Jegdelik ruby district and it does not appear to extend east as 

far as Pakistan, so nothing like it has been described there. In 

between Wittekindt and Weipert (1973) mapped widespread 

Proterozoic rocks (fig. 3, no. 15) that they interpreted to be part 

of the Indian basement. Their basement is due west of a body 

of Paleozoic to Triassic rocks identified as the Indian shelfand-rift sequence (fig. 16, nos. 8 and 9) by DiPietro and others 

(2000) and DiPietro, Ahmad, and Hussain (2008) in Pakistan. 

As the name implies the rocks in Pakistan may have once been 

part of the northern rift margin and subsequently developed 

marginal shelf of the Indian plate, prior to its collision with 

Asia. Although poorly described, these rocks are metasediments of various types, including schist, phyllite, marble, 

quartzite, and dolomite (Pakistan Geological Survey, 1993). A 

possibility remains that tectonic zone 15 (fig. 16) is similar and 

has been misinterpreted as basement, but more work is needed 

to determine this. There is also a narrow, fault-bounded zone of 

pelitic and carbonate rocks (fig. 16, no. 11) described as Cenozoic phyllite and schist by Wittekindt and Weippert (1973). 

My analysis of the modern imagery, color photography, 

and new age data, as expressed in the geology portrayed on 

sheet 1, paints an entirely different picture from that of Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977), and it nominally differs from that 

of Wittekindt and Weippert (1973). I followed the lead of 

Wittekindt and Weippert (1973) by mapping extensive Proterozoic basement (Indian plate) throughout the southern half 

of the Kunar terrane. This seemed prudent in the absence of 

any better information, although I am left wondering whether 

the Indian shelf metasediments along the Afghanistan/Pakistan 

border might not continue into this area (fig. 16, nos. 8 and 9). 

I was unable to assess that possibility with the imagery alone. 

The rocks in the Jegdelik ruby district, between the Proterozoic 

exposures and the Kunar fault (fig. 16, nos. 10 and 11) are now 

mapped as Cretaceous and Paleogene, not Proterozoic following Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) or Cenozoic following Wittekindt and Weippert (1973). This is based on the U/Pb dating 

of 95 to 97 Ma protolithic zircon and the 76 Ma intrusion of 

granodiorite sills, which indicate that the sedimentary package 

in the immediate vicinity of the ruby district was deposited in 

the interval between those ages. The ages of some of the rocks 

nearby the ruby district are far less constrained. 

When did the metamorphism occur? The gneiss and 

marble in the ruby district have a strong metamorphic fabric. 

The granodiorite sills also have a penetrative fabric indicated 

by a weak lineation and foliation of micas, but it is not as 

well developed. Some, if not all, of the metamorphism probably post-dates the sills since K/Ar and Ar/Ar determinations 

that range between 19 and 40 Ma indicate that these rocks 

were hot long after the Cretaceous, but its precise timing 

remains uncertain. 

Cooling ages, based on the K/Ar and Ar/Ar determinations, give an approximation of the time and amount of uplift 

and exhumation. The 19 to 40-Ma age ranges have been 
Synopsis of Mapped Units 31

reported for the rocks of the ruby district (Lawrence W. Snee, 

USGS, upublished dates, written commun., 2009) and those 

in the Spin Ghar crystalline complex (Badshah and others, 

2000). The 19 Ma ages in the ruby district were on muscovite, 

suggesting temperatures of around 400°C, which could easily 

correspond to depths of 7 to 10 km or greater, depending on 

the thermal gradient. Exhumation from those depths must 

have been completed prior to the deposition of the fine-grained 

Lataband sediments that are observed to lap onto the strongly 

tilted metasediments in the ruby district (see fig. 15). The 

Lataband series is thought to be Miocene and Pliocene, but the 

exact age of the onlap is uncertain. 

The metasedimentary rocks south of the Kunar fault are 

in the footwall of the Main Mantle thrust (DiPietro, Ahmad, 

and Hussain, 2008), whose upper plate comprises the Kohistan 

arc and Kohistan suture zone (fig. 16). Other south-vergent 

thrusts with general east-west orientations cut the shelf and 

basement rocks south of the Kunar fault in Afghanistan 

(sheets 1 and 2). Wittekindt and Weippert (1973) mapped 

ultramafic rocks east of Jalalabad (fig. 16) indicating that 

oceanic lithospheric-mantle rocks might also be involved in 

the thrusting. Several of these faults have emplaced metasediments and basement over fine-grained Lataband units, so their 

displacement is at least in part Miocene in age. Likewise, the 

main thrust south of the Spin Ghar in Pakistan, known locally 

as the Khairabad thrust, is inferred to have Miocene displacement (DiPietro, Ahmad, and Hussain, 2008). Thus, southdirected thrusting is a likely candidate to explain the rapid 

Miocene uplift and exhumation required by the age determinations. An opposing thought that north-side-down detachment 

faults might explain the exhumation (Anczkiewicz and others, 

2001; Treloar and others, 2003) is untenable in Afghanistan 

where there are no faults with the required older-on-younger 

or north-side-down geometry that would satisfy such a model. 

