Mesozoic • Cretaceous In GSP lexicon

Reshun Formation

Late Cretaceous

Cretaceous in the time scale →

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late CretaceousLate Cretaceous
Named by: Hayden (1915)
Type locality: Reshun, Mastuj valley, Chitral36.1550°N, 72.0989°E
Thickness: 500-1500 m
Lithology: The Reshun Conglomerate: a lower psammite/conglomerate (Awi Conglomerate) overlain by micritic limestone and maroon shale.
Synonyms: Awi Conglomerate; Tupop Conglomerate

The famous Reshun Conglomerate of the Mastuj valley — Cretaceous conglomerate and limestone above the Krinj Limestone.

Named after Reshun village. Carbonate platform sequence with evaporitic intervals. Contains Megalodon-bearing facies.

Fossils

Megalodon Corals Foraminifera

Contacts

In the Hindukush-Chitral column

ConglomerateLimestoneFossils 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: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marginal marine, marine
Coordinates: 36.1550°N, 72.0989°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The well-known Reshun Conglomerate; it unconformably overlies the Krinj Limestone and is juxtaposed against the Paleozoic Northern sedimentary belt along the Reshun Thrust. Its age is Cretaceous, possibly extending into the Early Tertiary; the Tupop Conglomerate of the lower Chapursan valley is a correlative.

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 lists this unit as 'Reshun conglomerate'.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (3)

Age corrected from "Triassic-Jurassic" to Late Cretaceous per Zanchi & Gaetani (2011, Fig. 19: Reshun Conglomerate, Upper Cretaceous, 0-600 m) and the well-known mid-to-Late Cretaceous Reshun Formation of Chitral; author-approved 2026-07-17.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Zanchi & Gaetani (2011): the Reshun Formation is Late Cretaceous — a post-Aptian age is required because it unconformably overlies late-Aptian orbitolinid (Mesorbitolina) limestones and contains reworked Orbitolina-bearing clasts; no pollens were recovered. A >500 m (locally >1000 m) fluvial red conglomerate/sandstone succession of high-energy fans passing to a braided plain, unconformably (low-angle) overlying Palaeozoic–Triassic units of the Axial Unit; records two deformational events related to the Kohistan–Karakoram collision.

Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011)
Gaetani et al. (1996): the Reshun conglomerate forms a belt from Chitral to the Karambar valleys; no direct age control was obtained, but it is inferred to be Cretaceous, younger than the Orbitolina limestones because reworked clasts carry orbitolinid foraminifera. Corroborates the Cretaceous assignment.

Gaetani, M., Le Fort, P., Tanoli, S., Angiolini, L., Nicora, A., Sciunnach, D. & Khan, A. (1996)

Sources (5)

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.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_reshunformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Reshun 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/reshun-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Hayden (1915).

Below · older

Krinj Limestone

Cretaceous

Above · younger

Chitral Slate

Referenced in other successions

Underlain by Darkot Group· Lun Shale