زمین شناسی ومنابع منرالی افغانستان

Geology and Mineral REsources of Afghanistan:
مطالبی در مورد کلیات زمین شناسی افغانستان از سری راپور های میباشد که توسط ، SH Abdullah, V. M. Chmyriov و V. I. Dronov تهیه شده و بکمک سوری جیولوجی بریتانیا در سال 2008 منتشر شده است
این مطالب در بریتانیا از زبان روسی به زبان انگلسی ترجمه شده ،و درین ویبلاگ سعی میشود در خدمت جوینده گان عزیز قرار گیرد ،در فرصت مناسب انشا الله در تلاش هستم که از زبان انگلسی به فارسی ترجمه نمایم .این موضوعات تنها منابعی در مود زمین شناسی افغانستان میباشند
OROGRAPHY
Afghanistan, a land of mountains and desert plains, is situated at the junction of the Afghano-Iranian
highland and mountain systems of the High Central Asia. The mountains account for more than 70 per cent of the country’s territory forming a vast mountainous structure which gradually rises and becomes more narrow towards the Pamir and then spreads out like a fan and descends towards Iran . The greatest part of this structure is constituted by the high ridges of Parwan, Kattaghan, Badakhshan, Wakhan and
Nurestan conjugated with the majestic mountain systems of the Pamir, Qara Qorum and Hinduraj।।


Thebackbone of this part of Afghanistan is the Hendukush Ridge which forms a watershed between the Amu Darya and the Indus। It begins to the north of Bamyan and stretches in the north-eastern direction to intersection of the state frontiers of the U।S।S.R., Afghanistan, China and India, where it ends in the Mustag mountain plexus. The total length of the ridge is more than 800 km. It is divided into Western, Central and Eastern Hendukush by a system of valleys, mountain plexuses and passes.
To the west and south-west of the Hendukush there is a high-mountain land of Middle Afghanistan stretching nearly east-west and to the north and south of it lie the middle mountain regions of Paropamiz-Bande
Turkestan and Hazarajat.
In the south-eastern part of Afghanistan, enclosed between the valleys of the Kabul and Tarnak rivers and separated from the Hazarajat region by the Ghazni-Kandahar plateau, there are the Suleiman Mountains which are bounded in the North by the Spin Ghar Ridge of almost east-west trend.
This mountain structure gradually descends to the west, north-west and south-west to give place to the
lowlands and submontane hilly regions and then to extensive desert plains: the South-Afghan Plain in the south, the North Afghan Plain in the north and to nearly north-south trending system of plains and drainless depressions in the west.
The orography of individual regions is given in greater detail below (Fig. 3).


High Mountain Regions
The Nurestan-Wakhan Mountain Region
The Nurestan-Wakhan Mountain Region covers the extreme north-eastern part of the country and consists of
the Mustag mountain plexus and the ridges of Wakhan, the Central and Eastern Hendukush and Hinduraj.
The Mustag plexus lies between the upper reaches of the rivers Wakhan, Aksu, Hunza and Taahqurgan (Kara
Chakur). Its highest elevation within Afghanistan is 5,744 meters. To the west of it the East Hendukush
Ridge is situated, to the south-east lies the Qara Qorum Ridge and to the north-east the Sare-Kol Ridge.
The Wakhan Ridge of E-N-E extension is situated between the Pamir and Istyk river basins in the north end
Wakhan and Aksu rivers in the south. It is 160 km long and its highest elevation is 6,504- meters (Mt. Snow
Rock).
The Eastern Hendukush of E-N-E trend lies to the east of the plexus of mountains with the Nawshah peak
(7,455 m). It is drained in the north by the left-bank tributaries of the Wakhan Darya and Penj and in the
‘south by the upper reaches of the rivers Chitral, Mastuj, Darrah Gilgit and Ishkuman. It extends for 350
kilometers and the most common altitudes are 5,500-6,000 meters, more seldom 7,000 meters.



