Provenance for the Makran Flysch Basin in Pakistan: Implications for interaction between the Indian, Eurasian, and Arabian plates

The Makran Flysch Basin or Makran Accretionary Wedge, as the Neo-Tethyan remnant deposited basin, is located in an arc-trench gap at the triple junction of the Indian, Arabian and Eurasian plates and has kept depositional records of the interaction between the three plates. The analysis of the area can play a significant role in determining the transportation patterns, formation mechanisms, and reveal the potential tectonic evolution of the basin. This work focuses on the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene sandstones of the Flysch Basin through provenance analyses using techniques of petrographic, SEM-EDX, and geochemical examinations, including major, trace, and rare earth elements. The geochemical signatures indicate the sandstone's provenance was potentially from a mixing of intermediate igneous and quartzose recycled materials, indicating dominant felsic sources with little mafic/ultramafic inputs. The 'end member' provenance of Makran Flysch Basin is proposed to be the underlying older rocks of the Bagh-complex, Kirthar Sulaiman Belt, and the Kohistan-Ladak arc. The Chagai-Raskoh Arc and Bela Ophiolites have no contribution in the detrital mode. According to this study, the geochemical compositions and tectonic phenomena supported two provenance stages. Additionally, the study supports the fact that the clastic sedimentation to the Katawaz Basin started deposited during the hard IndianEurasian collision.