## 2 Geological Setting  
In the Cenozoic, head-on and oblique collisions between the Indian and Eurasian plates, resulted in the rise of the Himalayas in the north and western margins of the Indian plate [1]. Following the closure of the Tethys Ocean between them, these plates came into contact via the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT) in the northwest and the Chaman transform fault in the west. As a result, the foreland basin in the MMT's footwall was created [3]. Since the collision, the direction of sediment transport reversed from south to north, and sediments from the Indian and Eurasian Plates began migrating in that direction. Owing to the exhumation of the Himalayas, they were eroded, transported, and deposited in the foreland basin [27].  
The Sulaiman fold-thrust belt (Figure 1), which extends from the NW Himalayas southward, delineates the western limit of the Indian plate in Pakistan [28]. It is an active tectonic zone, with a width of more than 300 km, having a lobate shape, and covering an area of over 200,000 km\({}^{2}\)[28; 29; 30]. After the two plates made an oblique collision, a strike slip motion caused this section of the Himalayas to develop [31; 32]. The thrusting and southern movement of these thrust sheets, which are confined by the tear-faults along the basal decollement, resulted in the lobe-like structure in the Sulaiman range [33; 34]. In contrast to the main convergent zone, connected to the Salt Ranges and Potwar Basin, this Himalayan zone is distinct, due to the combined action of translational movement and compressional stresses [33].  
The Muslim Bagh Ophiolites were obducted during the Cretaceous [35] or Eocene period [36], marking the earliest collision event. The collision of India and Asia resulted in the formation of a foredeep basin to the east of the Sulaiman range [33]. The Himalayan thrust system is in the north, the Kirthar Ranges are in the south, the Indus foredeep and Sulaiman basin are in the east, and the left lateral Chaman transform boundary is in the west, making the Sulaiman fold belt a prime location [37]. The deformation pattern in the Sulaiman fold belt is thought to be related to passive roof duplex, fault propagation, fault bending folds, and stacked anticlines [25; 38]. In contrast, some researchers consider it to be associated with a positive flower structure, and thick-skinned deformation [37; 39; 40]. Due to two recollement surfaces that were provided by salt from the Eocene and shale from the Precambrian respectively, the Sulaiman fold-thrust belt has a peculiar and severe deformation style. The Eo-Cambrian Salt provides a single decollement surface in the Potwar Basin and Salt Ranges, making it relatively less intense [41].  
There are four major local faults in the Mughalkot segment (Figure 1C). The Takht-e-Sulaiman fault, which is left lateral and trends north-south, is found in the westernmost point of this segment and cuts through rocks from the upper and lower Cretaceous. Rocks from the Ghazi group are thrown over the Kirthar group by the western Domanda fault, which is to its east. The Pleistocene-Oligocene Siwaliks and the Eocene Kirthar group are divided by the third significant local fault, known as the eastern Domanda fault, which is further to the east. The fourth fault, which separates the Siwaliks and recent alluvium, is located towards the eastern Sulaiman Basin. Due to extensive deformation, these faults are accompanied by anticlines and synclines [22].