Paleozoic • Permian–Triassic group In GSP lexicon

Chapursan Group

Permian

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: group
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian–TriassicPermian
Named by: Gaetani et al. (1990a)
Type locality: Chapursan and Shimshal valleys, upper Hunza36.7200°N, 74.5000°E
Thickness: ~400-500 m (Karambar sheet)
Lithology: A thick, mainly carbonate succession (Karambar Unit, Shuinj Glacier): brownish well-bedded and massive limestones passing to platy black limestones (KCh1), massive white limestones with large fusulinids passing to grey-black well-bedded limestones (KCh2), slates and marls passing up to cyclic marlstones and massive limestones (KCh3), massive carbonates interfingering with KCh3 (KCh4), and undifferentiated black slates and marlstones at the top (KCh5).
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Permian–Triassic group of upper Hunza made up of the Lupghar, Panjshah and Lashkargaz formations.

Chapursan group is named by Gaetani et al. (1990a) for the Lupghar and Panjshah formations in upper Hunza region and Lashkargaz formation in the Baroghil region of Shimshal and Chapursan Valleys of the upper Hunza.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

Shale / mudMetamorphicLimestoneSandstoneFossils 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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this group, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Karakoram

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: marine, carbonate platform, basinal
Coordinates: 36.7200°N, 74.5000°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Permian to Triassic group of the upper Hunza region comprising the Lupghar and Panjshah formations of upper Hunza together with the Lashkargaz Formation of the Baroghil/Shimshal–Chapursan area.

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, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (2)

Zanchi & Gaetani (2011): the Chapursan Group is a thick mainly-carbonate Permian succession overlying the Gircha Formation, with large fusulinids in the massive white limestones (KCh2); its upper part (massive carbonates, Kmc) may be Triassic in age. Detailed only in the remote Karambar Unit.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Chapursan Group (Gaetani et al. 1990a/1995; Shimshal and Chapursan valleys, upper Hunza) is a Middle to Late Permian marine sequence of sandstone, siltstone and limestone overlying the Gircha Formation, divided into the Lupghar and Panjshah formations (Upper Hunza) and the Lashkargaz Formation (Baroghil); it was first named the Panjshah Formation (1990a) then redefined as a group.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)

Thickness (1)

CONFIRMED against Zanchi & Gaetani (2011, Fig. 19): the Chapursan Group is Permian, ~400-500 m in the Karambar sheet. Thickness gap-filled.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)

Geological significance (1)

Gaetani et al. (1995): the Chapursan Group is introduced here for the mixed terrigenous-carbonate, shallow-water fossil-rich (fusulinids, brachiopods, bryozoans, corals, molluscs) units that make up the middle part of the Northern Karakorum Permian - comprising, from base to top, the Lashkargaz, Lupghar and Panjshah formations. It is kept distinct from the Darkot Group (Ivanac et al. 1956) despite possible affinity, and records a Sakmarian-onward carbonate ramp/platform above the terrigenous Gircha Formation.

Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995)

Sources (9)

Gaetani, M. et al. (1995). Permian stratigraphy of the upper Hunza (Lupghar, Panjshah, Lashkargaz formations).
Malkani, M. S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Vol. 24.
Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011). The geology of the Karakoram range, Pakistan: the new 1:100,000 geological map of Central-Western Karakoram. Italian Journal of Geosciences, 130(2), 161-262.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
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.
Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995). Permian stratigraphy in the Northern Karakorum, Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 101(2), 107-152.

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.

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Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_chapursangroup,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Chapursan 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/chapursan-group (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gaetani et al. (1990a).

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Guhjal Dolomite

Underlain by Gircha Formation