Precambrian • Neoproterozoic In GSP lexicon

Tanawal Formation

Late Proterozoic

Cited in 12 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Precambrian · NeoproterozoicLate Proterozoic
Named by: Wynne (1879)
Type locality: Tanawal village, north of Tarbela34.4200°N, 72.9700°E
Thickness: 1000-2000 m
Lithology: Metaquartzite, metapsammite and garnet-mica schist (quartzite and schist).
Synonyms: Tanol Group; Tanol Quartzites; Tanol Formation

A Late Proterozoic quartzite-and-schist unit of the Hazara hills, between the Hazara and Abbottabad formations and cut by the Mansehra Granite.

Named after Tanawal (Tanol) village. Thick quartzite sequence intruded by Cambrian Mansehra Granite. Forms prominent ridges in Hazara region.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Hazara Basin column

Shale / mudMetamorphicConglomerateLimestoneFossils recordedUnconformityConformable

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type (wavy = unconformity inferred from a missing period). 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

Hazara Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: 34.4200°N, 72.9700°E

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See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Tanaki Boulder Bed — Marinoan glaciation

Hazara Basin

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The metaquartzite-and-schist unit that makes up much of the Hazara Nappe; it unconformably overlies the Precambrian Hazara Formation, is overlain unconformably by the Cambrian Abbottabad Formation, and is intruded by the Late Cambrian Mansehra Granite, which places it in the Late Proterozoic.

Sources (11)

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.
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).
Pogue, K.R., Hylland, M.D., Yeats, R.S., Khattak, W.U. & Hussain, A. (1999). Stratigraphic and structural framework of Himalayan foothills, northern Pakistan. In: Macfarlane, A., Sorkhabi, R.B. & Quade, J. (eds) Himalaya and Tibet: Mountain Roots to Mountain Tops. Geological Society of America Special Paper 328, 257-274.
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.
Pogue, K.R., Harris, A.G. & Hussain, A. (1992). Paleozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy of the Peshawar basin, Pakistan: Correlations and implications. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 104(8), 915-927.
Umar, M., Betts, P., Khan, M.M.S., Sabir, M.A., Farooq, M., Zeb, A., Jadoon, U.K. & Ali, S. (2015). Signatures of Late Neoproterozoic Gondwana assembly and Marinoan glaciation in Lesser Himalaya: a palaeogeographical and stratigraphical approach. Acta Geologica Polonica, 65(1), 1-19.
Calkins, J.A. (1967). The Geology of the Western Limb of the Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis, West Pakistan and Kashmir. U.S. Geological Survey, open-file report.

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.

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_tanawalformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Tanawal 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/tanawal-formation (accessed September 5, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Wynne (1879).

Below · older

Hazara Formation

Neoproterozoic

Above · younger

Abbottabad Formation

Cambrian

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Landai Formation· Tanaki Boulder Bed