Mesozoic • Triassic formation In GSP lexicon

Wirokhun Formation

Latest Permian–Early Triassic

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Early TriassicLatest Permian–Early Triassic
Named by: Gaetani et al. (1995)
Type locality: Wirokhun gorge
Thickness: ≤50–60 m (fault-disrupted; reference-section calcareous-marl interval 25.2 m at Wirokhun Saddle, base 4,414 m)
Lithology: Dark shale and marl interbedded with grey mudstone, thin-bedded cherty limestone, tuff and black shale.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A thin, local unit spanning the Permian–Triassic boundary in the Chapursan valley, passing up into the Borom Formation.

Wirokhun formation is named after the Wirokhun gorge, a tributary of Kundil valley (a tributary of Chapursan) by Gaetani et al. (1995) and consists of shale, mudstone, marl and limestone of Late Permian to Early Triassic. Urdok conglomerate is named after the Urdok glacier north of the Gasherbrum ridge by Desio (1963). Desio (1964, 1969) mapped this conglomerate broadly from western Karakoram to eastern Karakoram like Baltoro Kangri peak (7312m), Abruzzi glacier and western margin of South Gasherbrum glacier, surrounding the Gasherbrum I, II and III peaks, and in the ridge west of Urdok glacier. Fluvial and Late Cretaceous in age (Gaetani 1990b).

Fossils

Neospathodus dieneri Hindeodus parvus Isarcicella isarcica Gondolella carinata

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

LimestoneShale / mudMetamorphicFossils 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

A laterally restricted unit recognised on the ridges between the Borom and Kundil valleys (tributaries of the Chapursan) that straddles the Permian–Triassic boundary; its conodonts indicate an Early Triassic (Dienerian) top, and it conformably underlies the Lower Triassic Borom Formation.

Research notes (6)

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, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (5)

Baseline age 'Permian–Cretaceous' is over-broad and appears to bundle the separately named Urdok conglomerate; the Wirokhun Formation proper is latest Permian to Early Triassic. Flag for Phase-6 cleanup.

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017)
Straddles the Permian–Triassic boundary; the sourced age is latest Permian to Early Triassic (Malkani, 2017). The single era badge is set to Mesozoic (period Triassic) — the interval into which the unit extends and by which it is defined — while the full range is kept in the age line. A boundary-convention call, open to revision.

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017)
Gaetani et al. (2013): the Wirokhun Formation is mostly Induan (Griesbachian), with the Permian–Triassic boundary in its lowermost part; the first Triassic conodonts appear ~3 m above the base. A Hindeodus parvus → Isarcicella isarcica succession defines early Griesbachian (Parvus Zone) to late Griesbachian (Staschei/Isarcica zones); Early Triassic pioneer palynomorphs (Lundbladispora brevicula, Densoisporites nejburgi) co-occur with rare reworked Permian forms. The lowermost Triassic records a large negative δ13C excursion; earliest-Triassic sedimentation rate >20 m/Myr; CAI 5.

Gaetani, M., Nicora, A., Henderson, C., Cirilli, S., Gale, L., Rettori, R., Vuolo, I. & Atudorei, V. (2013)
Perri, Molloy & Talent (2004): in the Chapursan and Shimshal valleys the Permian–Triassic boundary occurs within the much thinner (~60 m) Wirokhun Formation (Zanchi & Gaetani 1994; Gaetani et al. 1995), which has yielded Neospathodus dieneri and Gondolella carinata (Nicora in Gaetani et al. 1995) — indicative of a slightly younger horizon and a deeper (more open) Early Triassic sea than the earliest-Triassic Sakirmul and Torman Gol conodont faunas of the Zait Limestone / Ailak platform. Corroborates the curated Latest Permian–Early Triassic age.

Perri, M.C., Molloy, P.D. & Talent, J.A. (2004)
Gaetani et al. (1995): the Wirokhun Formation is a pelagic bathyal succession spanning the Dzhulfian to the Dienerian (Early Triassic), so that the Permian-Triassic boundary lies within it - specifically in its third, largely shaly lithozone, linked to a largely anoxic stratified oceanic event in the eastern Tethys. Four conodont assemblages track it upward: (1) Gondolella orientalis-Hindeodus minutus-G. subcarinata; (2) G. subcarinata subcarinata / changxingensis; (3) Iranognathus cf. unicostatus with the G. subcarinata group; and (4) Neospathodus dieneri-Gondolella carinata at the top confirming early Dienerian. It overlies the Kundil Formation and is overlain by the Borom Formation.

Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995)

Sources (7)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Gaetani, M., Nicora, A., Henderson, C., Cirilli, S., Gale, L., Rettori, R., Vuolo, I. & Atudorei, V. (2013). Refinements in the Upper Permian to Lower Jurassic stratigraphy of Karakorum, Pakistan. Facies, 59, 915-948.
Perri, M.C., Molloy, P.D. & Talent, J.A. (2004). Earliest Triassic conodonts from Chitral, northernmost Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 110(1), 467-478.
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.
Gaetani, M., Angiolini, L., Garzanti, E., Jadoul, F., Leven, E.Ya., Nicora, A. & Sciunnach, D. (1995). Permian stratigraphy in the Northern Karakorum, Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 101(2), 107-152.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_wirokhunformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Wirokhun 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/wirokhun-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

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

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