Mesozoic • Triassic formation In GSP lexicon

Kashala Formation

Triassic

Northern Indus Suture · Malakand

Part of Alpurai Group

Triassic in the time scale →

Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Late Triassic (Carnian)Triassic
Named by: DiPietro (1990)
Type locality: Named from Kashala mountain ~13 km SSW of Saidu, Lower Swat; two type sections — road cuts on Dop Sar (high-grade) and stream cuts north of Baroch (low-grade).
Thickness: about 4000 m
Lithology: Calcareous schist and schistose marble with massive white-to-grey marble, about 4000 m thick.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A thick (~4000 m) Late Triassic marble-and-calc-schist unit of the Alpurai Group, dated by conodonts.

Kashala formation consists of calcareous schist and schistose marble with massive white to grey marble of about 4000m thick, sharp contact with underlying amphibolites of Marghazar formation. Pogue et al. (1992) reported upper Triassic (Carnian) conodonts from the marble in the mid of formation.

Fossils

Conodonts

Contacts

In the Swat–Malakand column

MetamorphicMixedFossils recordedContact 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

Swat–Malakand

Basin: Northern Indus Suture
Region: Malakand
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 thick calcareous-schist and marble unit of the Alpurai Group that has yielded Late Triassic (Carnian) conodonts (Pogue et al., 1992), fixing the Mesozoic age of the upper Alpurai Group; it rests on the Marghazar Formation and is overlain by the Saidu Formation.

Research notes (4)

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)

Age & correlation (2)

CONFIRMED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Kashala Formation of the Alpurai Group, Triassic or younger. Corroborates the Triassic age.

DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)
Pogue, Harris & Hussain (1992): conodonts (Neogondolella polygnathiformis augusta) from marble horizons date the Kashala Formation as Late Triassic (Carnian). About 1,300 m of massive brown-weathering marble alternating with marble and calcareous phyllite (>1,500 m north of Rustam); part of the Alpurai Group of Swat, correlated with the Kingriali Formation of the Salt Range, and intruded near Baroch by the Ambela Granitic Complex.

Pogue, K.R., Harris, A.G. & Hussain, A. (1992)

Geological significance (1)

DiPietro et al. (1993): marks the transition to a stable carbonate shelf and may correlate in part with the Zanskar Supergroup of western India; thickness ranges from <700 m north of Jowar to >1200 m near Baroch.

DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)

Sources (6)

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.
DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993). Stratigraphy south of the Main Mantle Thrust, Lower Swat, Pakistan. In: Treloar, P.J. & Searle, M.P. (eds), Himalayan Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 74, 207-220.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Pogue, K.R., Harris, A.G. & Hussain, A. (1992). Paleozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy of the Peshawar basin, Pakistan: Correlations and implications. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 104(8), 915-927.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_kashalaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Kashala 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/kashala-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: DiPietro (1990).

Below · older

Marghazar Formation

Carboniferous

Above · younger

Saidu Formation

Triassic–Jurassic

Referenced in other successions

Underlain by Karapa Greenschist