Paleozoic • Permian formation GSP memoir

Singhie Shales

Early Permian (Cisuralian)

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian · Early PermianEarly Permian (Cisuralian)
Named by: Desio (1963)
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: several hundred metres
Lithology: Black, splintery shales and occasional siltstones; several hundred metres thick, passing upward into the Permian sandstone sequence.
Synonyms: Baltoro formation

Black shales of the eastern Karakoram (Shaksgam-Baltoro), named after the Singhie glacier and equivalent to the Pasu Slates; of uncertain age.

Singhie shales (Baltoro formation ) is named after the Singhie glacier in the upper Shaksgam valley between Karakoram and Aghil ranges by Desio (1963), consists of black shales (like Pasu slates). It is exposed north of Karakoram Batholith in Shaksgam-Baltoro region of eastern Karakoram. Various names like Shimshal shale, Baltoro shale, Rimo shale, Sarpo Laggo slates, Doksam sequence are adapted by different authors at different places.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

MetamorphicLimestoneShale / mudMixedFossils 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: Not recorded
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

Black shales of the Baltoro Formation, named by Desio (1963) after the Singhie glacier in the upper Shaksgam valley between the Karakoram and Aghil ranges; exposed north of the Karakoram Batholith in the Shaksgam-Baltoro region of the eastern Karakoram and equivalent to the Pasu Slates. Under review; age not constrained and left unset.

Research notes (2)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Age & correlation (2)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Singhie Shales (Desio 1936; Shaksgam–Baltoro region of the eastern Karakoram, north of the Karakoram Batholith) are a thick sequence of well-cleaved black carbonaceous shales — the equivalent of the Pasu Slates of Upper Hunza (also Shimshal/Baltoro/Rimo shales). The book infers a CARBONIFEROUS age because they underlie the Permian Shaksgam Formation, conflicting with the curated 'Early Permian (Cisuralian)'. As the book is unfossiliferous-inferred and dated 1997, the conflict is flagged for reconciliation rather than overwriting the curated age.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Kazmi & Abbasi (2008): the Singhie Shales (Desio 1963; Singhie Glacier, upper Shaksgam Valley) are a thick sequence of well-cleaved black shales corresponding to the Passu Slates of upper Hunza (also the Shimshal/Baltoro/Rimo shales, Sarpo Laggo slate). The book assigns no explicit stage but, by correlation with the Passu Slate (Permian–Carboniferous), places them in the Permian–Carboniferous — it does not resolve the curated 'Early Permian (Cisuralian)' versus a Carboniferous alternative, so the conflict remains open.

Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)

Sources (4)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Rolfo, F., Groppo, C. & Gaetani, M. (2014). A geological cross-section north of Karakorum, from Yarkand to K2. Journal of the Virtual Explorer, 47, Paper 1. https://doi.org/10.3809/jvirtex.2014.00336
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.

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: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.

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Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Singhie Shales. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_singhieshales,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Singhie Shales} --- 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/singhie-shales (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Desio (1963).