Paleozoic • Permian formation In GSP lexicon

Lashkargaz Formation

Permian

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Part of Chapursan Group

Permian in the time scale →

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian · Early–Middle PermianPermian
Named by: Gaetani et al. (1995)
Type locality: Lashkargaz36.8300°N, 73.4800°E
Thickness: up to 1000 m
Lithology: Thick succession of shale with subordinate sandstone and limestone; in ascending order siltstone with phosphatic nodules, oncoidal limestone, shale, dolomite with fusulinids, and grey cherty limestone and dolomite.
Synonyms: Not recorded

The Baroghil-area counterpart of the Chapursan Group — a thick, fossil-rich Permian shale-and-limestone succession.

Lashkargaz formation is named after the Lashkargaz village in the upper Yarkhun valley 10km ESE of Baroghil Pass by Gaetani et al. (1995) and he presented members of siltites, packstone, wackstone, shales and marls of Early Permian age. 16

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Hindukush-Chitral column

LimestoneShale / mudConglomerateMetamorphicFossils recordedContact not recordedUnconformity

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

Hindukush-Chitral

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: marine, shallow marine
Coordinates: 36.8300°N, 73.4800°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

Baroghil-region (Upper Yarkhun) equivalent of the Chapursan Group; a fossil-rich late Early to Middle Permian shelf succession overlying the Gircha Formation.

Research notes (5)

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 (3)

CONFIRMED against Zanchi & Gaetani (2011, Fig. 19): the Lashkargaz Formation is Permian, ~150-200 m (Lasht/Siru) to ~400 m (Lashkargaz/Baroghil). Corroborates the Permian age.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Zanchi & Gaetani (2011): the Lashkargaz Formation ranges from the Sakmarian (Member 1) to the Kungurian–Roadian (Member 4), i.e. late Early to earliest Middle Permian. Five members (Gaetani et al. 1995, emended Leven et al. 2007) totalling >1000 m, dominated by fusulinid-rich packstones — one of the richest fossil units of the Western Karakoram — deposited on a progressively deeper carbonate ramp. Type area SW of Lashkargaz; former Member 5 is now part of the Ini Sar Formation.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Gaetani et al. (1995): the Lashkargaz Formation spans the Sakmarian to the Kubergandian (possibly Murgabian at its top). Member 1 carries the Hunzina electa brachiopod range zone (Sakmarian, with the conodont Adetognathus paralautus); Member 2 a Chalaroschwagerina-Pamirina fusulinid assemblage suggesting Artinskian; the Orthothetina convergens-Aldina exilis zone (?Bolorian); and lower Member 4 the Waagenoconcha macrotuberculata-Callytharrella sinensis zone with Parafusulina (Skinnerella) fusulinids and Sweetognathus aff. whitei conodonts indicating the Kubergandian, with transitional Gondolella idahoensis/phosphoriensis forms near the top pointing to Kubergandian-Murgabian.

Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995)

Geological significance (1)

Gaetani et al. (1995): the Lashkargaz Formation is formally named here (Chapursan Group), with its type section at Lashkargaz in the Upper Yarkhun area (base missing beneath the Yarkhun braided plain; lowest part measured in the Baroghil East section). It exceeds ~1,000 m eastward and is arranged in four members: (1) siltstones with phosphatic nodules and crinoidal/marly interbeds (~300 m at Baroghil E); (2) a carbonate member with fusulinid-rich packstones and oncoidal wackestones (108 m at Baroghil E, 368 m at Lashkargaz); (3) a renewed terrigenous member of two quartzarenite horizons with oncoidal packstones (80-144 m); and (4) a fusulinid- and chert-bearing carbonate member (224 m at Baroghil, up to 450 m at Lashkargaz) capped by Tubiphytes-Porifera buildups. It overlies the Gircha Formation and is overlain by the Gharil Formation.

Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995)

Sources (7)

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.
Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011). The geology of the Karakoram range, Pakistan: the new 1:100,000 geological map of Central-Western Karakoram. Italian Journal of Geosciences, 130(2), 161-262.
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.
Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995). Permian stratigraphy in the Northern Karakorum, Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 101(2), 107-152.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_lashkargazformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Lashkargaz 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/lashkargaz-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gaetani et al. (1995).

Below · older

Gircha Formation

Permian

Above · younger

Gharil Formation

Permian

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Ini Sar Formation

Lashkargaz Formation

Fossils

Contacts

Distribution & setting

Correlation

Economic significance

Remarks

Research notes (5)

Name & nomenclature (1)

Age & correlation (3)

Geological significance (1)

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