Paleozoic • Carboniferous formation GSP memoir

Chushal Formation

Early Permian

Northern Indus Suture · Hazara Sub-Basin

Part of Panjal Group

Carboniferous in the time scale →

Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Carboniferous · Late CarboniferousEarly Permian
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Agglomeratic slate.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Late Carboniferous agglomeratic slate of the Hazara–Kashmir Himalaya.

The Chushal Formation is the Agglomeratic Slate (named by Middlemiss 1910-1911; the 'Chushal Formation' of Bossart et al. 1984) of the Kaghan Valley, District Mansehra. It is a highly heterogeneous, greenschist-facies (biotite-grade) unit of graphitic schist, feldspathic and micaceous quartzite, pelitic schist, feldspathic chlorite-calcite schist, marble and metaconglomerate, carrying devitrified volcanogenic matter. Of Upper Carboniferous to Permian age, it lies between the underlying Tanawal (Tanol) Formation and the overlying Panjal Formation and is the Kaghan equivalent of the Agglomeratic Slate of Kashmir (part of the Panjal series). Its origin is debated - variously volcanic, glacial or mixed; Chaudhry, Ghazanfar & Hussain (1989) read it as combined volcanic, volcanogenic, continental, glacial and marine facies deposited during rifting of the NW Indian margin.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Hazara Basin column

LimestoneMetamorphicFossils recordedUnconformityContact not recorded

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type (wavy = unconformity inferred from a missing period); 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.

Distribution & setting

Hazara Basin

Basin: Northern Indus Suture
Region: Hazara Sub-Basin
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Late Carboniferous agglomeratic-slate unit of the Kashmir–Hazara Himalayan zone, associated with the Permian volcanic rocks (Panjal Trap correlatives) of the region.

Research notes (2)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Lithology (1)

Chaudhry, Ghazanfar & Hussain (1989): the Chushal Formation (Agglomeratic Slate) of the Kaghan Valley is a highly heterogeneous, greenschist-facies (biotite-grade) assemblage of graphitic schist, feldspathic and micaceous quartzite, pelitic schist, feldspathic chlorite-calcite schist, marble and metaconglomerate, containing devitrified cryptocrystalline volcanogenic (volcanic-derived) matter.

Chaudhry, M.N., Ghazanfar, M. & Hussain, M.S. (1989)

Geological significance (1)

Chaudhry et al. (1989): named the Agglomeratic Slate by Middlemiss (1910-1911) and the 'Chushal Formation' by Bossart et al. (1984), it is the Kaghan (District Mansehra) equivalent of the Agglomeratic Slate of Kashmir and part of the Panjal series. It is underlain by the Tanawal (Tanol) Formation (contact often faulted, locally gradational) and overlain by the Panjal Formation. Its origin is historically contested (explosive-volcanic vs glacial); the authors interpret mixed volcanic, volcanogenic, continental, glacial and marine facies deposited during rifting of the NW Indian margin under subarctic conditions (supporting Wadia 1931, 1975). Age Upper Carboniferous to Permian.

Chaudhry, M.N., Ghazanfar, M. & Hussain, M.S. (1989)

Sources (6)

Chaudhry, M. N. et al. (1986); Panjal system (agglomeratic slate member), Early Permian.
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.
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.
Chaudhry, M.N., Ghazanfar, M. & Hussain, M.S. (1989). Petrography, Metamorphism, Nature and Origin of Agglomeratic Slate in Kaghan Valley, District Mansehra, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 61-70.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_chushalformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Chushal 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/chushal-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).