Paleozoic Period

The Carboniferous in Pakistan

359 – 299 Ma

From 359 to 299 million years ago — vast coal-forming forests and the rise of amphibians and early reptiles.

In Pakistan

Carboniferous rocks are limited on the Indian-plate part of Pakistan; the fuller record lies in the northern terranes — the Karakoram succession (e.g. the Ribat Formation, dated by conodonts and brachiopods) — while glacial influence begins to appear at the base of the Salt Range sequence towards the end of the period.

This reference records 20 units assigned to the Carboniferous across 3 basins, most commonly metamorphic rocks, conglomerate, limestone.

On the time scale → Correlate provinces → Filter all units →

At a glance

20
units: 3
basins: 6
provinces: 10
georeferenced: 8
with fossils: 16
type localities: 3,000 m
max thickness: 20
sources

Rock types

metamorphic rocks (9)
conglomerate (5)
limestone (3)

Based on the primary lithology recorded for each unit; some units span more than one rock type.

Fossils recorded

Brachiopods
Corals
Conodonts (Famennian–Tournaisian zonal fauna)
Bryozoans
Fenestella
Productids
Foraminifera
Crinoids
Gastropods
Conodonts
Pelecypods
Ammonoids
Fusulinids
Brachiopods (spiriferids, productoids)
Receptaculites
Conodonts (Gnathodus, Siphonodella lobata)
Anthracoporella spectabilis (dasyclad alga, Late Carboniferous)

Units of the Carboniferous

Provinces — Azad Kashmir · Hazara Basin · Hindukush-Chitral · Karakoram · Khyber–Nowshera Belt · Swat–Malakand.