The docking of India onto the Asian continent has resulted in tremendous uplift throughout much of the Cenozoic. Erosion of the uplifted mountain ranges and deposition in tectonically depressed basins has also resulted in one of the thickest and the most complete records of late Cenozoic. Sediments spanning the last ~ 20 Ma are well exposed in the Siwalik and Rawalpindi Group rocks of the Potwar Plateau of northern Pakistan. The earlier continental record is preserved to the South in the Sulaiman foreland basin, located in central Pakistan. However, the Sulaiman sequence lies almost completely within Tribal Territory and cannot be accessed by foreigners (including the non-tribal Pakistani). Fortunately, there is one corner of the SUlaiman foreland basin that is accessible to non-native persons, the Zinda Pir Dome. We have targeted this area for a combined magneto-biostratigraphic study in order to extend the vertebrate fossil record into deposits older that the 18.3 Ma limit found in the Potwar Plateau. This project was initiated by Dr. E.H. Lindsay of the University of Arizona in 1987. Lindsay and co-workers have completed three field seasons (1988, 1989 and 1990). During the last of these a number of paleomagnetic samples were taken. However, skepticism in the community exists about the potential for success of the paleomagnetic investigations. Since paleomagnetic data are essential to provide a chronostratigraphic framework, we are requesting limited support to analyze existing samples in order to assess their reliability as paleomagnetic recorders. As this study necessarily carries some risk of failure, we are seeking funds specifically designated for "small-scale, exploratory, high-risk" research.
