Paleozoic • Devonian–Carboniferous formation In GSP lexicon

Margach Formation

Devonian–Carboniferous

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Devonian–Carboniferous in the time scale →

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Devonian–Carboniferous · Late Devonian–Early CarboniferousDevonian–Carboniferous
Named by: Gaetani et al. (2004)
Type locality: Margach cattle shelter, north side of the Ribat River along Zoe glacier
Thickness: about 200 m
Lithology: About 200 m of slate, siltstone, sandstone and limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous sandstone-and-limestone unit above the Shogram Formation.

Margach formation is named after the Margach cattle shelter on the north side of the Ribat River along Zoe glacier by Gaetani et al. (2004), consists of 200m slates, siltstone, sandstone and limestone. It overlies the Shogram formation and its age is Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous by Gaetani et al. (2004).

Fossils

Brachiopods (spiriferids, productoids)Conodonts Receptaculites

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

LimestoneMetamorphicSandstoneShale / mudFossils 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

Karakoram

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
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 Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous mixed clastic–carbonate unit overlying the Shogram Formation in the upper Yarkhun/Karambar region.

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 (2)

Zanchi & Gaetani (2011): the Margach Formation is ?Famennian–earliest Tournaisian; a small brachiopod assemblage in the third lithozone of the Karambar type section (Ribat Valley; Gaetani et al. 2004b) suggests an early–middle Tournaisian age, with no Famennian evidence. About 294 m in three lithozones (siltstones/slates with rare bioclastic limestones and a Receptaculites bed, passing up to progradational arenites); a muddy shallow-marine flat, gradational above the Shogram Formation.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Gaetani, Zanchi, Angiolini et al. (2004) — the primary paper that DEFINES the Margach Formation (new name; type section on the north side of the Ribat valley, Karambar thrust sheet): prevailing dark shales with subordinate fine subarkoses and quartzarenites, up to ~300 m thick, dated by brachiopod and conodont biostratigraphy to mid-Famennian to middle Tournaisian (latest Devonian to ?early middle Tournaisian) — recording the early-rifting passive margin of the Northern Karakoram Terrane. Corroborates the curated Devonian–Carboniferous age; adds the definitional source (previously carried only on Zanchi & Gaetani 2011).

Gaetani, M., Zanchi, A., Angiolini, L., Olivini, G., Sciunnach, D., Brunton, H., Nicora, A. & Mawson, R. (2004)

Lithology (1)

CONFIRMED against Zanchi & Gaetani (2011, full text, Fig. 19): dark grey-black splintery siltstone/shale of a muddy shelf, Lower Carboniferous; thickness ~100 m (Lashkargaz/Baroghil sheet) to 200-300 m (Karambar sheet) - NOT the ~300 m single figure from the earlier snippet; age ?Famennian-earliest Tournaisian. Corroborates the Devonian-Carboniferous age.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Surfaced from the age notes into fossils[]: the Margach Formation is dated by brachiopod and conodont biostratigraphy (Gaetani et al. 2004b); the third lithozone of the Karambar type section carries a small brachiopod assemblage and a Receptaculites bed (Zanchi & Gaetani 2011). Body-fossil content, not a trace assemblage.

Gaetani, M., Zanchi, A., Angiolini, L., Olivini, G., Sciunnach, D., Brunton, H., Nicora, A. & Mawson, R. (2004)

Sources (5)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
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.
Gaetani, M., Zanchi, A., Angiolini, L., Olivini, G., Sciunnach, D., Brunton, H., Nicora, A. & Mawson, R. (2004). The Carboniferous of the Western Karakoram (Pakistan). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 23(2), 275-305.
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.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_margachformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Margach 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/margach-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gaetani et al. (2004).

Below · older

Shogram Formation

Devonian

Above · younger

Ribat Formation

Carboniferous