Paleozoic • Permian formation GSP memoir

Staghar Cherty Limestone

Permian

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 3 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian · Late PermianPermian
Named by: Gaetani et al. (1995)
Type locality: Shaksgam region north of K2, eastern Karakoram — the cherty limestone at the top of the Shaksgam Formation (originally described by Desio 1980).
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Cherty limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

The cherty limestone that forms the top of the Shaksgam Formation.

Staghar Cherty limestone is named by Gaetani et al. (1995) for the upper cherty limestone of Shaksgam formation. Its age is Late Permian. Following Triassic rocks have been reported;

Fossils

Conodonts (Late Permian: Gondolella)Radiolaria Sponge spicules

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

LimestoneShale / mudMixedMetamorphicFossils 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

The uppermost Late Permian cherty limestone capping the Shaksgam Formation in the eastern Karakoram.

Research notes (1)

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 (1)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Staghar Cherty Limestone (named by Gaetani et al. 1990b) is Late Permian — it yields a Late Permian conodont assemblage (Gondolella bitteri, Gondolella liangshanensis). It is a cherty limestone with sponge spicules, radiolaria and redeposited fusulinids that caps the Shaksgam Formation (whose main body is Lower–Middle Permian) in the Shaksgam–Baltoro region of the eastern Karakoram.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)

Sources (2)

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.

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.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_stagharchertylimestone,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Staghar Cherty Limestone} --- 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/staghar-cherty-limestone (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gaetani et al. (1995).

Below · older

Shaksgam Formation