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The Central Hendukush Range or Nurestan lies to the south-west of the plexus of mountains with the peak of Nawshah. It is drained in the west and north-east by the tributaries of the rivers Panjsher, Tagabe Anjoman and Tagabe Munjan, in the south by the left-bank tributaries of the Kabul River, in the east and south-east by the right-bank tributaries of the Konar-Chetral River. It extends for 250 kilometers, the prevailing elevations varying from 4,000 to 5,000 meters and its peak is 6,248 meters.
The Hinduraj Range penetrates the territory of Afghanistan by its extreme south-western part. It is drained there by the left-bank tributaries of the Kabul and Konar rivers. It extends for 130 kilometres over the territory of Afghanistan, its peak is 3,809 meters and. its trend is north-eastern.
The topography of the Nurestan-Wakhan area combines the elements of the East Pamir and Badakhshan. Elements of the East-Pamir type are characterized by highly elevated (2,500 to 4,500 meters) wide flat
trough valleys with medium-mountain lightly dissected ranges, 1,000 to 2,000 meters high, and individual blocks projecting above them. Elements of the Badakhshan type are narrow deeply indented and steeply
sloping valleys, infrequently canyon-like in the lower parts. Some kilometers higher rise rugged steeply
sloping rocky high-mountain ranges. The topography of the East-Pamir type is characteristic of the Eastern Hendukush, Wakhan and Mustag, the topography of the Badakhshan type is found in the Central Hendukush, particularly in its southern part. In the upper reaches the valleys are trough-like.
The Nurestan-Wakhan Mountain region is an area of the thickest recent glaciation within the Afghan
territory. In the watershed sectors of the ranges the glacial forms of topography occur everywhere. These are: swells and crests of side and terminal morainic ridges, glacial cirques filled with glaciers and firn basins, glacial lakes and diverse out her forms and so on. The snow line rises from the south-west in the northeastern direction elevating 4,000 to 5,000 meters.

The Badakhshan-Western Hendukush Mountain Region
The Badakhshan-Western Hendukush Mountain Region embraces many Alpine ranges of the North-Western, Southern and Central Badakhshan and the Western Hendukush. The Western Hendukush, Khwaja
Mohammad, Kohe Safedhirs and Kohe Lal are the most important among them. They form as a whole an arc of the northeastern extension protruding to the south-east.
The Western Hendukush lies in the watershed area between the Bamyan, Shibar, Gorband and Panjsher
rivers in the south and Sayghan, Surkhab and Andarab rivers in the north. It is 220 kilometers long, the
maximum elevation is 5,054 meters, the trend is nearly east-west and slopes asymmetrical: the southern slope is short and steep and the northern is long and gentle.
The Khwaja Mohammad Ridge constitutes the highest part of the watershed area between the upper reaches of rivers Andarab, Panjsher and Kokcha, extending in the north-eastern direction. It is over 200 kilometers long, the maximum elevation being 5,841 meters; its south-eastern slope is steep and short and the northwestern slope is long and gentle.
The Safedhirs Ridge trends north-south in the extreme northwestern part of the Badakhshan between the big loop of the river Panj in the Darwaza area and the valley of the river Shewa. It stretches for more than 100
kilometers; its highest elevation is 5,329 meters; its eastern slope is steep and short and the western one is
long and gentle.
The Kohe Lal Ridge occupies the eastern part of the Central and Southern Badakhshan, extending north-
south between the system of the rivers Panj, Shewa and Warduj. It is 150 kilometers long, has a maximum
elevation of 5,355 meters (Mt. Yahgarda), its eastern slope is steep and short and the western one is long and
gentle.
The relief of the region is of the Badakhshan type, combining erosion and erosion-accumulative forms with deep narrow valleys and high-rise steep rocky ridges carrying a permanent snow and ice cover in the
watershed part. The lower parts of valleys are universally of the erosion type and their upper parts are of the erosion-accumulative type with modern and ancient glacial relief forms. The snow line passes at the altitude of 4,000-4,500 meters.



