Cenozoic • Neogene In GSP lexicon

Chinji Formation

Middle to Late Miocene (Serravallian-Tortonian)

Cited in 14 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Neogene · MioceneMiddle to Late Miocene (Serravallian-Tortonian)
Named by: Lewis (1937)
Type locality: Chinji village, Potwar Plateau32.6604°N, 72.3755°E
Thickness: 500-800 m
Lithology: Red clay and sandstone
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Middle-Miocene red-clay floodplain deposit of the Potwar, celebrated worldwide for its Siwalik mammal fossils - including the ape Sivapithecus.

Fine-grained floodplain deposits. World-famous for Miocene mammal fauna including Deinotherium, Hipparion, and Sivapithecus.

Fossils

Sivapithecus Giraffokeryx Lower Siwalik ('Chinji') mammal fauna

Contacts

In the Potwar Basin column

SandstoneFossils 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

Potwar Basin Kohat Basin Salt Range

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: fluvial, floodplain
Coordinates: 32.6604°N, 72.3755°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Middle-Miocene, dominantly red-clay floodplain unit of the Lower Siwalik, defined by Lewis (1937) at Chinji village. Its fine-grained overbank deposits are world-famous for a rich Lower Siwalik mammal fauna, including the hominoid Sivapithecus and the giraffid Giraffokeryx, making it a key locality for Neogene mammalian evolution.

Sources (14)

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.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
Lindsay, E.H., Flynn, L.J. et al. (2005). Miocene stratigraphy and mammal fauna from the Sulaiman Range, Southwestern Himalayas, Pakistan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Johnson, N.M., Opdyke, N.D., Johnson, G.D., Lindsay, E.H. & Tahirkheli, R.A.K. (1982). Magnetic polarity stratigraphy and ages of Siwalik Group rocks of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 37, 17-42.
Badgley, C. & Tauxe, L. (1990). Paleomagnetic stratigraphy and time in sediments: studies in alluvial Siwalik rocks of Pakistan. Journal of Geology, 98, 457-477.
Iqbal, O., Baig, M.S., Pervez, S. & Siddiqi, M.I. (2018). Structure and Stratigraphy of Rumbli and Panjar Areas of Kashmir and Pakistan with the Aid of GIS. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 91, 57-66.
Khan, M.J., Opdyke, N.D. & Tahirkheli, R.A.K. (1988). Magnetic stratigraphy of the Siwalik Group, Bhittani, Marwat and Khasor Ranges, northwestern Pakistan, and the timing of Neogene tectonics of the Trans Indus. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93(B10), 11773-11790.
Gill, W.D. (1951). The stratigraphy of the Siwalik Series in the Northern Potwar, Punjab, Pakistan. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 107, 375-394.
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.
Flynn, L.J., Pilbeam, D., Barry, J.C., Morgan, M.E. & Raza, S.M. (2016). Siwalik synopsis: a long stratigraphic sequence for the Later Cenozoic of South Asia. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(7), 877-887.
Munthe, J., Hussain, S.T., Lukacs, J.R., West, R.M. & Shah, S.M.I. (1979). Neogene Stratigraphy of the Daud Khel Area, Mianwali District, Pakistan. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology, 23, 1-18.

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). Chinji Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_chinjiformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Chinji 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/chinji-formation (accessed September 5, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Lewis (1937).

Below · older

Kamlial Formation

Neogene

Above · younger

Nagri Formation