Mesozoic • Cretaceous–Paleogene group GSP memoir

Skardu Group

Cretaceous–Eocene

Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc · Ladakh Magmatic Arc

Cretaceous–Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: group
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous–Paleogene · Cretaceous–EoceneCretaceous–Eocene
Named by: Malkani & Mahmood (2016)
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Metasedimentary schists, slates, phyllites, quartzite and limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

Nomenclature

Formal name · in current use. First defined by Malkani & Mahmood (2016).

Supersedes Shigar Group.

Browse all alternative & superseded names →

The Skardu Group — Katzarah, Skoyo, Burji and Deosai — the metamorphosed cover of the Ladakh arc near Skardu.

Skardu group : The Tsordas, Katzarah, Skoyo, Burji and Deosai formations are considered under Skardu group (Malkani and Mahmood 2016a). But here the Katzarah, Skoyo, Burji and Deosai formations are considered under Skardu group.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Kohistan Arc column

Shale / mudMetamorphicIgneousContact not recordedIntrusive

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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this group, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Kohistan Arc

Basin: Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc
Region: Ladakh Magmatic Arc
Depositional environment: marine, metamorphic
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The metasedimentary group of the Ladakh arc near Skardu, comprising the Katzarah, Skoyo, Burji and Deosai formations; the eastern, deformed equivalent of the Kohistan-arc cover sequence.

Research notes (3)

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

Geological significance (3)

Data-quality flag (reviewer audit, 2026-07-30): Kazmi & Jan (1997) describe no formal "Skardu Group" — "Skardu" is used only as a town/region name. The Skardu-region arc tectonostratigraphy is formalised there as the Burji Formation (Upper Cretaceous fossils), Katzarah Formation, Bauma-Harel Formation and Deosai Volcanics. This record appears to be a place-name-derived conflation of those units; recommend re-mapping to the actual formations or removal.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Kazmi & Abbasi (2008) CORROBORATES the flag: the book recognises no formal 'Skardu Group'. The Skardu-arc succession is formalised as the separate Burji (Upper-Cretaceous-fossil-bearing limestone), Katzarah (~1,500 m metasediments) and Bauma-Harel formations; the only group name in this context is Desio's (1963) Cretaceous–Eocene 'Shigar Group'. Recommend re-mapping the 'Skardu Group' record onto these formations.

Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)
Cronin (1989): the metasedimentary rocks around Skardu are overlain, in the Skardu intermontane basin, by the ~1.3-km-thick late Cenozoic Bunthang Sequence (~3.2–0.73 Ma; now recorded as a separate unit). The basin lies in the 'Skardu quiet zone' — a low-seismicity domain of the Himalayan thrust prism dominated by strike-slip, extensional and rotational tectonics — and its basin phase is linked to ponding of the Indus during uplift of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh syntaxis.

Cronin, V.S. (1989)

Sources (4)

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.
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.
Cronin, V.S. (1989). Structural setting of the Skardu intermontane basin, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 183-201.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_skardugroup,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Skardu Group} --- 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/skardu-group (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Malkani & Mahmood (2016).