Paleozoic • Cambrian formation In GSP lexicon

Chikar Formation

Cambrian

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 18, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · CambrianCambrian
Named by: Kazmi and Jan (1997)
Type locality: Chikar village, upper Yarkhun valley, south of Darkot Pass36.6800°N, 73.4500°E
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Metasedimentary siltstone and quartzite intruded by granitic dykes, passing southward into schist, hornfels and migmatite.
Synonyms: Not recorded

Ancient basement metasediments of the upper Yarkhun valley — among the oldest rocks of the Karakoram-Hindukush, cut by old granite.

Chikar formation named after the Chikar village by Kazmi and Jan (1997) in the upper reaches of Yarkhun valley south of Darkot pass, contains siltstones and quartzites intruded by several granitic dykes, southward schist and hornfels and migmatites. Its age is Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian (Le Fort et al. 1994).

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Hindukush-Chitral column

MixedSandstoneShale / mudFossils recordedConformable

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. 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.

Distribution & setting

Hindukush-Chitral

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: Not recorded
Coordinates: 36.6800°N, 73.4500°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

One of the oldest units of the basin: a Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian metasedimentary sequence (Le Fort et al., 1994) intruded by the pre-Ordovician Ishkarwaz Granite in the upper Yarkhun valley of the Hindukush.

Sources (4)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.

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

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_chikarformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Chikar Formation} --- 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/chikar-formation (accessed September 5, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Kazmi and Jan (1997).