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The mountain county of Middle Afghanistan
The mountain county of Middle Afghanistan includes the Kohe Baba, Bande Bayan, Kasamurg (Syahkoh),
Hazarsang, Kohe Qaftarkhan and other ridges. In the north they are drained by the rivers Gorband, Shebar,
Bamyan, Hari Rod and in the south they are bounded by a system of passes, tectonic depressions and nearly
east-west-trending sections of the upper course of the rivers Kabul, Helmand, Hash Rod, Farah Rod and
Harut Rod. The ridges have almost east-west strike and their total length exceeds 700 kilometres.
The easternmost and most majestic ridge of the system is the Kohe Baba Ridge which serves as a watershed
of the rivers Bande Amir, Hari Rod, Helmand and Kabul. Its length is 200 kilometers and the highest
elevation is 5,143 meters (Mt. Shahfuladi). It is the westernmost ridge of Afghanistan carrying a permanent
snow and ice cover in its watershed part. The snow line passes at the altitude of 3,500-4,000 meters.
To the west of the Kohe Baba Ridge. and directly conjugated with it there is the Bande Bayan Ridge which serves as a watershed of the rivers Hari Rod, Helmand, Hash Rod and Farah Rod. Its length is 150
kilometers, average elevations are 3,500 meters and its highest elevation mark is 3,715 meters.
Further west separated from the Bande Bayan Ridge by the Shutur pass, there is the Kasamurg (Syahkoh) Ridge drained in the north by the left-bank tributaries of the Hari Rod and in the south by the right-bank tributaries of the Tagob-Eshlan River. Its length is 200 kilometers, the average elevations are 3,000 meters, the highest elevation mark being 3,986 meters.
The westernmost and orographically well defined ridge of Middle Afghanistan is the Hazarsang Ridge
drained in the north by the left-bank tributaries of the Hari Rod and in the south by the right-bank tributaries of the Rodegaz River (the right-hand constituent of the Hari Rod-Adraskan River). The ridge is a tectonically isolated non-linear (60x40 kilometers) mountain mass with average elevations of 2,500 meters. The highest elevation is 3,335 meters.
Further to the west there is a system of isolated ranges and masses, the most significant of which are the Kohe Qaftarkhan and Kohe Taraqa ranges.
The relief of the region is erosional and erosional-accumulative of the Badakhshan type with traces of
ancient and modern glaciation combining both ancient flattened uplands and young pointed, steeply sloping peaks and watersheds of high-rise ridges. The formation of the relief was substantially influenced by tectonic processes. Practically all the ridges are bounded by faults. In the south and north they show traces of a
system of narrow nearly east-west-trending grabenous depressions of Neogene-Quaternary age.


Medium Mountain Regions
(Footnote: This is a conditional designation relative to the above high-mountain regions. In absolute elevations their parts are mostly high-mountain areas.)

The Paropamiz-Bande Turkestan Mountain Region
The Paropamiz-Bande Turkestan Mountain Region represents a vast, plateau-like upland which gradually rises to the south-east. Against the background of this upland, two systems of almost east-west-trending ridges stand out connected by the second-order ridges.
The southern system of ridges consists of a number of linearly elongated, closely conjugated ridges located
in between the Hari Rod and Murghab valleys. In the east-west direction the main of them are the Firozkoh, Badhyzat and Syah-Bubak ridges. They are often. referred to as the Safed Koh Ridge. The western part of the system is called the Paropamiz Ridge. The total length of the ridges is 550 kilometers and the highest
elevations are found in the Firozkoh Ridge in the eastern part of which there is a peak 4,555 meters high. The average height of the ridges is 3,000-3,500 meters. The maximum elevations in the west of the Syah-Bubak Ridge amount to 2,239 meters. The slopes of the ridges are asymmetrical: the southern slopes are shorter
everywhere compared to the northern slopes.
The northern system of ridges includes the Bande Turkestan Ridge running in between the Murghab Valley in the south and the Qaysar, Shirin-Tagaw and Sar-i-Pul river basins in the north.
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In the east the ridge is bounded by the Balkhab (Bande-Amir) River. Its length is 250 kilometers, the average height being 2,500-3,000 meters and the highest elevation is 3,809 meters.
To the east of the Balkhob, along the strike of the Bande-Turkestan Ridge, there is the Farand Ridge which serves a watershed between the rivers Samangan, Darya-i-Suf and Surkhab- Pule Khumri. Its highest
elevation is 4,160 meters.

