This study examines the impacts of the unprecedented 2022 monsoon season in Pakistan's Swat River basin, where rainfall exceeded historical averages by 7 %–8 %. This extreme weather led to catastrophic debris flows and floods, worsening challenges for low-income communities. The resulting financial instability affected millions, causing significant damage to homes, crops, and transportation. The study employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining field investigations, remote sensing data interpretation, and numerical simulations to identify the factors contributing to debris flow incidents. Analysis of land cover changes reveals a decrease in grasslands and an increase in barren land, indicating the adverse effects of deforestation on the region. Topography and gully morphology are crucial in initiating debris flows, with steep gradients and shallow-slope failures predominant. Numerical simulations show that debris flows reached high velocities of 18 m s⁻¹ and depths of 40 m within 45 min. Two debris flows resulted in the formation of dams along the Swat River, intensifying subsequent floods. The study emphasizes the interplay of extreme rainfall and deforestation during the rainy season, rendering the region susceptible to debris flows and hindering restoration efforts. Recommendations include climate change mitigation, reforestation initiatives, and discouraging construction activities in flood-prone and debris-flow-prone regions. The study advocates for enhanced early warning systems and rigorous land use planning to protect the environment and local communities, highlighting the imperative of proactive measures in the face of escalating climate challenges. Additionally, the study investigates the spatial distribution of various events and their consequences, including potential hydrometeorological triggers, and how such events initiate processes that change mountain landscapes. It also assesses the extent to which the 2022 monsoon can be classified as abnormal. The combination of empirical evidence and practical insights presented in this study highlights research gaps and proposes routes toward a deeper understanding of monsoon-triggered geological hazards and their consequences.

The studied section of the middle Jurassic Samana Suk Formation exposed at Village Rani-Wah near Bestway Cement Factory, Haripur represents the part of southern Hazara Basin in the northwestern Himalayan Fold and Thrust Belt of North Pakistan. This study aims to investigate the detailed outcrop features of the well-exposed stratigraphic section to establish the microfacies analysis along with the identification of the diagenetic imprints. A comprehensive approach towards the recognition of textural constituents is adopted to envisage the corresponding depositional environments after in depth measurement, logging, and sampling procedures. These thick carbonate platform deposits primarily comprise of medium to thick bedded limestone sequences with intermittent dolomitic horizons. Based on careful textural investigations, five microfacies types have been recognized in the studied section. These microfacies are I) Mudstone Microfacies; II) Wackstone Microfacies (Bioclastic Wackstone and Ooidal-Peloidal Wackstone as Sub-Microfacies); III) Wackstone-Packstone Microfacies (Peloidal Wackstone-Packstone, Intraclastic Wackstone-Packstone and Bioclastic Wackstone-Packstone as Sub-Microfacies); IV) Intraclastic Packstone Microfacies and V) Intraclastic Grainstone Microfacies. The integration of both outcrop and microfacies analyses suggests a restricted lagoonal to gently dipping mid ramp Tethyan carbonate platform of the Bajocian-Callovian Samana Suk Formation. The ramp platform was struck by waves as well as tides of different intensities. Most of these marginal marine settings were occupied by lagoons, subtidal-intra tidal beaches down to the middle ramp. The mudstones show evidence of a restricted lagoon environment whereas the intraclastic limestones represent inner ramp settings with relatively higher energy conditions. A variety of allochemical constituents including skeletal fragments, ooids, peloids and intraclasts have been identified during the petrographic studies. The processes including biogenic alteration, compaction, neomorphism, dissolution, dolomitization, cementation and fracture fillings provide a clear manifestation of the diagenetic imprints from the studied section. This investigation focuses on compilation of all the important sedimentological attributes of the Samana Suk Formation in the studied area located north of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT).

Landslides represent a significant hazard worldwide, leading to substantial loss of life and property. In Pakistan’s Balakot Valley, severe landslides frequently disrupt key roadways, particularly along the Balakot-Naran route, which serves as a crucial artery for tourism—the region’s primary economic activity. This study aimed to create a high-resolution landslide susceptibility map for a 457 km² area along this road, where landslides are driven by factors such as intense rainfall, weak geological formations, seismic activity, and slope destabilization due to road construction. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, we analyzed nine critical landslide-predictive factors: slope, aspect, lithology, land cover/land use, plan curvature, profile curvature, and proximity to faults, roads, and streams. Our methodology applied the frequency ratio (FR) model to 80% of the landslide inventory data for model construction, while 20% of the inventory was reserved for validation. The resulting susceptibility map, classified into low, moderate, high, and very high-risk zones using the natural breaks method in ArcGIS, indicates that slope gradient, lithology, land cover, and stream proximity are the primary contributors to landslide occurrence in this area. Model performance metrics demonstrate high predictive accuracy, with a success rate of 0.93 and a prediction rate of 0.96. The generated susceptibility map provides a robust tool for hazard management, offering valuable insights for targeted mitigation strategies and sustainable infrastructure development in this landslide-prone region. This study advanced landslide susceptibility mapping by integrating high-impact geospatial factors with an innovative, validated FR approach, supporting safer, data-driven land use planning and disaster preparedness.