Hazara Formation

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)

Calkins et al. (1975): earlier names for this slate–phyllite–graywacke sequence are 'Attock Slates' (Waagen & Wynne 1872), 'Slate Series of Hazara' (Middlemiss 1896) and 'Hazara Slate Formation' (Marks & Ali 1961) — the curated 'Salt Series of Hazara' appears to be a slip for Middlemiss's 'Slate Series of Hazara'. It is equated with the Dogra Slates of Poonch (Kashmir), the Attock Slates and the Simla Slate Series of India.

Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975)

Pogue et al. (1999) use 'Hazara (Dakhner) Formation', i.e. the Dakhner Formation as a local/metamorphosed equivalent name for the Hazara Formation in the Peshawar-basin region. Recorded as an equivalent name (the curated synonyms array is retained).

Pogue, K.R., Hylland, M.D., Yeats, R.S., Khattak, W.U. & Hussain, A. (1999)

Corroborated by DiPietro & Pogue (2004, Fig. 3): the Hazara Formation is a Lower Proterozoic argillite/quartzite/siltstone/limestone unit of the Western Lesser Himalaya (below the Murree Formation across the MBT). Consistent with the dataset s Neoproterozoic age.

DiPietro, J.A. & Pogue, K.R. (2004)

Calkins et al. (1975, USGS PP 716-C): the Hazara Formation is Precambrian(?) and possibly lower Palaeozoic — essentially unaltered shale, siltstone and limestone in the southern part of the area — overlying the Precambrian Salkhala Formation; its unmetamorphosed state there argues against a Precambrian-Palaeozoic metamorphic event.

Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975)

Qasim et al. (2018): the youngest detrital zircon in the Hazara Formation (sample 2015A2) gives a maximum depositional age of ~754 ± 10 Ma, consistent with the older Rb-Sr estimates (765 ± 20, 950 ± 20 Ma; Crawford & Davies 1975) and constraining deposition to the Neoproterozoic (deep-marine turbidites with Bouma divisions). A modern U-Pb refinement of the Hazara age.

Qasim, M., Ding, L., Khan, M.A., Jadoon, I.A.K., Haneef, M., Baral, U., Umar, M., Cai, F., Shah, A. & Yao, W. (2018)

Calkins et al. (1975): mainly dark-grey to black slate, phyllite and unmetamorphosed shale with subordinate graywacke sandstone; two zones between Muzaffarabad and Kohala carry limestone beds totalling up to ~500 ft (150 m) and a calcareous-phyllite-with-gypsum sequence 100–400 ft (30–120 m) thick, integral to the formation. The presence of limestone, graphite and gypsum argues against the earlier turbidite/flysch interpretation, favouring a shallow-water argillaceous origin. No fossils have been found; correlation with the fossiliferous-Cambrian-overlain Dogra Slates suggests a Precambrian age possibly extending into the Cambrian–Ordovician.

Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975)

Calkins (1967): the Hazara Formation is a thick, widespread sequence of black and brown slate, phyllite and graywacke sandstone of Precambrian age underlying large tracts between Kashmir and the Indus River; earlier names include the 'Attock Slates' (Waagen & Wynne 1872) and the 'Slate Series of Hazara' (Middlemiss).

Calkins, J.A. (1967)

Detailed facies analysis characterizes the Precambrian Hazara Formation as greywacke sandstone, siltstone, shale and argillite arranged in fining-upward turbidite lithofacies with well-developed (complete and incomplete) Bouma sequences, indicating deep-marine turbidite (submarine-fan) deposition (Dar et al. 2021).

Dar, Q.U.Z., Renhai, P., Ghazi, S., Sajid, Z., Wahab, A., Zubair, R.A. & Aziz, T. (2021)

Around Nathiagali the Hazara Slate Formation is flysch-type geosynclinal turbidite (argillites, silty shales, siltstones and subgreywackes) exceeding 10,000 ft, with graded bedding, flute casts and slump structures and a thick psammite (>500 ft) forming Miranjani Peak; it contains the Langrial and Miranjani algal (oncolitic/stromatolitic) limestone bands and is overlain with apparent paraconformity by the Toarcian Maira Formation (Bouleiceras cf. nitescens) (Gardezi, 1968).