Nuristan Terrane

The Nuristan massif of Leven (1977) is a widespread 

mountainous belt northwest of the Kunar fault (fig. 16, 

no. 5). It is continuous to the northeast with the Hindu-Kush/

Karakoram metamorphic zones in Pakistan that Searle (1991) 

and Hildebrand and others (2000) regarded as the southern 

margin of Asia from Jurassic time until the accretion of the 

Kohistan-Ladakh island arc along the Shyok suture zone 

(also called the Northern suture). The accretion took place 

by northward subduction at the suture zone, which crosses 

the Pakistan/Afghanistan border and follows the Kunar River 

south to about Jalalabad where it bends west to the Tagab 

fault (the Kunar fault on fig. 16). If true, that means that the 

Nuristan terrane is likely part of the same southern-Asia subduction margin, but Abdullah and Chmyriov (1977) characterized this terrane as consisting of widespread Paleoproterozoic 

gneisses of various types, a thick and mostly clastic section 

of Carboniferous to Triassic sedimentary rocks, and numerous granitoid intrusions of Cretaceous and Oligocene age. Just 

across the border in northwest Pakistan the adjacent rocks are 

mapped as Devonian to Jurassic metasedimentary rocks and 

Cretaceous greenstone and slate, all intruded by Cretaceous 

granitoid rocks (Calkins and others, 1981). Proterozoic gneiss 

is rare in northwest Pakistan, which casts doubt as to the 

amount of Proterozoic basement that might actually be present 

in the Nuristan terrane. The Nuristan gneisses and their lateral 

equivalents in Pakistan originated to the north of the Kohistan 

arc, so they were once either part of the southern Asian shelf 

(if they were Phanerozoic metasedimentary rocks) or were 

a small continental island mass that collided with the Asian 

margin sometime prior to the accretion of the Kohistan arc (if 

they were Paleoproterozoic). The widespread plutonism makes 

sense with either interpretation, if it occurred in the Cretaceous 

prior to the accretion of the Kohistan arc. Widespread Oligocene plutonism would be hard to explain because it would 

post-date arc accretion during a time when the Indian continental mass was already well indented into Asia and most subduction had undoubtedly ceased. My preferred interpretation, 

pending further studies, is one of metamorphosed Asian-shelf 

sediments of Phanerozoic age intruded by Cretaceous plutons. 

No island-continent collision is required in that case, although 

I have left the Paleoproterozoic interpretation of Abdullah and 

Chmyriov (1977) intact on the geologic map (sheet 1) for lack 

of any better actual age control. 

Suleiman-Kithar Terrane

The north end of the Suleiman-Kirthar terrane of Leven 

(1997), which is also called the Katawaz Basin, is present in 

the southeastern part of the quadrangle. This is tectonic zone 4 

on figure 16 and it is chiefly a very thick section of clastic and 

carbonate sedimentary rocks that are commonly referred to as 

flysch and represented by the Azrao Flysch and sandstone of 

the Rokian series in this report. The Katawaz Basin is quasicontinuous to the south with rocks of the Makkran accretionary belt that is widely exposed in the coastal hills of southwest 

Pakistan. The Katawaz rocks originated as shelf, slope, and 

trench deposits, probably in some type of accretionary prism 

that formed as part of the south Asia subduction system during 

the Paleocene and Eocene. As India converged on Asia and 

indented the larger continental mass the Katawaz Basin was 

compressed, thrust over and partially coupled to the Indian 

plate, and dragged to the northeast along with India. 

Terrane-Bounding Faults

The large northeast-oriented faults of eastern Afghanistan 

also came into being as a result of the indention of the Indian 

plate (Tapponnier and others, 1981; Treloar and Izzatt, 1993). 

