Paleozoic • Carboniferous–Permian formation In GSP lexicon

Panjal Formation

Early Permian (~290 Ma)

Northern Indus Suture · Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis, Kaghan Nappe And Nosehri Area Of Lower Neelum And Lamnian Area Of Upper Jhelum, Azad Kashmir

Part of Panjal Group

Carboniferous–Permian in the time scale →

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Carboniferous–Permian · Early PermianEarly Permian (~290 Ma)
Named by: Calkins et al. (1969)
Type locality: Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis (Nosehri, lower Neelum; Lamnian, upper Jhelum)
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Moderately metamorphosed lava flows and tuffs ('greenstones'; the Panjal volcanics), together with black agglomeratic slate — Carboniferous shale, slate and phyllite with quartzose agglomeratic sandstone.
Synonyms: Panjal System; Panjal Traps; Panjal Volcanic Series; Agglomeratic Slate

The Carboniferous–Permian Panjal volcanics ('greenstones') and agglomerate slate of the Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis.

Named by Chaudhry et al. (1986) for the upper volcano-sedimentary unit of the Panjal succession (Lydekker, 1878; Wadia, 1931), the Panjal Formation is exposed along the northern and eastern margins of the Hazara–Kashmir Syntaxis between the Murree and Panjal faults, and around Nosehri, Lamnian and Forward Kahota in Azad Kashmir. Associated Panjal-Trap dolerite dykes and gabbro–norite bodies intrude the older Proterozoic sequences.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Azad Kashmir column

LimestoneMixedMetamorphicFossils recordedConformableUnconformityContact not recorded

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.

Distribution & setting

Azad Kashmir

Basin: Northern Indus Suture
Region: Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis, Kaghan Nappe And Nosehri Area Of Lower Neelum And Lamnian Area Of Upper Jhelum, Azad Kashmir
Depositional environment: volcanic, marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The Panjal volcanic-and-agglomeratic-slate sequence exposed around the apex of the Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis (the 'Panjal System' of Lydekker, 1878); Calkins et al. (1969) applied the name to both the greenstone lava flows/tuffs and the agglomerate slate, dated Carboniferous to Permian on rare fossils.

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)

Lithology (2)

Calkins et al. (1975): the Panjal Formation wraps around the apex of the Hazara–Kashmir syntaxis as two mapped units — a lower 'Agglomeratic Slate' (black carbonaceous slate, glassy quartzose agglomeratic sandstone with volcanic, quartz, slate and dolomite fragments, minor tuff) and an extensive volcanic greenstone of metamorphosed intermediate-to-mafic lava flows and tuffs (chlorite–epidote–feldspar, amygdaloidal, locally amphibolite in the Manda Kuchha syncline). Wadia's (1931) ~9,000 ft (2,700 m) estimate at Paras is probably exaggerated by folding and faulting. Age Carboniferous–Permian (late-Carboniferous–Permian fauna in western Kashmir) ranging to Triassic in eastern Kashmir.

Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975)
In the Bhunja–Batakundi section of the Kaghan Valley the Panjal volcanics are dark greyish-green, fine-grained greenstones with chlorite porphyroblasts and altered pillow structures near Bhunja, with associated Shino, Sing and Bhunja marble/limestone bands (Ghazanfar & Chaudhry, 1985).

Ghazanfar, M. & Chaudhry, M.N. (1985)

Geological significance (2)

Chaudhry et al. (1989): in the Kaghan Valley the Panjal Formation overlies the Agglomeratic Slate (Chushal Formation) and, together with it and associated metabasites showing relic pillow structures, constitutes the Panjal series.

Chaudhry, M.N., Ghazanfar, M. & Hussain, M.S. (1989)
Tahirkheli, Khan & Mian (1993): the Warsak basic rocks near Peshawar are continental tholeiites of Permo-Triassic 'Panjal' affinity, extending the Panjal rift-volcanic province (widespread in the Zanskar and Pir Panjal ranges) into the Peshawar-Swat-Ambela region through correlatives such as the Karapa Greenschist and the Marghazar amphibolite marker horizon.

Tahirkheli, T., Khan, M.A. & Mian, I. (1993)

Sources (9)

Shellnutt, J. G. et al. (2011). U–Pb zircon ages constrain the Panjal Traps to the Early Permian (~288–289 Ma).
Malkani, M. S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Vol. 24.
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.
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.
Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975). Geology of the southern Himalaya in Hazara, Pakistan, and adjacent areas. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-C, 29 p. (Geological Investigations in Pakistan).
Chaudhry, M.N., Ghazanfar, M. & Hussain, M.S. (1989). Petrography, Metamorphism, Nature and Origin of Agglomeratic Slate in Kaghan Valley, District Mansehra, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 61-70.
Tahirkheli, T., Khan, M.A. & Mian, I. (1993). The Warsak basic rocks: Initial-rift stage continental tholeiites of Permo-Triassic 'Panjal' affinity. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar, 26, 17-33.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_panjalformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Panjal 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/panjal-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Calkins et al. (1969).