The Hazarajat Mountain Region
The Hazarajat Mountain Region embraces a system of fanning out ridges, crests and ranges of the south-
western strike situated to the south of the east-west-trending ranges of Middle Afghanistan. On the east it
borders on the Ghazni Kandahar highland, in the south on the South-Afghan desert and in the west on a
system of drainless lakes and plains of Western Afghanistan. The region is drained by the Hari Rod, Farah
Rod, Helmand, Hash Rod, Argandab and other rivers. All the rivers flow in the south-western direction
concordantly with the strike of the ranges whose heights increase from the south-west to the north-east from 1,500-2,000 meters to 3,500-4,000 meters, Some peaks reach 4,500 meters. The culmination of the entire
virgation is a mountain mass drained by the upper courses of the Helmand, Logar, Tirin and Argandab rivers. Beyond that point in the south-western direction the mountain mass branches out into an increasing number of lower and lower ranges which are first well-defined and then become separate crests end ridges embedded in the steppes and deserts of Southern and Western Afghanistan.
The relief of the region is erosional and erosional-accumulative, combining some areas with rocky steeply sloping and strongly dissected Alpine-type ranges cut across by narrow canyon-like valleys of rivers and some areas with weakly dissected gently slopes and flat peaks.

The Mountain Region of South-Eastern Afghanistan
The Mountain Region of South-Eastern Afghanistan includes the Afghan part of the Suleiman Mountains
bounded in the north by the Spin Ghar and Altamur ridges, in the west by the Ghazni-Kandahar Highland
and in the south by the Regestan Desert. The watershed crest of the Suleiman Mountains within the territory of Afghanistan is represented (from the south-west to the north-east) by the ranges Kozokgar, Handigar,
Barigar, Shinkaygar, Zeraigar, Sarbandegar, Sarhauzegar, Sarobigar, etc. The altitude of the ranges gradually increases from the south-west to the north-east from 1,500 to 4,000 meters, the general strike of the ranges being predominantly north-eastern, from the west and east they are ajoined by lateral ranges of nearly eastwest and south-western strike. The rivers flowing to the east and southeast of the watershed line belong to the basin of the Indus River and the rivers flowing to the west and south-west of this line belong to a system of drainless lakes of Ab-i-Estoda, Hamune Lora and Hamune Helmand.
The Spin Ghar and Altimur ridges forming a semi-arc bound the region from the north being its highest
areas. The Spin Ghar Ridge strikes east-west and the Altimur Ridge has the northeastern trend. The highest elevation of the Altimur Ridge is 4,101 meters and of the Spin Ghar Ridge 4,755 meters.


Low Mountain Regions
(Footnote: This is a conditional designation relative to medium mountain regions. In absolute heights some of their areas are medium-mountain ones.)

The Badakhshan Submountaine Region
The Badakhshan Submountaine Region embraces all foreranges of the North-Western Badakhshan up to the Pule Khumri River. The most significant and well defined orographically is the Rustak Range. It is a
submeridional smoothed range bounded on the west and north by the Panj Valley, in the south by the valley of the Kokcha and in the east by a. broad valley with the Rustak village. The elevation marks of the range
average 1,500-1,500 meters. Other ranges are less pronounced, being lower and having a north-western
trend. The relief of the region is ridgy with relict mountains due to the broad development of loose sandy
conglomerate layers of Neogene age.


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The Afghan-South Tajik Mountain Region
The Afghan-South Tajik Mountain Region includes a group of isolated uplands and masses located between the Badakhshan and Bande Turkestan submountane areas. Against the background of the valley there stands out a group of uplands and massifs, the most significant among them are Shamar (814 meters), Kartaw
(1,361 meters), Chongur (over 3,000 meters) Autobrus (2,324 meters), Babalar (1,962 meters), Ambar (1,975 meters), Khwaja (1,294 meters) and others.

