## 4 Results and Discussion
### Geostructural Interpretation  
To assess the type of active deformation, the brittle fracture data of 30 stations were taken along the KKH from Besham to Dasu (Figure 1). In each case, a clear set of brittle conjugate fractures were chosen for the stress analysis to find out the type of stress, classified as vertical (normal), horizontal (thrust), or lateral (strike-slip). The aim is to sort out the dominance of brittle fracture types to understand the deformation under the regional tectonic and structural framework. The data collected from the different stations can be broadly divided into two groups. One of them represents the footwall of the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT) and is located on the Indian plate, whereas the second group represents the hanging wall of the MMT and the Kohsitan-Ladakh arc (Figure 1). The first group consisted of stations 1 to 7, located on the leading edge of the Indian plate (Figures 1 and 7, stations 1-7). These stations are hosted within the core zone of Indus syntaxis, which is bounded on the eastern side by a right-lateral oblique-slip fault and on the western side by a left-lateral oblique-slip fault. The syntaxis is bounded by the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT) on the northern side. The principal stress \(\sigma\)2 is steeper than \(\sigma\)1 and \(\sigma\)3 at stations 2 to 7, which indicates the dominance of the lateral (strike-slip) stresses due to syntaxial bend. The second group consisted of stations 8 to 30, distributed over the Kohistan-Ladakh arc between Jijal and Dasu (Figures 1 and 7, stations 8-30). This group is further subdivided into four minor groups. These minor groups consisted of stations 8 to 13, 14 to 18, 19 to 21, and 22 to 30 due to their close proximity. Station 8 is located close to the MMT in the southern exposure of the Jijal complex, and fracture data shows northeast-southwest directed thrusting. Meanwhile, stations 9 and 10 are located in the central part of the Jijal complex, and fracture data shows extensional dominance. Stations 11 to 13 are located at the northern contact of the Jijal complex, and fracture data shows northeast-southwest directed thrusting. In this group, the major fractures show a thrusting component that matched well with the regional northeast-southwest compression in this region. However, the two extensional set of fractures located in the central part could be associated with local folding that causes extension in the hinge zone. Stations 14 to 18 are located in the southern part of the Kamila amphibolite. At station 14, the fracture data shows the change in the compression direction from the northeast-southwest to the northwest-southeast direction. Meanwhile, at stations 15 and 17, the fracture data shows the strike-slip component dominance, with the northeast-southwest-directed regional compression. However, the fracture data at station 16 shows the compressional dominance from the east-northeast-west-southwest direction. At station 18, the angle of principal stresses \(\sigma\)1, \(\sigma\)2, and \(\sigma\)3 are 31, 35, and 39 degrees, respectively. Therefore, the stereographic projection shows a composite impact of the thrusting, extension, and strike-slip components. This variation in the stress regime from thrusting to strike-slip in this group may be due to the impact of the bending of the MMT towards the east due to a major antiformal structure named Nanga Parbat Haramosh massif. Stations 19 to 21 are located in the central part of the Kamila amphibolite unit. The fracture data at station 19 shows the strike-slip dominance, while at station 20, the effect is composite (compression, extension, and strike-slip). At station 21, the \(\sigma\)1 is steeper than \(\sigma\)2 and \(\sigma\)3, which shows extensional dominance.