Plate motion studies (Patriat and Achache, 1984) indicate 

that the minimal northward indention of India, relative to the 

interior of Afghanistan, was on the order of 1,200 km and that 

the collision may have resulted in 2,000+ km of shortening in 

central Asia. The Chaman and Paghman faults (fig. 16) extend 

from Pakistan to the HPW fault zone and are perfectly oriented to accommodate the large amount of the strain that must 
32 Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30’ × 60’ Quadrangle, Afghanistan

have developed between India and the Afghan interior. Consequently a large, but unknown, amount of Neogene left-slip is 

typically assumed for these faults. Related structures such as 

the Ghazni, Sorubi, and Tagab faults (fig. 16) are not as ideally 

oriented, nor are their displacement histories potentially as 

straightforward. The Ghazni fault, as identified in this report, 

dips east at low angle and may have a thrust or even normal/

detachment displacement. The Sorubi fault has a sharp bend at 

the west end of the Spin Ghar (Kohe Safed) and with the highest topography consistently to its east, it may have a strong 

normal component (down-to-the-west). The Tagab fault has 

a well-developed down-to-the-east normal component and it 

may also have had a large, but unknown right-slip component 

(Bohannon, 2010). Because the three faults each separate very 

different terranes, large lateral motions must be inferred, since 

vertical movement alone is insufficient to explain the various 

continental-to-oceanic terrane juxtapositions that are observed. 

If such lateral motion proves to have occurred in a right sense, 

the region between the eastern three faults and the Chaman/

Paghman faults would have itself been an indenter. All these 

faults, save parts of the Ghazni, show evidence for Quaternary 

activity (Ruleman and others 2007).

Outstanding Issues

1. Several other important issues are identified here that 

warrant further investigation. As these issues are resolved, 

new and better versions of these maps can be produced.

2. Each rock unit needs to be investigated in the field. Better 

lithologic descriptions should be compiled for all of them.

3. More of the igneous and metamorphic rock bodies should 

be dated radiometrically. It is important to tailor sampling 

to resolve issues of emplacement ages, metamorphic ages, 

and protolith history. 

4. Faults that have been identified as having youthful 

activity should be investigated in the field with modern 

trenching techniques and qualitative field characterization. 

5. The Neoproterozoic, Vendian, and earliest Cambrian age 

rock units in and surrounding the Anyak copper district 

should be studied in greater detail. This is critical for a 

thorough understanding of this mineral district. 

6. Proper place names should be added to the topographic 

map. This includes checking the names of all cities and 

towns for spelling and location. 

7. Peak elevations can be more accurately measured in the 

field. Digital elevation models average the elevation over 

the area of a pixel, which yields a lower-than-actual peak 

elevation. This is compounded to the published vertical 

error in the model. 

Obviously these are not simple tasks, but they are essential for understanding Afghan geology and geography. It is 

hoped that the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines, Afghanistan 

Geological Survey, and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography 

Head Office will be well positioned and provisioned to work on 

solving these kinds of problems in the future.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the U.S. Agency for International 

Development and the U.S. Department of State for providing 

much needed support for all of the data gathering activities 

that took place within Afghanistan during the 2004 to 2006 

field seasons. This included providing all housing, security, 

transportation, and other logistical needs while I was in 

the country. 

I am greatly indebted to several members of the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS). The late Abdul Wasey, the 

former AGS president, provided guidance in the field on 

numerous occasions. He unselfishly shared his personal 

storehouse of knowledge on the regional geology and geography of Afghanistan whenever he could. Likewise, Mohammed Omar, the current AGS president, very patiently helped 

me to properly conduct myself in a foreign land where 

customs and behaviors are so different from my own. I also 

was helped whenever possible by other AGS geologists and 

translators, notably Gul Janan, Ghulam Sakhi Sheenwary, 

Mansoor Amiryar, Mohammed Tahir, Said Ishan Opiany, and 

Shafiqullah Sultani.

Daniel P. Miggins (USGS) and Lawrence W. Snee 

(USGS, retired) provided samples and age determinations 

mentioned in the report. 

References Cited

Abdullah, S., and Chmyriov, V.M., eds., 1977, Map of mineral resources of Afghanistan: Kabul, Ministry of Mines 

and Industries of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Department of Geological and Mineral Survey, V/O 

“Technoexport” USSR, scale 1:500,000.

Afghanistan Information Management Services (AIMS), 2005, 

Geocodes and settlement database for Afghanistan: Kabul, 

Afghanistan Information Management Services, accessed in 

2005 at http://www.aims.org.af. 

ALOS Micrographics Corporation, 2006, Micrographics/ 

Imaging: West Salem, Wis., ALOS Micrographics 

Corp., available through Indus International, Inc. at 

http://indususa.com.

Abdullah, S., and Chmyriov, V.M., eds., 2008, Geology and 

Mineral Resources of Afghanistan, 2 volumes, British Geological Survey Occasional Publication no.15.
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Bohannon, Robert G.—Geologic and Topographic Maps of the Kabul South 30'× 60' Quadrangle, Afghanistan—Scientific Investigations Map 3137