The Bande Turkestan Submountane Region
The Bande Turkestan Submountane Region includes foreranges of the Bande-Turkestan: Khwajatut, Shadyan, Alburz and Sheram. The first three ranges constitute a single mountain chain broken into separate links by the gorges of the rivers of Samangan and Balkhob. These are narrow linear asymmetrical ranges with short and steep northern slopes and long and gentle southern slopes. Their orientation is strictly east-western.
The Khwajatut Range is situated in the east of the system, stretching for 60 kilometers and having the highest elevation mark of 2,122 meters.
The Shadyan Range lies in the centre of the system. It is 90 kilometers long and has the highest elevation mark of 2,764 meters.
The Alburz Range lies to the west of the Shadyan Range. It is 50 kilometers long; its elevation marks are 1,374-1,560 meters; it lies 800-1,000 meters higher than the valley adjoining it from the north. On the
western extension of the range there is a group of gently sloping uplands forming two branches of east-west strike: Khwaja Bulan-Bayangur and Yatim Tag-Khwaja-Gogerdak.
To the south of the Alburz Range lies the Sheram Range separated from the former by an undulating plain
with absolute heights of 700-900 meters, It is 30 kilometers long, its highest elevation is 1,601 meters and its trend is north-easterly. In the west, in the Sar-i-Pul area the range ends in the nearly east-west-trending Angot upland (1,022 meters).
The relief of the region is erosional, accumulative, hilly and ridgy with small positive uplifts and extensive intermountane spaces occupied by river valleys.


The Paropamiz Submountane Region
The Paropamiz Submountane Region includes foreranges of a mountain system of the same name lying to the west and southwest of the Murghab River. The biggest of them is the Bande Gandas Range. Its length is 30 kilometers, the average altitudes are 1,000-1,500 meters; it trends nearly east-west. All the other ranges of the region are smaller and less pronounced orographically. All the ranges are of nearly east-west trend and in the west of north-western trend. The relief of the region is hilly and ridgy.

The South Afghan Mountains
The South Afghan Mountains embrace the northern parts of two ranges bordering on the Baluchistan:
Chagay and Raskoh Mirjawan. The Chagay Ridge is situated in the extreme south of the country, bounding
the South Afghan Plain from the south. Its length within Afghanistan is 200 kilometers, the average heights
being 1,300-1,700 meters; the highest elevation mark is 2,030 meters and the trend is nearly east-western.
The ridge is drained by a system of rivers that dry up in hot seasons, the biggest of them being the Loy Dor.
The Raskoh Mirjawan Range extends over the territory of Afghanistan in the extreme south-western part of the country, at a place named Rabat-i-Jali, where it is known as Koh-i-Maliksy Range. It stretches for five
kilometres within the territory of the country. Its highest elevation mark is 1,640 meters and its trend is
north-western.

The West Afghan Mountains
The West Afghan Mountains embrace a system of low ranges and separate mountain lands situated along the Afghanistan-Iran frontier. Three groups of ranges are distinguished from south to north: Asparan, Kohe
Mazar and Yulkhar.
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The Asparan Mountains are situated to the north-west of Lake Hamune Sabari and include the following
ranges: Kohe Darband Bad, Kohe Narakhu and Madarkhu, Kohe Garobi, Kohe Shur and others They have a common crest of the north-western trend. The heights of ranges vary from 800 to 1,200 meters.
The Kohe Mazar Mountains are situated to the north of the border guard post at Kalate Nazarkhan. They
include separate isolated ranges and relict mountains: Home Koh, Kohe Hola-i-She-kari, Kohe Kale Berinj, Kohe Chah Mazar, etc. Their heights vary between 900 and 1,300 meters.
The Yulkhar Mountains lie to the north of the salt lake Namaksar. The main range there is Koh-i-Yul Har
with heights of 1,200-1,300 meters, and to the south and north of it lie lower unnamed ranges and massifs.