Alpurai Group
Paleozoic–Mesozoic
Northern Indus Suture · Malakand
Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026
- Rank
- group
- Status
- Published
- Age
- PaleozoicPaleozoic–Mesozoic
- Named by
- DiPietro (1990)
- Type locality
- Alpurai, Swat34.9000°N, 72.6500°E
- Thickness
- Not recorded
- Lithology
- Unfossiliferous siliceous schist, calcareous quartz-mica-garnet schist, marble and para-amphibolite.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
Redefined. First defined by DiPietro (1990).
Browse all alternative & superseded names →The Paleozoic–Mesozoic schist-and-marble cover of the Swat Nappe — the Marghazar, Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations.
Alpurai group is renamed by DiPietro (1990) after the Alpurai schist of Kazmi et al. (1984). Di Pietro (1990) mentioned the Marghazar, Kashala, Nakanai Ghar and Saidu formations in this group. 31
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
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.
Constituent units
Formations that make up this group, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).
Distribution & setting
- Basin
- Northern Indus Suture
- Region
- Malakand
- Depositional environment
- Not recorded
- Coordinates
- 34.9000°N, 72.6500°E
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
The Paleozoic–Mesozoic metasedimentary cover of the Precambrian Manglaur Schist (Swat Nappe), resting unconformably on the Swat Granite Gneiss; originally the 'Alpurai Schists' (Kazmi et al., 1984c), redefined by DiPietro (1990) to include the Marghazar, Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations.
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 (2)
-
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, S.M.I. (2009)
-
DiPietro et al. (1993): introduced by Kazmi et al. (1984) as the 'Alpurai schist' and raised to group rank — subdivided into the Marghazar, Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations — by DiPietro (1990). The group records Late-Palaeozoic breakup of Gondwana, a passive Mesozoic shelf, and drowning of the shelf at the onset of the Himalayan orogeny; it unconformably overlies the Manglaur Formation and the Swat granitic gneiss.
DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)
Age & correlation (1)
-
DEFINED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Alpurai Group (Lower Swat, south of the Main Mantle Thrust) = Marghazar Formation (Carboniferous or younger) + Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations (Triassic or younger); it unconformably overlies the Manglaur formation, with the Jobra formation in lenses beneath. Type sections designated for each unit. This is the defining paper for the group.
DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)
Geological significance (2)
-
The Alpurai Group metasediments record a south-to-north increasing Barrovian metamorphic gradient (Ahmad, Jan & Jehan 2005): greenschist facies (biotite grade; ~300-400 C, <=3 kb) around Takht-e-Bhai and Rustam in the south, rising to epidote-amphibolite facies (garnet-kyanite grade; ~580 C, ~5.5 kb) near Mora Kandao / Malakand in the north.
Ahmad, I., Jan, M.Q. & Jehan, N. (2005)
-
Anczkiewicz et al. (1998): the Alpurai Schists/Group (mica-garnet calc-schists) reach amphibolite facies up to kyanite grade (minimum ~550 C at 7 kbar) - not the greenschist grade of earlier work; their lower-part metabasalts likely represent the Permian Panjal Trap (Gondwana-break-up rifting). 40Ar-39Ar amphibole ages bracket the onset of post-collisional normal faulting on the Indus Suture at ~37-40 Ma.
Anczkiewicz, R., Burg, J.-P., Hussain, S.S., Dawood, H., Ghazanfar, M. & Chaudhry, M.N. (1998)
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.
- DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993). Stratigraphy south of the Main Mantle Thrust, Lower Swat, Pakistan. In: Treloar, P.J. & Searle, M.P. (eds), Himalayan Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 74, 207-220.
- Ahmad, I., Jan, M.Q. & Jehan, N. (2005). Metamorphic mineral assemblages south of the Malakand and adjoining areas, northern Pakistan. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar, 38, 139-148.
- 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.
- Anczkiewicz, R., Burg, J.-P., Hussain, S.S., Dawood, H., Ghazanfar, M. & Chaudhry, M.N. (1998). Stratigraphy and structure of the Indus Suture in the Lower Swat, Pakistan, NW Himalaya. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 16(2-3), 225-238.
Reviewer confidence: high
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.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Alpurai Group. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_alpuraigroup,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Alpurai Group} --- 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/alpurai-group (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: DiPietro (1990).
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