Precambrian • Neoproterozoic group In GSP lexicon

Kirana Group

Precambrian (870 ± 40 Ma)

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: group
Status: Published
Age: Precambrian · NeoproterozoicPrecambrian (870 ± 40 Ma)
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Kirana Hills, Sargodha District, Punjab31.9500°N, 72.7000°E
Thickness: Variable (inselberg remnants)
Lithology: Rhyolite, rhyolitic tuff, andesite, granite, diorite, gabbro
Synonyms: Not recorded

The oldest exposed rocks of the Punjab plains - a Neoproterozoic (~870 Ma) volcanic-plutonic complex (rhyolite, tuff, andesite, granite) forming the Kirana, Sangla and Chiniot inselbergs, the only surface exposure of Indian-shield basement in Punjab.

Oldest exposed rocks in Punjab plains, forming isolated hills (Kirana, Sangla, Chiniot). Represents Precambrian volcanic-plutonic complex of the Indian Shield. Only surface exposure of crystalline basement in the Punjab.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Sindh Province column

MarlIgneousFossils recordedContact not recordedUnconformity

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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this group, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Sindh Province Potwar Basin Indo-Pakistan Shield

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: Not recorded
Coordinates: 31.9500°N, 72.7000°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Building stone

Source of building stone and aggregate

Remarks

Records Neoproterozoic felsic-dominated volcanism and plutonism on the northwestern margin of the Indian Shield; correlated with the Malani Igneous Suite and Marwar Supergroup of Rajasthan and interpreted within a NE-Gondwana / Rodinia setting.

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 (1)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kirana Group (Kazmi 1964; Kirana Hills near Sargodha) is Late Proterozoic — a Rb-Sr isochron of 870 ± 40 Ma (Davies & Crawford 1971), part of the 850–750 Ma post-Delhi anorogenic event — >2,330 m of unfossiliferous phyllite, slate, quartzite and subordinate conglomerate with bimodal rhyolite–dolerite volcanics, subdivided into the Hachi, Taguwali, Asianwala, Hadda and Sharaban formations; the western extension of the Indian shield forming the probable basement to the Salt Range.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)

Constituent units (1)

Revised Kirana Complex scheme (Chaudhry, Ahsan & Rehman 2022, Table 4): the Kirana Group comprises (top to bottom) the Asianwala Formation, Taguwali Formation and Chak 112 Conglomerates.

Chaudhry, M.N., Ahsan, N. & Rehman, S.U. (2022)

Geological significance (1)

Jamil & Sheikh (2012): the low-grade Neoproterozoic metasediments of the Kirana Hills, together with the Salt Range Formation, are among the exposed Neoproterozoic rocks of the Punjab Platform being re-evaluated for hydrocarbon-reservoir potential; the Punjab-Platform Neoproterozoic appears separated from that of the Potwar by a palaeo-high, and correlates with outcrops in Rajasthan (India).

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

Sources (8)

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.
Ahmed, T. & Hassan, I. (2025). Regional Geodynamic Implications of Proterozoic Volcanic and Metasedimentary Sequences in the Kirana Hills, Punjab, Pakistan. Indonesian Journal on Geoscience, 12(3), 437-465.
Chaudhry, M.N., Ahsan, N. & Rehman, S.U. (2022). Revised Stratigraphy of Sargodha-Chiniot Area, Punjab, Pakistan. The Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 2022, pp. 1-9.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Jamil, A. & Sheikh, R.A. (2012). An overview of Neoproterozoic reservoirs in Pakistan. In: Bhat, G.M., Craig, J., Thurow, J.W. et al. (eds) Geology and Hydrocarbon Potential of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian Basins in Asia. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 366, 111-121.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_kiranagroup,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Kirana Group} --- 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/kirana-group (accessed October 29, 2026).