Abstract

Himalayan Fold Thrust Belt and Foreland in short Himalayan Basin comprising of tectonic units between Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ)/ Main Karakoram Thrust (MKT) and Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT)/ Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) along with the Punjab plains and the Ganga plains as foreland is spread in northern part of Indian plate bounded by southern part of Eurasian plate. This enables the division of sub-Himalaya into three tectonic belts, namely, Outer tectonic belt, Median tectonic belt and Inner tectonic belt from South to North. Numerous oil/ gas shows have been observed in the Median and Inner tectonic belts in Siwaliks, Dharamsalas and Subathu rocks exposed in sub-Himalaya and in Siwaliks in Ganga basin. These occurrences give ample evidence of the fact that hydrocarbon generation had indeed taken place within or around the vicinity of the sub-Himalaya and foreland. The authors have focused their studies in Eocene-Cambrian (E-C) package of subHimalaya in analogy with hydrocarbon producing province of Potwar plateau.