Mesozoic • Cretaceous In GSP lexicon

Bela Ophiolite

Late Cretaceous

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 6, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late CretaceousLate Cretaceous
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Bela ophiolite-and-thrust belt, Lasbela26.2268°N, 66.3113°E
Thickness: 3000+ m
Lithology: Ultrabasic, basic and intermediate rocks — altered pyroxenite and serpentinized peridotite — with rare granite (only as conglomerate pebbles).
Synonyms: Not recorded

The Bela ophiolite of Lasbela — a large obducted slice of ocean floor marking the India–Eurasia suture, and a chromite host.

Southern ophiolite belt marking Western Indus Suture. Less complete than Muslim Bagh but similar origin.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Bela-Khuzdar column

SandstoneIgneousFossils recordedContact not recorded

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type; dotted = no contact recorded in the sources (not a claim of conformity). True scale makes height ∝ recorded thickness; hatched = thickness not recorded. Ages approximate, for ordering.

This unit (highlighted) within its province column; faded ends continue above and below. Line style marks the contact type.

Distribution & setting

Bela-Khuzdar

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: ophiolite, oceanic
Coordinates: 26.2268°N, 66.3113°E

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Correlation

Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →

Economic significance

Metals & minerals

The serpentinized ultramafics host chromite (with associated manganese), in the Bela ophiolite belt.

Remarks

A major obducted Neotethyan ophiolite of the Bela–Zhob–Waziristan suture in Lasbela, marking the Cretaceous boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates along the western Indus suture.

Research notes (5)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Name & nomenclature (1)

Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22 - the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan's compiled lexicon (listed in the memoir's contents). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation. Shah lists this unit as 'Bela volcanic group'.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Economic significance (2)

Ullah et al. (2026): the Bela chromitites are podiform bodies hosted in the harzburgite-dunite upper mantle, with high-Cr Cr-spinel (Cr# 79.1-79.9) typical of supra-subduction-zone chromitites - the mineralogical basis of the belt's chromite mineralization.

Ullah, Z., Khan, A., Li, H., Khedr, M.Z., Shah, M.T., Khan, A., Ibrar, M., Idrees, M., Ahmad, I., Wang, H., Farhan, M. & Algeo, T.J. (2026)
Rashid et al. (2022), integrated magnetic + Induced-Polarization/resistivity + geochemical survey of the Bela Ophiolitic Complex: a high-magnetic anomaly (A2; residual 310-550 nT, IP 3.5-15.1 mV/V) over the ultramafic sequence is interpreted and geochemically confirmed as manganese mineralization (36.5% Mn in rock samples; ~48,400 ppm in stream sediment), at ~100 m depth within the anticlinal, NW-thrust complex. A separate negative anomaly (A1) is a barren, alluvium-covered shear zone. Quantifies the belt's manganese mineralization noted in the curated economic summary.

Rashid, M.U., Ahmed, W., Waseem, M., Zamin, B., Ahmad, M. & Sabri, M.M.S. (2022)

Geological significance (2)

Ullah et al. (2026): the upper-mantle section of the Bela Ophiolite Complex comprises depleted harzburgites and dunites with associated podiform chromitites, recording a two-stage petrogenesis. Stage 1 - harzburgites formed as a residual mantle product after low-degree (~15.7%) partial melting at a mid-ocean ridge (MOR). Stage 2 - dunites and chromitites formed after high-degree (~20.5%) melting and refertilization in a forearc / supra-subduction-zone (SSZ) mantle wedge, crystallizing through interaction between boninitic melts and residual peridotite. Cr-spinel Cr# increases from harzburgites (42.7-44.6) through dunites (69.3-71.7) to chromitites (79.1-79.9), and Re-Os isotope data (187Os/188Os ~0.114-0.144) show marked heterogeneity in this part of the Neo-Tethyan upper mantle. The complex thus records a MOR-to-SSZ tectonic transition.

Ullah, Z., Khan, A., Li, H., Khedr, M.Z., Shah, M.T., Khan, A., Ibrar, M., Idrees, M., Ahmad, I., Wang, H., Farhan, M. & Algeo, T.J. (2026)
Xiong et al. (2011), remote-sensing (Landsat ETM+ and ASTER) lithological mapping: the Bela Ophiolite is the largest ophiolite in Pakistan and formed in two episodes - a lower unit at ~110 Ma and an upper unit (a classic ophiolite sequence) at ~66 Ma. The upper unit was obducted onto the lower unit, and the two were then obducted together onto the Indian continental edge, with Nal Limestone deposited over the complex in Neogene times. Their mapping differentiates two basalt types and recognises, for the first time, an ultramafic body (~66 deg 15' E, 26 deg 39' N) in the lower unit. Consistent with (and predating) the MOR-to-SSZ two-stage model of Ullah et al. (2026).

Xiong, Y., Khan, S.D., Mahmood, K. & Sisson, V.B. (2011)

Sources (8)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008). Stratigraphy and Historical Geology of Pakistan. Department & National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar. 524 pp. ISBN 978-969-9119.
Ullah, Z., Khan, A., Li, H., Khedr, M.Z., Shah, M.T., Khan, A., Ibrar, M., Idrees, M., Ahmad, I., Wang, H., Farhan, M. & Algeo, T.J. (2026). Petrogenesis of peridotites and chromitites in the Bela Ophiolite Complex, western Pakistan: Implications for abyssal and forearc features. Solid Earth Sciences, 11, 100329.
Xiong, Y., Khan, S.D., Mahmood, K. & Sisson, V.B. (2011). Lithological mapping of Bela ophiolite with remote-sensing data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32(16), 4641-4658.
Rashid, M.U., Ahmed, W., Waseem, M., Zamin, B., Ahmad, M. & Sabri, M.M.S. (2022). Metallic-Mineral Prospecting Using Integrated Geophysical and Geochemical Techniques: A Case Study from the Bela Ophiolitic Complex, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Minerals, 12(7), 825.

Reviewer confidence: medium

Every fact on this page is source-cited. This entry is part of the peer-archived Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991, CC‑BY‑4.0).

Lexicon status: Name attested in the Shah (1977/2009) Geological Survey of Pakistan compilation — the national stratigraphic lexicon. This records where the name is documented; it is not an endorsement of the unit’s definition, age or figures.

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Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Bela Ophiolite. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_belaophiolite,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Bela Ophiolite} --- Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21363991},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991}
}

Archived dataset: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991 (CC‑BY‑4.0) · Direct link to this entry: https://stratigraphy.pk/formation/bela-ophiolite (accessed October 29, 2026).