## 2 Geological Setting  
The study area (shown in Figure 1) is situated at Tar Khel Village in District Nowshera, Pakistan, where here is also a typical Inzari Formation See Figure 2. It is located at latitude \(33^{\circ}50^{\prime}31.69^{\prime\prime}\) N and longitude \(72^{\circ}09^{\prime}10.48^{\prime\prime}\) E. It is situated about 97 km from Peshawar and about 135 km from Islamabad. Geologically, three different tectonic plates exist in northern Pakistan Figure 3, and the ellipse shows the location of the study area in Figure 3 which includes the Eurasian Plate, the Kohistan Island Arc (KIA), and the Indian Plate. During the early Cretaceous period (130 million years ago), the Kohistan Island A(KIA/KLIA), an intra-oceanic arc inside the Tethys Ocean, first collided with the Eurasian Plate via the Main Karakoram Thrust (MKT), also known as the Shyok Sutures or Northern Suture Zone [10]. The Indus Suture Zone, also known as the Main Mantle Thrust, was created by the beginning to the mid-Eocene collision of the KIA with the Indian Plate (MMT). This collision resulted in the KIA being hidden or abducted onto the Indian Plate rocks. Despite being an intra-oceanic island, the KIA is joined to the Asian/Eurasian Plate along its northern suture and the Indo-Pakistan Plate along its southern suture. The evolution of KLIA/KIA is well acknowledged and understood. The exact moment of the KLIA's collision with the Asian Plate and Indo-Pakistan remains debatable, nonetheless. Pakistan has several large thrust faults extending from north to south. The thrust system that divides the Kohistan Island Arc (KIA) complex in the south from the deformed meta-sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Asian land mass in the north is headed by the Main Karakoram Thrust. The Kohistan Island Arc is constrained through the Main Mantle Thrust [11]. The Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis is a prominent bend produced by the Main Boundary Thrust that extends east-west along the vast majority of the foreland basin before turning northward west of the Jhelum River. The Hazara and Murree Faults, which border the northern edges of the Kala Chitta and Hazara Categories, are thought to be associated with the Main Boundary Thrust. The Hisartang Fault divides the Indian Plate into two distinct zones. The term \"internal metamorphosed zone\" refers to the northern region between the Hisartang Fault and the MMT, whereas the term \"external unmetamorphosed zone\" or \"low-grade metamorphic zone\" describes the southern region. These strata are separated from Tertiary foreland basin deposits further to the south by the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT). The Himalayas are split into the Tethys Himalayas, Higher Himalayas, Lesser Himalayas, and Outer Himalayas according to their north to south orientation. Between the Kala Chitta Range to the south and the Peshawar Basin to the east is the Attock-Cherat Range (ACR). The Hisartang Thrust in the Nizampur Basin, which separates the southern slab of the ACR from the Kala Chitta Range, marks the border between the ACR and the range. The ACR and Kala Chitta Range rocks cracked because of movement along the Hisartang Thrust. Sediments from the Paleocene Pre-Cambrian outcrop in the ACR. Figure 1: Location map of the study area within Pakistan. This map highlights District Nowshera in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, where the Inzari Formation is situated. The map also shows major landmarks and geographical features surrounding the study site, providing context for the geotechnical investigation conducted in this region. Figure 2: Geological features observed in the study area. A close-up view of exposed rock outcrops in the Inzari Formation. Natural faults visible in the formation. A Stratification observed in the rock layers. These geological features are critical for understanding the structural composition and the potential behavior of rocks under mechanical testing. The Kabi Gorge is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in northwest Pakistan, in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Nizampur Valley.