Gardezi, A.H. (1968)

Umar et al. (2015): facies analysis of six Hazara-Basin sections shows the Hazara Formation (shale, siltstone and sandstone; base not exposed; Rb/Sr 765+/-20 and 950+/-20 Ma, Crawford & Davies 1975) was deposited in a deep-marine turbidite system - complete and incomplete Bouma sequences, with a proximal inner fan and submarine channels in the south passing north-northwest into outer-fan lobes and base-of-slope/basin-floor turbidites; palaeocurrents flow north-northwest, indicating sediment supply from the south-southeast (inferred Aravalli-Bundelkhand craton source).

Umar, M., Betts, P., Khan, M.M.S., Sabir, M.A., Farooq, M., Zeb, A., Jadoon, U.K. & Ali, S. (2015)

Akhtar et al. (2019): in the Dhamtaur area the Precambrian Hazara Formation (Hazara Slates) is the oldest unit and, with the Permian–Triassic missing, is overlain unconformably by the Jurassic Samana Suk Formation; along the Hazara Thrust the Precambrian Hazara Formation is carried southward over the Samana Suk Formation.

Akhtar, S., Rahim, Y., Hu, B., Tsang, H., Ibrar, K.M., Ullah, M.F. & Bute, S.I. (2019)

Jamil & Sheikh (2012): the Hazara Basin contains glacial Pokhran-type boulder beds recording Cryogenian 'snowball Earth' glaciation, correlated with Neoproterozoic glacial facies across the India–Pakistan border and worldwide. Pogue et al. (1999) treat the Hazara (Dakhner) Formation and its metamorphosed equivalents as the basal unit of the Himalayan-foothills succession south of the MMT.

Jamil, A. & Sheikh, R.A. (2012)

Butt (1989): the Precambrian Hazara Formation is the oldest exposed unit of the Hazara Arc - a thick turbidite sequence (graded bedding, cross-bedding, ripple marks, slump/ball-and-pillow structures) of alternating argillaceous and arenaceous beds with occasional stromatolitic (algal) limestone bands, notably the Langrial and Miranjani algal limestones. Type section at Baragali (Abbottabad-Nathiagali road); the name (Butt 1972) supersedes the 'Slate Series' of Middlemiss (1896) and 'Hazara Group' of Latif (1970). Its base is faulted (Nathiagali/Panjal thrust) and it is unconformably overlain by the Lower Jurassic.

Butt, A.A. (1989)

Umar et al. (2015): the Hazara Formation correlates with the Chandpur Formation / Shimla Group of the Indian Lesser Himalaya and the Madiyi / Hetong formations of South China (all fine-grained deep-marine Late Neoproterozoic successions), a correlation used to argue that South China lay close to the northwestern margin of India during Rodinia break-up and Gondwana assembly.

Umar, M., Betts, P., Khan, M.M.S., Sabir, M.A., Farooq, M., Zeb, A., Jadoon, U.K. & Ali, S. (2015)

Fuchs (1970): the Hazara Group (former 'Hazara Slates') is a thick slate complex of geosynclinal character that Fuchs correlated with the Dogra Slates and Simla Slates of the Lower Himalayas; through the Palaeozoic, Hazara sedimentation was closely tied to the Lower Himalayan basin.

Fuchs, G. (1970)

Butt (1972) formalized the Hazara Formation (replacing the 'Slate Series' of Middlemiss 1896 and 'Hazara Slate Formation' of Marks & Ali 1961) and rejected Latif's (1970) fivefold 'Hazara Group' split, since the siliciclastic units lack distinct lithological boundaries; it is a thick flyschoid turbiditic succession of argillites, silty shales and subgreywackes with intercalated algal limestones, with type exposures at Baragali.

Butt, A.A. (1972)