Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation In GSP lexicon

Gawuch Formation

Early Cretaceous

Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc · Northern Greenstone Belt

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 18, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · CretaceousEarly Cretaceous
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Gawuch Gol35.6000°N, 71.8000°E
Thickness: about 2,000 m
Lithology: Green phyllites and limestone; intruded near the base by diorite.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Cretaceous green-phyllite-and-limestone of the Chitral arc, beneath the Purit Formation.

Gawuch formation (2km thick) with Gawuch Gol type section consists of green phyllites and limestone. Toward the base phyllite is intruded by diorite. It is overlain by Purit formation.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Kohistan Arc column

Shale / mudIgneousLimestoneMetamorphicContact 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.

Distribution & setting

Kohistan Arc

Basin: Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc
Region: Northern Greenstone Belt
Depositional environment: volcanic-arc, marine
Coordinates: 35.6000°N, 71.8000°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Cretaceous metasedimentary unit of the Chitral part of the Kohistan–Dir arc, overlain by the Purit Formation and intruded by arc diorites.

Research notes (1)

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)

Sources (6)

Pudsey, C. J. et al. (1985). Gawuch Formation, Kohistan arc cover; Early Cretaceous (Orbitolina).
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.
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.

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Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_gawuchformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Gawuch 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/gawuch-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

Above · younger

Purit Formation

Cretaceous